Four-Day Mathrubhumi Litfest Set To Begin On Thursday
Poet V Madhusoodanan Nair, Dr B Hariharan and Dr M A Askar delivered commemoration speeches on 'Chandalabhikshuki', 'The Waste Land' and 'The Prophet' respectively.
The stage is set for the fourth edition of Mathrubhumi International Festival of Letters (MBIFL 2023) with Kerala Culture Minister Saji Cheriyan hoisting the festival flag here on Wednesday, as a precursor to the opening of one of the largest literary fests in the country.
The four-day MBIFL commencing on Thursday coincides with the centenary of Mathrubhumi, one of India's leading media houses, and 100 years of three literary classics — 'Chandalabhikshuki' of Kumaran Asan, 'The Waste Land' of T S Eliot and 'The Prophet' of Khalil Gibran.
These monumental events were commemorated at the festival curtain-raiser event at Kanakakunnu Palace in the city.
Cheriyan said MBIFL is a major annual event that reflects the significant role of Mathrubhumi in the country's cultural and media domains.
He said Mathrubhumi newspaper and its allied publications have contributed immensely in nurturing and upholding the secular and democratic values of Kerala.
Revenue Minister K Rajan, who launched the festival book, recalled the contributions of Mathrubhumi to the freedom struggle and Kerala's political and social progress on the occasion.
Welcoming the gathering, M V Shreyams Kumar, Managing Director, Mathrubhumi, who is also the festival chairman, said it's an exciting coincidence that the centenary of Mathrubhumi is being celebrated along with the 100 years of three great literary classics.
MLA V K Prasanth, Booker Prize winning Omani author Jokha AlHarthi, poet K G Sankara Pillai, and P V Chandran, Chairman & Managing Editor, Mathrubhumi, who is the Chief Patron of MBIFL, were present.
Poet V Madhusoodanan Nair, Dr B Hariharan and Dr M A Askar delivered commemoration speeches on 'Chandalabhikshuki', 'The Waste Land' and 'The Prophet' respectively.
Manipuri classical dance 'Pung Cholom' and dance drama 'Raas Leela' were staged to enthrall the gathering while students of Sri Swathi Thirunal College of Music, Thiruvananthapuram, recited poems.
The sessions of MBIFL, touching a wide range of issues, will begin with the keynote address by Jnanpith laureate M T Vasudevan Nair at 10 am on February 2. At 6 pm, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will formally inaugurate the festival.
The theme of the festival is "Shadows of History, Lights of the Future".
Tanzanian-born British author and Nobel laureate Abdulrazak Gurnah, Booker Prize winner Sri Lankan writer Shehan Karunatilaka, Jnanpith awardees Amitav Ghosh and Damodar Mauzo are also taking part in the literary fest.
MBIFL 2023, (also known as 'Ka' in Malayalam), will witness an impressive line-up of Nobel and Booker Prize winners and Jnanpith awardees, who will be among more than 400 eminent names in creative fields.
P V Nidhish is the Festival Patron while Mayura M S and Devika M S are the Festival Directors.
(This story is published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. Apart from the Headline, no editing has been done in the body by ABP Live.)
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