BHUBANESWAR: It’s that time of the year again when India’s brightest literary heads, astute political minds, finest film-makers, artistes and journalists come together for a riveting two-day affair. Yes, the Odisha Literary Festival (OLF) is back and all set to roll out on Saturday.
In keeping with the tradition, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik will unveil the fourth edition of the festival in presence of Editorial Director Prabhu Chawla at the Convention Centre of Hotel Mayfair Lagoon here.
Organised by ‘The New Indian Express Group,’ the festival promises to be enlightening and enthralling like the previous years with 15 sessions spread over the weekend. From contemporary social subjects on environment and economy to entertainment; from changing face of women to power of stories in literature and films; from the timeless appeals of literary classics to food writing; from the thrill of crime stories to significance of the national language Hindi, the festival will have it all covered during the two days.
After the inaugural session, Congress leader and former Union Minister Jairam Ramesh will feature in a book reading session followed by a conversation with senior journalist Shankkar Aiyar setting the tone for the Day One of OLF 2015.
During the two days, people of eminence, including economist and environmentalist Sanjiv Sanyal, theatre director and screen writer Feroze Abbas Khan, film-maker Imtiaz Ali, Pushpesh Pant among others will engage the audience.
Odisha and Odia literature have been a focus at the literary festival and this year, it will be no different. Two special sessions __ ‘Are the glory days of Odia literature and poetry over’ and ‘Re-presenting Odisha to the world: A welcome move or sacrilegious’ __ are expected to ignite the minds on the contemporary state of Odisha.
While Union Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan will also be part of the festival on the second day, OLF 2015 will conclude with a live performance by Odisha’s very own teen singing sensation Ananya Sritam Nanda on Sunday evening.