The Odisha Literary Festival (OLF) is back with its 10th edition. Organised by The New Indian Express and presented by Aditya Birla Group eastern India's biggest literary extravaganza will kick off on Saturday, November 5. This literary festival will bring together some of India's best minds in literature, politics, society, performing arts and changemakers, as stated in a report by The New Indian Express.
Union Minister for Education Dharmendra Pradhan will inaugurate this festival and will deliver the keynote address 'Reading is Becoming: The 21st Century Leader'. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik will be the chief guest at the valedictory session with his session on 'My State: The Soul of Stories' in presence of Editorial Director of The New Indian Express, Prabhu Chawla.
What's new this time? With a galaxy of 30 speakers, the 2022 edition will have 17 sessions where topics like social change, mental health, Indian history, script writing and Odia cinema will be discussed. And who all are going to grace their presence at the event? Celebrated names like Manoranjan Byapari, Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari, Kabir Bedi, Ram Madhav, Aparna Kartikeyan, Sridala Swami, Aparna Piramal Raje, Madhu Kishwar, Ghazala Wahab, Anil Pradhan, Jubanashwa Mishra, Yatindra Mishra, Anant Vijay, Nanditha Krishna and Parvati Sharma will be part of the festival.
Here's the Day 1 schedule of the most thought-provoking and exciting event:
After rendition of 'Saraswati Vandana' by vocalist Sniti Mishra, the first session of the Day 1 'Saving Cultural Practices: Stories of Our Future' will be helmed by researcher Prateek Patnaik, Odissi dancer Arushi Mudgal and Sniti. Dharmendra Pradhan will take the stage next followed by another session 'Where is the New Generation of Odia Writers?' where luminaries of the Odia literature Gourahari Das, Adhyapak Biswaranjan, Chandrasekhar Hota and Sanghamitra Bhanja will discuss the pertinent issue.
A rickshaw wallah-turned-acclaimed writer-turned-politician Manoranjan Byapari will speak on how he rewrote his life, motivational speaker and mental health advocate Aparna Piramal Raje will give lessons on how to be happy. Award-winning members of the Odia film industry Prashant Nanda, Surya Deo, Himansu Sekhar Khatua, Sabyasachi, Sanjoy Patnaik will brainstorm on 'Odia Literature and Odia Cinema' while Indian music and cinema scholar Yatindra Mishra will engage in a conversation with columnist-author Anant Vijay on writing cinema.
One of India's most famous international actors Kabir Bedi will speak about his journey in Bollywood as well as Hollywood. Followed by writer and director Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari's lesson on how to write a great script. Author and journalist Aparna Karthikeyan will engage in a conversation with poet and writer Sridala Swami on Indian tales.
Moreover, similar to every year, this year also OLF is hosting a story-telling session 'When Imagination Takes Flight: My Bag of Tales' by popular storyteller and founder of Your Story Bag, Rituparna Ghosh. Also, students of schools across Bhubaneswar will take part in a debate competition.
Apart from this art, literary, and film journies, academic and researcher Madhu Kishwar and editor Ghazala Wahab will engage in a discussion over 'The Hijab Question'. Authors Nanditha Krishna and Parvati Sharma would deliberate on 'North and South: Does Our History Need to Be Reoriented?'. Likewise, politician and social leader Ram Madhav will engage in a conversation on 'The Hindutva Paradigm: The Social Shift'.
