Bhubaneswar: The 4th edition of Koraput Literary Festival (KLF 2021) will be held in Bhubaneswar instead of Koraput.
Scheduled to begin from December 26, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik will be inaugurating the two-day fesival while Governor Prof Ganeshi Lal, Odia author Dr Pratibha Ray and Telugu poet Nikhileswar will be attending the closing ceremony.
The festival was being organised in Koraput every year however this year, Odia Media Private Limited, the event’s producer, decided to hold in the capital city, said festival director Subhransu Panda.
Like past years, two Odia litterateurs will receive Koraput Literary Award 2021 which carries a cash award of Rs 21,000 each. This year the award will be presented to celebrated storyteller and author of children literature Dr Dash Benhur and renowned poet and president of Odisha Sahitya Akademi Dr Hrushikesh Mallick, said Panda.
Speaking to mediapersons Panda said “Koraput Literary Festival declares that the margin doesn’t remain the margin forever merely because of a geographical boundary. It can become the very centre of the centre itself. This is the gravitational change that this LitFest wishes to showcase.” That’s why we bring this festival to the state capital, he further added.
A visiting festival also will be organised in Koraput very next day on December 27.
Haraprasad Das, Jagadananda, Dr Gourahari Das, Bikram Das, Narayan Panda, Krushna Singh and several well-known authors, poets, politicians, artists and intellectuals will be joining the festival as speakers.
Odia media also runs Pen In Books, a leading publishing house in eastern India.
