Distressed by what it describes as a “change in literature’s definition” and Indian languages being ignored, a group of writers and poets here has decided to organise a three-day Parallel Literature Festival (PLF) here, coinciding with the Jaipur Literature Festival to be held in the end of January.
The Rajasthan Pragatisheel Lekhak Sangh has announced that the PLF would highlight literary contributions of Hindi and other Indian languages and hold serious deliberations on culture, folk traditions, literary skills and literature’s role in common people’s lives.
“The JLF has turned into a commercialised event sponsored by tourism, hotel and publication industries. It has become a tamasha of the tourist season where the so-called celebrities are hailed by an ignorant audience and only the English language reigns,” the group’s president and eminent poet Rituraj said here on Thursday.
The PLF will be held at the Youth Hostel here from January 27 to 29, 2018, coinciding with JLF which will be organised between January 25 and 29.
Indian People’s Theatre Association (IPTA) president Ranvir Singh launched PLF’s official website here on Wednesday.
Mr. Rituraj said the three-day event would provide an opportunity to people, especially youngsters, to come and make a comparison between “fake writings” passed of as literature and the genuine and indigenous literature.
The PLF will be organised every year with the objective of enriching the literary heritage of Jaipur, he said.
The group’s general secretary Ish Madhu Talwar said the parallel festival would have 24 sessions, including two on Rajasthani language, spread over three days.
In addition to prestigious authors and poets from across the country, three writers from Sri Lanka will also take part in the event.
