Sahitya Academy’s (National Academy of Culture) annual five-day event, Sahitya Utsav, the festival of letters, started in the capital on Tuesday. The festival will go on till 22 February, when, besides awards presentation, annual Samvatsar Lectures, live performances, Spin-a-Tale, Young Poet’s Meet, and Poetry on Canvas will be held.
The first day of the Sahitya Utsav started with Akademi 2012 photo-cum-book exhibition at Meghdoot complex, where the Akademi’s achievements in 2012 were showcased through photographs, publications and award-winners’ write-ups. The exhibition was inaugurated by Minister of Culture, Chandresh Kumari Katoch.
A special session of interaction between the award-winners and the media was also arranged. In the evening, at Kamani auditorium, the festival had the annual function to present Sahitya Akademi awards, highest literary recognition accorded by government of India. The awards were presented by president, Sahitya Akademi. The chief guest at the award function was Shiv K. Kumar, eminent Indian writer in English and Sahitya Akademi award-winner. This time, 12 eminent Indian novelists were honoured, whereas Maithili and Gujarati award went to biography and criticism respectively.
The newly-elected chairperson, Viswanath Prasad Tiwari said, ‘Even in the market age that we live in today, writers do not write for money and the best of them, not even for fame. What Milton observed as the ‘last infirmity of the noble mind. Writers are defenders of truth and justice and the Akademi aims to felicitate and acknowledge their noble endeavour.’
The first day of the Sahitya Utsav started with Akademi 2012 photo-cum-book exhibition at Meghdoot complex, where the Akademi’s achievements in 2012 were showcased through photographs, publications and award-winners’ write-ups. The exhibition was inaugurated by Minister of Culture, Chandresh Kumari Katoch.
A special session of interaction between the award-winners and the media was also arranged. In the evening, at Kamani auditorium, the festival had the annual function to present Sahitya Akademi awards, highest literary recognition accorded by government of India. The awards were presented by president, Sahitya Akademi. The chief guest at the award function was Shiv K. Kumar, eminent Indian writer in English and Sahitya Akademi award-winner. This time, 12 eminent Indian novelists were honoured, whereas Maithili and Gujarati award went to biography and criticism respectively.
The newly-elected chairperson, Viswanath Prasad Tiwari said, ‘Even in the market age that we live in today, writers do not write for money and the best of them, not even for fame. What Milton observed as the ‘last infirmity of the noble mind. Writers are defenders of truth and justice and the Akademi aims to felicitate and acknowledge their noble endeavour.’