Puspagiri Literature Festival: Young writers should read more books, says eminent poet Dr Phani Mohanty

By Akshya Rout

Jajpur, Jan. 25: Puspagiri Literature Festival was celebrated with full zest and zeal by a leading literary organization “Silalip” on Monday.

Eminent poet Sahitya Akademi Awardee Dr Phani Mohanty inaugurated the event where he spoke about the importance of mother tongue in his speech. He also suggested the young writers to read more books of senior writers and ancestors to understand the root of our literature.

Brigadier Sarveswar Satpathy, the president of Silalipi, introduced guests.

Mr Ratnakara Rout, IAS (Rted) who joined as chief guest, talked about the golden history of Ratnagiri heritage.

Mr K K Mohanty, senior journalist from Kolkata, said all good books of Odia should be available to global readers through translations. It is high to take steps in this regard on priority basis, he added.

Other prominent figures of the city like Bari MLA Sunanda Das, Kamla Satpathy, an Akademi Awardee for translation, Dr Bijayananda Singh graced the occasion as guest of honours.

Litterateur Bidyutlata Das was awarded Silalipi Praskar-2022 for her immense contribution to Odia Literature.

A poetry reading session was also organized where eminent poets from different corners of the state recited their poems.