By Zafar Anjum for TwoCircles.net
Seemanchal International Literary Festival (SILF) is the inaugural international literary event organised by Kitaab International, Singapore, in collaboration with Insan School, Kishanganj, Bihar.
The birthplace of famous Hindi writer Phaneshwar Nath Renu, Seemanchal has remained a much neglected region of northeastern Bihar. Representing the multicultural ethos of India, the 10 million people who live in this part of the country profess many faiths and speak many languages and dialects.
This annual literary festival celebates the spirit of humanity through literature and is dedicated to the gentle people of Seemanchal.
More than 20 writers from India and abroad will participate in this festival.
Why this festival?
Most literary festivals take place in metro cities. Through this festival, we are attempting to bring literature to the grassroots. A large part of India still lives in the villages and small towns and with an effort like SILF, we are hoping to shape the hearts and minds of people in small town India.
The region of Seemanchal, which is one of the most backward areas of the country in terms of education and economic growth, is mostly in news for the wrong reasons: floods, natural disasters, crime and a host of other bad news. But all that is going to change with the launch of the Seemanchal International Literary Festival (SILF).
This region is strategically located at the intersection of Bihar and Bengal, and is surrounded by the borders of Bangladesh and Nepal. This is the region that connects Northeast India to the rest of the country.
This is a free to public event, held in the honour of the ten million people in the region and its surrounding areas such as Darjeeling and Dinajpur.
This is probably the only truly ‘international’ literary festival in the northeast of India. Only Patna in Bihar and Kolkata in West Bengal have literary festivals of this stature.
The author sits on the advisory board of Kumaon Literary Festival and has been invited to speak at Singapore Literary Festival and Hyderabad Literary Festival. He is the founder of a media and publishing company, Kitaab International Pte Ltd, Singapore, which is supporting SILF