Five-day literary fair to be held from Jan 11 to 15

kolkata: Over 300 little magazines and small-time publications having rich literary content will participate at the Sahitya Utsav and Little Magazine Mela 2023, starting January 11.

The five-day literary fair at Nandan-Bangla Academy premises will also witness the participation of 550 poets and litterateurs. On January 11, the literary fair will be inaugurated in the presence of state Education minister Bratya Basu, also the president of Paschimbanga Bangla Akademi, minister Indranil Sen (chief guest), veteran writer Amar Mitra, and popular poet Debdas Achariya, at 4 pm at Nandan-Bangla compound.

“There will be seven seminars where important litterateurs will participate. I’m very excited about the interface between poets,” said Basu, who was present at the press conference on Tuesday at Paschimbanga Bangla Akademi. Literary personalities like Prachet Gupta, Srijato, Subodh Sarkar, Abul Bashar and Prashun Bhowmik were also present at the press meet.

The minister also announced that 13 memorial awards would be bestowed to popular literary personalities at the fair. From Nirmalya Mukhopadhyay, Subhasish Mukhopadhyay, Samragnee Bandyopadhyay to Samiran Das, Debarati Mitra and other authors will be awarded at the fair, which will be on till January 15 from 2 pm to 8 pm.

This year, the fair sought inspiration from Jnanpith Awardee ‘padatik poet’ Subhash Mukhopadhyay’s poem, ‘Ektu Paa Chaliye Bhai.’

To encourage new talents in the field of literature, Basu said the books of storytellers — Sayantani Bhattacharya, Debapriya Sarkar, and poets — Suman Mallik and Suman Ghosh will be launched. “Every year, we witness active participation from the young brigade who are interested in literature. The main motive of the fair is to promote Bengali literature and bring to the forefront new talents,” he said. To celebrate the bicentenary of Michael Madhusudan Datta, widely regarded as Bengal’s first modern poet, a commemorative issue titled ‘Michael Madhusudan Datta: Phire Dekha’ will be unveiled. “We are also organising an exhibition on the iconic poet at Gaganendra Shilpa Pradarshashala,” Basu said.