Festival of Letters kicks off

New Delhi, Feb 19 (UNI) Indian Council of Cultural Relations Director General Pawan K Verma today said going by the international prominence that English writers of Indian origin have risen to in recent years one should not get this impression that only those writers are importent who pen their thoughts in that language.

Mr Varma was speaking on the inauguration of Akademi 2006 Exhibition and 'Festival of Letters-2007'.

Mr Varma also emphasised the relevance of regional languages in promoting Indian literature.

With regards to the popularity of the works of Indian authors writing in English, Mr Varma noted that this did not mean that only those authors were important.''Indian literary corpus in more than 25 languages is a repository of knowledge and creativity in itself,'' he added.

He lauded the efforts of Sahitya Akademi in bringing forth compostions and the translations of Indian literary figures. He also stressed the need to raise the levels of quality, and increase the quantum of work published in Indian languages. Furthermore, he advocated the support of Indian Council of Cultural Relations for the Akademy, so as to encourage the steadfast growth of Indian literature worldwide.

The seven-day-long festival will have a number of celebrations, including a prize-distribution ceremony in which 24 writers in Indian languages will be conferred upon the Sahitya Akademy awards tomorrow.

UNI