THRISSUR: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan inaugurated the first-ever International Literature Festival of Kerala organised by the Kerala Sahitya Akademi in Thrissur on Sunday.
It is the first such literature festival in the country which is being organised by a cultural organisation under the government.
“Literature festivals are not new to the people of Kerala. But the International Literature Festival of Kerala, as the name suggests, is a festival of people. It is being organised with no vested interests concerning to any organisation or private firms. The festival only aims at cultural reformation,” the CM said.
Pinarayi said the festival will offer a new experience for the attendees due to the diversity in the subjects being discussed and due to the strength of ideologies.
“When the literature festival adorns the emotion of the world around, its volume, too, changes. Then, literature becomes a medium for uniting people all over the world. Whenever the world experienced wounds, literature has always acted as a medicine,” he said.
Revenue Minister K Rajan said that literature festivals would open up a wide platform for debates and discussions. “What we need are stages where anyone can talk. When the scope of debates is being shut through various restrictions, such festivals become a need of the hour,” he said.
Poet Ashok Vajpayi, the chief guest of the event, said literature has always been a Satyagraha. “Literature celebrates life all the time. Sometimes, life should celebrate literature and that is what is happening at the festival,” he said.
Higher Education Minister R Bindu released the festival book by handing it over to Mini Antony, secretary of, the cultural affairs department. Akademi president K Satchidanandan spoke about the objective of the festival. Writers Sarah Joseph, T Padmanabhan, Vijayarajamallika, Australian writer Les Wicks, cine actor Prakash Raj, District Collector V R Krishna Teja, Lalithakala Akademi chairman Murali Cheeroth, Sangeetha Nataka Akademi secretary Karivellur Murali, among others were present.
The inaugural ceremony was followed by a speech by Carnatic singer T M Krishna on ‘Music and the Masses’. He also performed a concert.
In the coming days, the festival will host several sessions on important topics like ‘New face of Malayalam Novel’, Art and democracy, ‘The Idea of India’, etc. The festival has been organised in such a way with parallel discussion sessions clubbed with cultural programmes in four main venues including three halls in Kerala Sahitya Akademi and Townhall. It will conclude on February 3.