Now, a literature festival in Taj city

Agra, Nov 30 (IANS) On the lines of the Jaipur Literature Festival, Agra is set to host a Taj City Literary Festival in February.

Besides book releases, lectures, reading sessions and interaction with authors, the Feb 1-3 festival will focus on impact of social networking sites, micro-blogging, blogging, e-books and contemporary literature.

Bloggers, young authors, poets and film personalities will participate in the festival at 167-year-old St. Peter’s College campus in the heart of the city.

“Agra is the land of Mirza Galib, Nazeer and Meer. Its rich literary heritage has been nurtured by a stream of Hindi and Braj Bhasha poets. The younger generation has to be told of the pioneering contribution of the writers and poets from the past and relate it with contemporary ambience,” said Syed Jafri, director of Mirza Ghalib Research Academy and a member of the festival’s organising committee.

“These days, information technology platforms and social media are helping promote instant literature. You write a creative piece, poem or story and post it on Facebook and start getting immediate feedback. In a sense, you are the author, editor, publisher and distributor,” said Piyush Pandey, a cyber journalist.

“Coming immediately after the Jaipur festival, the literary conclave will focus on the status of Urdu and Hindi literature and how Bollywood has impacted people’s literary perceptions and tastes,” said Jafri.

“The heritage of Braj region, the rich legacy of Ghalib, Soor Das, Raskhan, Amir Khusrau, and others has to be highlighted,” Harvijay Bahia, chairman of the festival organising committee, told IANS.

“A rich Mughal ambience will be the flavour. We’ll have music, songs, painting, theatrical performances in the evenings,” said St Peter’s College principal John Ferreira.

IANS 2012-11-30 22:54:06