SAARC Festival of Literature will run from 12th March to 17th March in
the city of Taj Mahal, Agra and will come to close in Delhi on the
17th March 2009. Foundation of SAARC Writers and Literature is
organizing the Festival at difficult times when expectations from
creative fraternity and right-minded peace activists have soared high
in the aftermath of unprecedented terrorists attack on Mumbai, and
sensitivities of the creative fraternity across the SAARC region,
particularly in India and Pakistan, are shaken and bruised.
FOSWAL invites one and all to the 29th SAARC Festival of Literature,
and urge them to join in the reaffirmation of the pledge of the
creative fraternity to stand together for peace and tranquility even
in these times of terror and to celebrate the civilisational
continuity of culture and creative writings of the entire SAARC
region. The Festival will cover a wide range of themes from role of
wordsmiths in times of terror to its impact on popular culture,
prevailing conditions of chaos and confusion, exploring history,
resolving ethnic angst, poetry recitations, and readings of short
stories.
Ajeet Cour, eminent short story writer and author, is the driving
force behind the Festival. She has been assiduously trying hard over
the past couple of months to transform the occasion, which was
initially announced as SFL into a ‘Peace Pilgrimage’. Little wonder,
she chose the city of Taj Mahal to send out the larger message to the
rest of the world.
She is also the Founder president of Foundation of SAARC Writers and
Literature. FOSWAL is a unique organisation, which traces its origin
in historic gatherings of writers and poets from India and Pakistan in
the summer of 1987.
Her literary drive carried the torch of peace forward and eventually
convinced powers-that-be to recognize the power of literature and
creative ideas, of a whole generation of intelligentsia who have been
constantly bruised by the very act of existing in these times of
crumbling values, degradation of democracy, poverty and deprivations
of a hundred kinds, hunger and malnutrition, suspicions about our
immediate neighbour, bearing the bruises of history which sliced a
country like cutting a cake, leaving behind a trail of blood and
hatred and suspicion.
But if life has to move forward, we will have to find ways to mend the
torn souls, find new values for reconciliations to force peace in age
of turbulence. We shall recognize the power of literature to sail
forth for peace even when the river is in turbulent flood.
Challenges are galore before her in making the current SAARC Festival
of Literature a resounding success. She derives hope and reason from
the fact that literature adds to reality. It doesn't simply describe
it. It enriches the necessary competencies that daily life requires
and provides, and in this respect, it irrigates the deserts that our
lives have already become. It dissects the multi-layered
sensitivities, and dreams.
“Meeting of minds in these difficult times will give fresh impetus to
the process of peace and confidence building measures, which vested
interests want to derail. Let us not allow them to succeed in their
nefarious designs”, she says.
A feisty rebel of a storyteller and cultural impresario still going
great guns in her early seventies, Ajeet Cour has defied traditions
and conventions over the past decades to build bridges of cultural and
literary connectivity among the SAARC countries. Young writers on the
streets of Lahore, Islamabad, Karachi, Colombo, Thimpu, Male, Dhaka
and Kathmandu hail her as undisputed Matriarch of South Asian literary
and culture circuit. She excels in spotting raw, young talent in the
world of literature and arts, and surprises the world with her cutting-
edge flamboyance.
Over the past decades, she has single-handedly waged several battles
against the army of skeptics and cynics. Besides waging a single-
handed crusade for cultural connectivity among the creative fraternity
among the in the SAARC countries in mid-eighties for the last four
decades, she has been fighting for the education and health of girl
child living on the fringes of society, for the right of expression
and for independence of thought and writings, for those living in
urban villages and slums with former Prime Minister late Vishwanath
Pratap Singh, for saving environment and even fighting the cases for
environment preservation and for saving historical heritage even up to
the Supreme Court of India. That is all what cultural activism is all
about.
“Culture is to know the best that has been dreamed and articulated in
the world. Only debate and divergence of views can enrich our history
and culture. The forthcoming SAARC Festival of Literature will
facilitate the candid flow of debate and divergence. Authors,
musicians and artists taking part in the Festival of the past have
been inspired by the free spirit of the occasion. We will be
celebrating the diversity of South Asian literary culture the way we
have been doing over the past twenty two years. It will be a great way
to celebrate the diversity of South Asian literary culture, yet
underlining the ancient civilisational links, throbbing and alive
since the Indus Valley Civilisation, nine thousand years old”, says
Cour.
The SAARC Festival has always been more than just a literary
gathering. Peace campaigners, journalists, social activists,
historians, musicians, folklorists, film and theatre artists, human
right activists and political philosophers have always been part of a
wider world of culture and art and real life here.
She dares to dream and push others hard to recognize the exciting
possibilities of dreaming together. “When we are dreaming with others,
it is the beginning of a transformed reality”.
It's only right that the Festival is being held in Agra, the city of
Taj (one of the seven wonders in the world). Gathering of eclectic
minds of creative expressions will be a tribute to the crowning glory
of Indo-Islamic civilization, in the aftermath of tragic terror
attacks on Mumbai. The Foswal President would like the galaxy of
creative intelligentsia to feel the radiant impact of majestic Taj
Mahal during deliberations over four days, March 12-16 in Agra and a
day, 17th March, in Delhi.
She says, “Writers will deliberate over trauma of terrorism at multi-
dimensional levels, and its impact on creative ideas and on society.
The role of writer in these times of terror, ethnic conflicts and
fundamentalism has got to be more eloquent and assertive. Foswal has
conceived the agenda to engage participants on a single platform in
order to reach a common ground as to how the writers and creative
people can articulate such conflicts in their creative and
journalistic stories, and in poetry, in films and theatre, in
paintings and sculpture, carving the paths leading to reconciliations,
compassion and good-neighbourly relations”.
In the light of rabid rise in religious extremism and mindless acts of
terrorism in the region, especially India and Pakistan, writers,
poets, journalists and peace activists have special responsibility to
debate and deliberate on everything that can help us recover lost
strands of compassion, transform it into sharpened sensitivity, and
resurrect our dead dreams from the debris.
The Festival of Literature welcomes sensitive thinkers to debate
besides various genres of creative expressions, democracy, governance
and poverty in South Asia to build a South Asian perspective, which
can be more relevant in building human relations. It is open for one
and all. Let’s join in the city of Taj Mahal.
Footnote:
FOUNDATION OF SAARC WRITERS AND LITERATURE has been working
tirelessly, with total passion, dedication and devotion, since 1987,
to create cultural connectivity in the SAARC region
* Please check details, if you want, from our website: www.foundationsaarcwrtiers.com
* We have been building bridges of cultural connectivity with all the
countries of the SAARC region, since 1987. With more vigorous efforts
since 1999 when we started organizing and putting in place our
National Chapters in all SAARC countries.
* The first SAARC Writers Conference we organized was in April 2000.
* Everybody realized at the highest levels, that it was a major step
of Track II Diplomacy in the region.
* The Foundation of SAARC Writers and Literature (Foswal) is an APEX
BODY OF SAARC, the only organisation in eight SAARC countries: India,
Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Maldives, Afghanistan,
legally authorized to organize literature-related and cultural
programmes under the SAARC banner and SAARC logo.
Everybody can join, listen to and participate in the deliberations,
discussions, poetry and short story readings.
For further detailed Information:
0091-11-26498070, 26496070
foundationsaarcwriters@yahoo.in
the city of Taj Mahal, Agra and will come to close in Delhi on the
17th March 2009. Foundation of SAARC Writers and Literature is
organizing the Festival at difficult times when expectations from
creative fraternity and right-minded peace activists have soared high
in the aftermath of unprecedented terrorists attack on Mumbai, and
sensitivities of the creative fraternity across the SAARC region,
particularly in India and Pakistan, are shaken and bruised.
FOSWAL invites one and all to the 29th SAARC Festival of Literature,
and urge them to join in the reaffirmation of the pledge of the
creative fraternity to stand together for peace and tranquility even
in these times of terror and to celebrate the civilisational
continuity of culture and creative writings of the entire SAARC
region. The Festival will cover a wide range of themes from role of
wordsmiths in times of terror to its impact on popular culture,
prevailing conditions of chaos and confusion, exploring history,
resolving ethnic angst, poetry recitations, and readings of short
stories.
Ajeet Cour, eminent short story writer and author, is the driving
force behind the Festival. She has been assiduously trying hard over
the past couple of months to transform the occasion, which was
initially announced as SFL into a ‘Peace Pilgrimage’. Little wonder,
she chose the city of Taj Mahal to send out the larger message to the
rest of the world.
She is also the Founder president of Foundation of SAARC Writers and
Literature. FOSWAL is a unique organisation, which traces its origin
in historic gatherings of writers and poets from India and Pakistan in
the summer of 1987.
Her literary drive carried the torch of peace forward and eventually
convinced powers-that-be to recognize the power of literature and
creative ideas, of a whole generation of intelligentsia who have been
constantly bruised by the very act of existing in these times of
crumbling values, degradation of democracy, poverty and deprivations
of a hundred kinds, hunger and malnutrition, suspicions about our
immediate neighbour, bearing the bruises of history which sliced a
country like cutting a cake, leaving behind a trail of blood and
hatred and suspicion.
But if life has to move forward, we will have to find ways to mend the
torn souls, find new values for reconciliations to force peace in age
of turbulence. We shall recognize the power of literature to sail
forth for peace even when the river is in turbulent flood.
Challenges are galore before her in making the current SAARC Festival
of Literature a resounding success. She derives hope and reason from
the fact that literature adds to reality. It doesn't simply describe
it. It enriches the necessary competencies that daily life requires
and provides, and in this respect, it irrigates the deserts that our
lives have already become. It dissects the multi-layered
sensitivities, and dreams.
“Meeting of minds in these difficult times will give fresh impetus to
the process of peace and confidence building measures, which vested
interests want to derail. Let us not allow them to succeed in their
nefarious designs”, she says.
A feisty rebel of a storyteller and cultural impresario still going
great guns in her early seventies, Ajeet Cour has defied traditions
and conventions over the past decades to build bridges of cultural and
literary connectivity among the SAARC countries. Young writers on the
streets of Lahore, Islamabad, Karachi, Colombo, Thimpu, Male, Dhaka
and Kathmandu hail her as undisputed Matriarch of South Asian literary
and culture circuit. She excels in spotting raw, young talent in the
world of literature and arts, and surprises the world with her cutting-
edge flamboyance.
Over the past decades, she has single-handedly waged several battles
against the army of skeptics and cynics. Besides waging a single-
handed crusade for cultural connectivity among the creative fraternity
among the in the SAARC countries in mid-eighties for the last four
decades, she has been fighting for the education and health of girl
child living on the fringes of society, for the right of expression
and for independence of thought and writings, for those living in
urban villages and slums with former Prime Minister late Vishwanath
Pratap Singh, for saving environment and even fighting the cases for
environment preservation and for saving historical heritage even up to
the Supreme Court of India. That is all what cultural activism is all
about.
“Culture is to know the best that has been dreamed and articulated in
the world. Only debate and divergence of views can enrich our history
and culture. The forthcoming SAARC Festival of Literature will
facilitate the candid flow of debate and divergence. Authors,
musicians and artists taking part in the Festival of the past have
been inspired by the free spirit of the occasion. We will be
celebrating the diversity of South Asian literary culture the way we
have been doing over the past twenty two years. It will be a great way
to celebrate the diversity of South Asian literary culture, yet
underlining the ancient civilisational links, throbbing and alive
since the Indus Valley Civilisation, nine thousand years old”, says
Cour.
The SAARC Festival has always been more than just a literary
gathering. Peace campaigners, journalists, social activists,
historians, musicians, folklorists, film and theatre artists, human
right activists and political philosophers have always been part of a
wider world of culture and art and real life here.
She dares to dream and push others hard to recognize the exciting
possibilities of dreaming together. “When we are dreaming with others,
it is the beginning of a transformed reality”.
It's only right that the Festival is being held in Agra, the city of
Taj (one of the seven wonders in the world). Gathering of eclectic
minds of creative expressions will be a tribute to the crowning glory
of Indo-Islamic civilization, in the aftermath of tragic terror
attacks on Mumbai. The Foswal President would like the galaxy of
creative intelligentsia to feel the radiant impact of majestic Taj
Mahal during deliberations over four days, March 12-16 in Agra and a
day, 17th March, in Delhi.
She says, “Writers will deliberate over trauma of terrorism at multi-
dimensional levels, and its impact on creative ideas and on society.
The role of writer in these times of terror, ethnic conflicts and
fundamentalism has got to be more eloquent and assertive. Foswal has
conceived the agenda to engage participants on a single platform in
order to reach a common ground as to how the writers and creative
people can articulate such conflicts in their creative and
journalistic stories, and in poetry, in films and theatre, in
paintings and sculpture, carving the paths leading to reconciliations,
compassion and good-neighbourly relations”.
In the light of rabid rise in religious extremism and mindless acts of
terrorism in the region, especially India and Pakistan, writers,
poets, journalists and peace activists have special responsibility to
debate and deliberate on everything that can help us recover lost
strands of compassion, transform it into sharpened sensitivity, and
resurrect our dead dreams from the debris.
The Festival of Literature welcomes sensitive thinkers to debate
besides various genres of creative expressions, democracy, governance
and poverty in South Asia to build a South Asian perspective, which
can be more relevant in building human relations. It is open for one
and all. Let’s join in the city of Taj Mahal.
Footnote:
FOUNDATION OF SAARC WRITERS AND LITERATURE has been working
tirelessly, with total passion, dedication and devotion, since 1987,
to create cultural connectivity in the SAARC region
* Please check details, if you want, from our website: www.foundationsaarcwrtiers.com
* We have been building bridges of cultural connectivity with all the
countries of the SAARC region, since 1987. With more vigorous efforts
since 1999 when we started organizing and putting in place our
National Chapters in all SAARC countries.
* The first SAARC Writers Conference we organized was in April 2000.
* Everybody realized at the highest levels, that it was a major step
of Track II Diplomacy in the region.
* The Foundation of SAARC Writers and Literature (Foswal) is an APEX
BODY OF SAARC, the only organisation in eight SAARC countries: India,
Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Maldives, Afghanistan,
legally authorized to organize literature-related and cultural
programmes under the SAARC banner and SAARC logo.
Everybody can join, listen to and participate in the deliberations,
discussions, poetry and short story readings.
For further detailed Information:
0091-11-26498070, 26496070
foundationsaarcwriters@yahoo.in
Comments
Post a Comment