Soi Mela to be held at Sisir Mancha on Jan 6 and 7

On January 6, a panel discussion on "Creative women against violence" will be held at Sisir Mancha. Kamla Bhasis, Mrinal Pande, Anita Agnihotri and Irom Sharmila will take part. Antara Dev Sen will be the moderator. There will be reading from literary works and a session on child abuse as well. Mukto Mon will present a musical programme based on Aloukik.

Noted essayists and scholar Nabanita Dev Sen will chair a programme on the literary works of Bani Roy. Roy had been criticised by many for her straight and candid write-ups. She never went into any understanding with those who had abused women.

Speakers include Rushati Sen, Sudakshina Ghosh, Sumita Chakraborty and Esha Dey. There will be a debate on Creativity stands against violence. Ellena Banik, Miratun Nair, Gopa Dutta Bhowmik, Tridib Chatterjee, Jawhar Sarkar, Anindya Chattopadhyay, Suman Chattopadhyay and Trina Nileena Banerjee will take part in the debate. The women's book fair will be arranged by Publishers' and Booksellers' Guild. Swayam, an NGO that has been working on women issue for many years will organise an art display titled "Voices of Courage and Sorrow — women in the dark speak out".