Distinguished writers from home and abroad say Bangla literature is seeking a new horizons to explore.
At least 38 renown foreign writers from 12 countries, along with many Bangladeshi writers, expressed this sentiment during different sessions at the International Literary Conference (ILC) which was organised by Bangla Academy along with the month-long Amar Ekushey Book Fair.
This is the second time ILC was held in Bangladesh after 1974.
France Bhattacharya, emeritus professor from Inalco of Paris, who attended the all sessions of ILC, spoke to me in Bangla regarding her visit.
Standing under mango tree of the academy, near the newly made auditorium, she told me: “[It’s] very good. This conference has been exploring every part of literature. It was fantastic to be here with many writers around the globe including Bangladesh.”
She added: “Many people can learn from this conference.
“I, too, can learn too from the conference. Bangla literature is so much brighter. There are many poets, novelists, theatre and cultural activists and the people of this country have a great enthusiasm about this culture. I feel there have been attempts to explore new horizons of Bangla literature.”
A little further away, Dr Pabitra Sarkar, a renowned writer from Kolkata, was speaking to a few other journalists.
When I approached him, he told me: “I have visited this book fair so many times. This book fair has a different energy than any other book fair in the world. This fair reminds us to honour the memory of language movements and the martyrs.”
About Bengali writers, Dr Sarkar said they are writing in a variety of ways. And their writing is seeking a new dimension.
“I think, this is possible in an independent country,” he said.
The next volume of Dr Sarkar’s autobiography features Bangladesh to great depths, he said, adding: “Bangladesh is my second home. It is an integral part of my Bangladesh.”
Among other writers from the world, German researcher H Harder, Ecuadorian born American writer Maria Barrera Helena, Belgian writer Father Paul Detienne, Swiss poet Tobias Baicone, Danish poet Cindy Lynn Brown, Malaysian poet Dato Dr Ahmed Kamal Abdullah Kemala, Umar Uzair were present at the conference which reached its fourth day yesterday.
Yesterday, which was the last day of ILC, hosted discussions on “trends in contemporary playwriting” in different sessions. The evening session was addressed by Bangla Academy Director Shamsuzzaman Khan, H Harder, France Bhattacharya, Syed Shamsul Haque and emeritus professor Anisuzzaman.
In the morning session, Tobias Biancone, Ashoke Mukhopadhaya, dramatist Mamnur Rashid, professor Jamil Ahmed were the discussants among the others while famous personality Ramendu Majumdar presented his keynote paper.
Yesterday was the fourth day of Amar Ekushey Book Fair and drew more visitors than the past few days. However, vendors at Suhrawardy Uddyan said the sales were not high enough.
On Wednesday, at least 102 new books arrived, most of which were novels and stories, Bangla Academy public relations sources have said.
