The three-day literary festival reverts to its on-site format at the century-old iconic Oxford Bookstore at Park Street and would also be streamed online for global fans.
The eighth edition of India’s first Bengali literary festival, Apeejay Bangla Sahitya Utsob (ABSU) curated by Oxford Bookstores will commence on November 25.
During the three-day festival, some of the most prominent names in Bengali literature and culture will present their perspectives on all aspects of “Bangaliaana” (Bengali culture) and literature.
Due to COVID, the sixth edition ofABSU was held virtually, while the seventh edition of ABSU was conducted in a hybrid format. The final day of the event was a physical event, as opposed to the prior two days when it was conducted online. ABSU is making a comeback this year in its typical offline guise. The century-old iconic Oxford Bookstore on Park Street will once again serve as the venue for ABSU, as it did in the years prior to COVID.
Speaking about the eighth edition of the Sahitya Utsob, Swagat Sengupta, ABSU Director and CEO, of Oxford Bookstores said,“India’s first Bangla Literary Festival, Apeejay Bangla SahityaUtsob curated by the centenary old Oxford Bookstores in 2015 is in its 8th year. Celebrating 100 years of Oxford Bookstore, we have suitably chosen the iconic Oxford Bookstore, Park Street, Kolkata to celebrate books, music, art, film, and more with the finest creative minds of Bengal. After the unprecedented two years of Covid-19, this year the festival will be held completely on-ground in its best physical format. The eighth edition of ABSU will continue to support, promote and strengthen Bangla language through 27 specially curated sessions that delve deep into topics such as poetry, little magazines, illustrations, use of dialects, politics, youth literature, thriller, book publishing and editing, journalism and cinema in Bangla literature.”
ABSU has grown over the last seven years and is now celebratedand eagerly awaitedamong fans of Bengali literature and culture both in India and abroad. Keeping its global popularity in mind,ABSU 2022 will be streamed LIVE on the official Apeejay Bangla SahityaUtsob Facebook Page and YouTube channel on all three days – November 25, 26, and 27.This will ensure that Bengali literary enthusiasts from all over the world can immerse themselves in this literary and cultural extravaganza transcending time and geography. “We are also keeping in mind the ease of access, active participation, flexibility of viewing the sessions at convenience and interacting with the delegates at the same time through social media LIVE streaming,” Swagat Sengupta, ABSU Director and CEOof Oxford Bookstores added.
The eighth edition of ABSU willhost eminent personalities like Pabitra Sarkar, HimadrikishoreDasgupta, AshokeViswanathan, SamikBandyopadhyay, Abul Bashar, Rupam Islam, SujogBandyopadhyay, BinodGhosal, KheyaliDastidar, Rahul Banerjee Arunoday, BiswanathBasu, JayantaGhosal, Snehasis Sur, Tilottama Majumdar, Debasish Deb,Mandakranta Sen, UllasMallick, KrishnenduMukhopadhyay, Raja Bhattacharya, Dipanwita Ray to name a few. This eclectic curation has been done under the stewardship of former radio jockey Roy Choudhury and as advised by HimadrikishoreDasgupta.
To contribute to the success of the eighth editionof ABSU, the festival will be supported by ZEE 24 Ghanta as Television Partner and AnandabazarPatrika Online as Online Media Partnerand Cha Bar as Refreshment Partner. The Supporting Partners areShabdabaaji and Kobita Club. Exceller Books would support the eighth edition of ABSU as Session Partner.
About Apeejay Bangla SahityaUtsob (ABSU):
Apeejay Bangla SahityaUtsob (ABSU), India’s first Bangla Literary Festival (ie. Utsob in Bangla) created by the century old Oxford Bookstores in 2015, honours the rich literary tradition of the Bangla language. The objective of ABSU, a prized initiative of Oxford Bookstores, is to make Bangla literature increasingly visible and accessible, build an audience for Bangla books and create a culture of readership and familiarization with Bangla language among the youth. An interactive platform bringing together voices of contemporary Bangla Literature from the national and international stage, ABSU showcases all aspects of Bangla literature and literary expression and their impact on various art forms. ABSU is committed to the journey of Bangla Literature which is both exciting and exhilarating and have brought eminent personalities to grace the Festival in the last three years. They include renowned authors like Shirshendu Mukherjee, Nabaneeta Dev Sen, Samaresh Majumdar, Sankha Ghosh, Pracheta Gupta, Ranjan Bandhopadhyay, SanjibChattopadhaya, Saikat Mukhopadhyay, Anindo Chattopadhaya, Nrisingha Prasad Bhaduri, Srijato, Binod Ghoshal, Himadrikishore Dasgupta, Anish Deb, Krishnendu Mukherjee and Subodh Sarkar; film Directors like Suman Mukhopadhyay, Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury and Arindam Sil; Bengali musicians Nachiketa, Surojit Chatterjee and Swagatalakshmi Dasgupta; Actors Sabyasachi Chakraborty and Barun Chandra. The festival has also attracted prominent literary personalities from Bangladesh like Selina Hossain and Imdadul Haq Milan.