By Dr Tania Saili BakshiIn its 7th year, Valley of Words|Shabdavali is traveling across cities to spread the magic of the written word. In this series, the festival’s Hindi Vertical will begin on Hindi Diwas i.e. 14th September at Dev Sanskriti Vidyalaya. A two-day ‘Hindi Sahitya Sammelan 2023‘ is being organized in Haridwar in collaboration with DSV on the 14th & 15th September.
A ‘not-to-miss’ opportunity for lovers of Hindi Literature, the event will witness a galaxy of Hindi authors, translators, moderators and discussants come together at the ‘Hindi Sahitya Sammelan 2023.’ The books that will be discussed at the event have been handpicked from the 2023 longlist as well as the shortlisted books for VoW Book Awards, 2023 under the Hindi Fiction, Hindi Non-Fiction and Hindi Translations from Bhashas of India categories.
So what can one expect? There will be curated sessions with well-acclaimed authors and litterateurs such as Ashok Pandey, Ushakiran Khan, Neelesh Raghuvanshi, Vyas Mishra, Madhu B Joshi, Shubhra Upadhyay, Priyadarshan and Sheela Rohekar. Besides this, a Kavi Sammelan will also be organized in which senior poets like Lakshmi Shankar Bajpai, who also heads the Hindi vertical of VoW|Shabdavali, Buddhinath Mishra, Anjum Sharma and many others will move you with their poetry.
Another interesting feature is the involvement of, and participation by young Valley of Words volunteers from Graphic Era, DIT and DAV PG College. Many of them will also be sharing their creative expressions in the Hindi Sahitya Sammelan.
Apart from this, special sessions with senior poet Padmashree Leeladhar Jagudi, former DGP of Uttarakhand and author Anil Raturi; author and poetess Mamta Kiran are sure to leave the audience, readers and fans asking for more.
Vinay Sahastrabuddhe, President, ICCR will preside over the inaugural ceremony while himself a celebrated author and Member of Parliament from Haridwar Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’, will preside over the closing ceremony.
Founder of Valley of Words, Dr Sanjeev Chopra and Pro-Vice Chancellor of Dev Sanskriti Vishwavidyalaya, Dr Chinmay Pandya reiterated the fact that the event is an important step towards promoting literature in Devbhoomi Uttarakhand and this confluence of writers and poets from the world of Hindi Literature will leave a deep impact on those who witness this event.
Both VoW and DSV have spearheaded this cultural engagement with the State and the Nation’s official language, and are confident that the event will become a landmark event in the literary calendar of Haridwar.
Those interested, can witness this free access, open-to-all event on the 14th-15th September, 2023 at the Dev Sanskrit Vidyalaya, Shantikunj, Haridwar.
