Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Nov 29: Two-day Young Writers’ Festival by the Department of English, Central University of Jammu, in collaboration with Sahitya Akademi, began here today.
Around thirty writers from the eight North Indian languages are participating in the Festival, which began with a welcome address by S Rajmohan, Deputy Secretary, Sahitya Akademi. He stressed that the Akademi has a history of uniting diverse cultural and literary traditions of the nation. He also talked at length about the role of Sahitya Akademi in nation-building and achieving harmony among diverse traditions of the country.
It was followed by introductory remarks by Prof Lalit Mangotra, Convener, Dogri Advisory Board Sahitya Akademi. He highlighted the systematic and efficient working schedule of the Akademi and also talked about the opportunities it provides to writers throughout the country.
Prof Deepsheekha Kotwal, Dean School of Languages, CUJ, delivered keynote address to introduce the audience to the writers and their craft. Her scholarly talk was quite vibrant and informative which put forth the craft of story-telling in all its shades. She also stressed on the need of readings and writings to be political and solution-giving. She was also quick to talk about the significance of pen against the contemporary swords of violence, and to show the role of writers in healing such horrible scenarios of life through a syncretic approach.
Prof Mohd Zaman Azurdah, Convener, Kashmir Advisory Board, Sahitya Akademi, gave the presidential address, wherein he highlighted the significance of regional languages. He debated the importance of mother-tongue in learning other languages and also attempted to display the relationship between culture and language.
The inaugural session ended with a formal vote of thanks by Dr Vandana Sharma, Associate Professor, Department of English, CUJ.
The event has been schematised into five different sessions, dealing with short story reading and poetry sessions in Dogri, Kashmiri, Rajasthani, Urdu, Sanskrit, Punjabi, Hindi and English. Almost thirty writers from across the country will touch upon the genres of short story and poetry by reading their compositions in eight different languages to the audience.
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