The 10th edition of the Dhaka Lit Fest (DLF) kicked off to a colourful start on Thursday at the Bengal Academy grounds. The DLF is being organised after a gap of three years due to the Corona pandemic. The DLF is one of the largest literary festivals of Bangladesh in which more than 500 literary personalities, film makers, artists and people from the field of science are participating.
The 4-day event began with Buddhist Chants followed by a mesmerising dance performance by Manipuri dancers at the Abdul Karim Sahitya Bisharad Auditorium of Bangla Academy. State Minister for Cultural Affairs K M Khalid formally inaugurated the Lit Fest. Nobel Prize Winner for Literature Abdur Razzak Gurna and Amitav Ghosh spoke during the inaugural event.
Amitav Ghosh spoke about his link with the country as his parents were from Bangladesh. He said that he grew up hearing stories about Bangladesh and still feels connected to the country when he hears someone speaking in the local dialect of his mother in the streets of New York.
The four day event is featuring a galaxy of internationally acclaimed authors including Amitav Ghosh, Shehan Karunatilaka, Alexandra Pringle, Geetanjali Shree, Esther Freud, Joy Goswami, Kaiser Haq among others. Apart from literature and art, there are programmes and discussions about science and other areas of interest, film shows, puppetry events among others.