Fifth Kandhamal Literary Festival will be held on July 30,31, August 1, 2021; Central theme “Indigenous languages Matter for Peace, Innovation, and Development”

Padmashree honoured author, Linguist, Literateur, Educationist Dr. Debi Prasanna Pattanayak will be keynote speaker
Phulbani: Kalinga Literary Festival will hold Fifth Kandhamal Literary Festival will be held on July 30,31, August 1, 2021. This festival is being organized by Kalinga Literary Festival and, Odisha Diary Foundation (ODF) .

For the second year the festival will be held virtually. Kandhamal Literary Festival will promote the indigenous heritage of Odisha, its interconnections between nature, culture and literature. The session will be aired live on all the official forums like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube of Kalinga Literary Festival on July 30,31, August 1, 2021.

The online event will be held for three days with 13 sessions. Central theme of this year Kandhamal Literary Festival is: “Indigenous languages Matter for Peace, Innovation, and Development”. It will host Padmashree honoured author, Linguist, Literateur, Educationist Dr. Debi Prasanna Pattanayak as the keynote speaker. Other notable panellists include Birendra Das, Chandra Sekhar Hota, Tirtha Jani, Rabindra Nath Mishra, Jyotirmayee Kanhar, Netaji Abhinandan, Mahendra Mihra, Dilip Sahani, Ranjan Pradhan, Bijoy Pattnaik, Binod Chandra Sahoo, Saroj Kumar Parida, Basanti Majhi, Arun Kumar Jena, Shiva Prasad Tripathy, Rangadhar Panda, Braja Nanda, Sameer Padhi, Sadashiv Patra, Pabitra Subudhi, Kai;ash Dandapata, Pramod Kumar Pattnaik, Lal Nanda Pradhan, Hari Shankar Rout, Md Safik, Ghasiram Panda, Prof. Biswatranjan, Bipin Nayak, Narayan Prasad Behera, Premananda Mohapatra, Akhil Biswal, Girija Mishra, Guruprasad Sahoo, Jogeswar Panda, Swati Tanya Mishra, Bipin Bihari Sahoo, Dusmant Martha, Ramkrushna Mohanty, Bijoy Krushna Pattnaik, Anuj Mohan Pradhan, Bideshi Nayak, Narad Kanhar, Yudhistir Mohanty and others. Local talents, both, young and seasoned, will be felicitated for their inspiring work in different segments of life.

As the Founder & Director of Kandhamal Literary Festival and Kalinga Literary Festival Rashmi Ranjan Parida says, “Its a tough time when we are battling with a pandemic along with several other day to day struggles. Technology being a boon has made social media the strongest platform of today’s time. Kandhamal has many things to offer. It has been a silent inspiration for many. The reason behind making it a virtual festival is to let the world know the indigenous and cultural heritage of Odisha. It will be a virtual exploration of interconnections between Kandhamal with Odisha’s literary, artistic, and cultural.

Sitansu Mohapatra, co-founder of the Kandhamal Literary Festival expressed happiness on the overwhelming support for this virtual initiative from people around Odisha and all parts of the country. He believes it to be a remarkable event on the literary calendar of the state. This is part of our outreach to Odisha’s nook and corners for knowledge and inspiration, said Mohaptra.

Mr. Debasish Samantray, co-founder and convener of the literary fest stressed that poetry is a universal expression of human creativity. Kandhamal Literary Festival will see both young and seasoned poets on one platform. The effort is to popularize Indigenous literature among the youth of Kandhamal while paying respect to the seniors who have kept the creative tradition of song, dance, and writing alive.

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