First ever online literature festival E-lit launched in Kolkata
Kolkata: Aiming to connect litterateurs across the world, with an essence of inclusivity, Clips and pages launches the first-ever online lit fest in Kolkata, 'E-lit' on April 4, 2020.
21-years-old author and festival founder Sukanya Basu Mallik said, 'Our aim was to entertain and yet add value to the lives of those who are currently under home quarantine or lockdown. Literature makes life better and we wanted to resolve the bitterness that's enveloping the world through the virus via literature. We're going to be there for the people until covid19 is gone"
The first chapter of the festival commenced on 4th April, 2020. There have been about 50 participating speakers out of which some mention worthy names from the first two weeks include: Nibedita Sen, Devika Das, Pauline Laravoire, Meghdut Roychowdhury, Fredrika Menezes, Suromita Roy from Storytel India, RJ Tejashri from Radio city, Aditya Giri the founder of the Maritime post, fitness instructor Cliszma Da Costa, Shweta Khatrrii Tarot card reader, senior journalist Sharmila Bhowmik and Dr Mahul Brahma whose ebook Quarantined: Love in the time of Corona by Dr Mahul Brahma, author of the luxe trilogy, was virtually launched globally at eLit on April 12.
On 15th, Sneha Prakash spoke about literary criticism, followed by Mohak Bhambry on 16th, the founder and CEO of voice verso, who spoke about innovation in book publishing industry. On 17th, the mood of the festival was musical. The day began with a musician and ended with a lyricist.
Music is a powerful means of communication. People can share emotions, intentions, and meanings even though their spoken languages may be mutually incomprehensible. Bengal's Gourab, not only went live for an interview but also played an excerpt from a Bengali melody and another one from maroon5. Later, Pratyush Prakash, a lyricist and scriptwriter from Mumbai appeared @clipsandpages for a live chat at 4pm. He is one of the youngest lyricist featured on Oscar contention list.
On 18th, India's transsexual woman Naaz Joshi who has made the country proud with a third successive victory in the beauty pageant Miss World Diversity went live at @clipsandpages talking about 'Single parenthood'.
Keeping the spirit of feminism alive, Sreemoyee Piu Kundu, who is an acclaimed journalist and columnist on gender and sexuality and now full-time author and motivational speaker and coach, went live for a conversation on debunking gendered language on 19th April at 7pm on @clipsandpages.
On the very next day, 20th Yash Tiwari spoke about his journey of being an award winning author by 16 and 4 times tedx speaker by the age of 18.
Upcoming speakers include Amartya Bhattacharya, a national award winning filmmaker, Tarini Chandrasekhar a writer, comedian and lyricist who wrote lyrics for Shankar Mahadevan's latest release, author Rhea Rodriguez Chakraborty and many more.
Sukanya has not only taken it to her stride but also involved readers, writers and bloggers for their active participation. She feels that there is a need of involvement of young and experienced minds rather than some big sponsors.
