Assam Book Fair 2022-2023: Bookworms flock to book fair amidst literary rendezvous

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: Bookworms flocked to the Assam Book Fair at the AEI Field at Chandmari in Guwahati on the last day of 2022 today. The day witnessed hordes of book lovers thronging the book fair amidst the literary interactions of writers and readers.

Publication Board, Assam (PBA) conducted a seminar on 'The Importance of Folk Culture in the Development of Assamese Literature' at the book fair. As an anchor, the Head of the Assamese Department at Gauhati University Dr Kanak Chandra Saharia said, "The refined form of 'krishti' (folk culture) is 'sanskriti' (culture). Nobody can be successful as a writer without folk culture. Literary works depicting folk life continue to thrive for generations. The Assamese literature is replete with the folk culture of the communities. Writers, from Madhab Kandali, Sankardev, Madhabdev, Ananta Kandali, and Laxminath Bezbarua to modern writers, have enriched Assamese literature with content from the folk culture. This flow will continue."

Dr Dharani Lahon, a guest speaker, said, "Literature bereft of folk life cannot touch the hearts of readers. The folklife of Assam is of diverse levels and diverse tunes. Writers enriched the Assamese literature by depicting the folklife and folk languages in their creative works."

Dr Surya Das said, "Assam is replete with folk culture. This abundance of traditions enriched the tradition of Assamese literature."

Dr Meghana Choudhury said, "Folk culture is a way of life of people. Search folk culture is a process to get blended with the folklife."

In the afternoon, the organizers conducted a seminar on 'The Importance of Scripts in the Development of Assamese Cinema'. Noted director Sanjib Hazarika anchored the seminar.

Hazarika said, "Jyotiprasad Agarwala proved the importance of good scripts in the Assamese cinema through his work 'Jaymati'. The history of Assamese cinema continues to go on the trail left behind by Agarwala. Directing a story is an important matter in cinemas."

Guest speaker Aparajita Pujari said, "Newness is one of the important aspects of the development of art. One has to take care to develop a story to make it scale the climax to woo the viewers."

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