Kalinga lit fest to focus on building a ‘just society’

Bhubaneswar: The three-day Kalinga Literary Festival (KLF), a prominent literary jamboree in Odisha, will begin on June 8, and the central theme of the festival in its fifth year is building a “Just Society.”

Writers, poets and literary experts of national and international repute will share their experiences, discuss and deliberate how equality, equity and humanity portrayed in contemporary forms of literature and art.

The festival will be held from June 8, 9 and 10 in Bhubaneswar.

The Kalinga festival is set to cover multifarious dimensions of the interconnections between literature, peace, and harmony. There will be dedicated sessions on youth, indigenous communities, mythology, history, governance, foreign relations, women, transgender, climate change, cinema, media and the radio. There will be several one-to-one sessions with leading experts on the subjects.

This part, the list fest will see many young and dynamic authors from across the country to direct the discussions on justice in order to uphold the Ds in democracy – debate, diversity, dissent, deliberation, and decision-making.

The KLF, for the first time, will have a dedicated session on transgender community and the issues they are facing these days. This session will have Apsara Reddy, Kalki Subramaniam, Rudrani Chettri and Anwesa Brahma to discuss the recent socio-economic and policy developments regarding the transgender community and how weigh the utility of the government initiatives on the basis of their lived experience of exclusion, discrimination, community, trans-community engagement.

“KLF believes that literary festivals need to have a contemporary focus which would expand and strengthen the democratic space for dialogue and dissent to help facilitate inclusive policy making,” said KLF Founder Rashmi Ranjan Parida.

There will be cultural program to showcase Odisha’s art, culture and literature on each day of the three-day program. Delegates and speakers will join the famous Ekamra Walk and the Khandahiri Walk. In order to expand the opportunity for the delegates, KLF team has partnered with local cycle clubs to provide cycles for speakers to roam around the smart city and experience the blend of ancient heritage and modern urban planning.

The lit fest organisers will give away four prestigious during the 3-day event. These are Kalinga Sahitya Sanman (for a distinguished writer in Odia), Kalinga International Literary Award (for a writer in any global language), Kalinga Karubaki Literary Award (for Odia women writers) and Kalinga Literary Youth Award (30 Districts of Odisha).

Ambassador Pavan Verma (IFS retd), popular novelist  Amish Tripathy, and former foreign secretary Ambassador Nirupama Rao (IFS retd), eminent media personality Vinod Dua, noted journalist Rajdeep Sardesai, famous poet and Bollywood lyricist Rahat Indori, filmmaker Nila Madhav Panda, Bollywood actor KC Shankar, popular poet Amaresh Patnaik among others will attend the key sessions of the lit fest.

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