Third LIC-Gateway Litfest to bring regional languages under limelight

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Bringing in the literary brilliance of the diverse regional languages that exists in the country, the third edition of the LIC-Gateway Litfest is all set to begin here from February 25.

Over 50 renowned writers from 15 regional languages are lined up for the two-day festival.

The theme for this year's edition is 'contemporary face of Indian literature' with special focus on five Indian languages -- Bengali, Marathi, Tamil, Punjabi and Malayalam.

Authors like Hemant Divate, K.R. Meera, Bratya Basu, Anju Makhija, Thilothama Majumdar, Sachin Ketkar and many others will evaluate the latest trends of the regional languages in these literary streams.

The events will also witness personalities like Jnanpith laureates Kedarnath Singh and Reghuveer Chaudhari, film-maker Adoor Gopalakrishnan, poet and DMK leader Kanimozhi, Bengali writer Subodh Sarkar and Akademi Award winners speaking during the lit fest.

"The festival is to celebrate the writings in regional languages and to put them on par with English. It could create a wide-reaching impact as the most prominent confluence of language writers," said festival Director Mohan Kakkanadan in a statement.

Organised by Kaakka, a Mumbai-based quarterly Malayalam magazine, and communication consultancy P4C (Passion 4 Communication), the event will be held at the National Centre for Performing Arts (NCPA) here.

--IANS

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