Sahitya Sammelan to be held in Canacona

All India Konkani Praishad will organise the 24th Akhil Bhartiya Konkani Sahitya Sammelan in Canacona on February 2 and February 3.

Speaking during a press conference at Panaji, acting president, Usha Rane said: “This year we are expecting the participation of around 1000 Konkani lovers not only from Goa but also from other parts like Mangalore and Belgavi.”

The inaugural will be held on February 2 from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. with Marathi writer Vishwas Patil delivering the inaugural speech. Canacona MLA, Isidore Fernandes; IAS Secretary, (official language) WVR Murthy and chairman Canacona Municipality, Nitu Dessai will also be present for the function. The presidential address will be given by Konkani writer, Melwin Rodrigues.

Sahitya Akademi awardees Paresh Kamat, Kumud Naik, Wilma Bantwal and Narayan Dessai will be felicitated at the event.

The first session ‘Humorous Konkani Literature: Creation and Evalution’ by Dilip Borkar will be held from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m., followed by poetry presentation from 2:30 p.m. to 4 p.m.

The second session of the first day will start at 4 p.m. and will be on the topic ‘Appreciation of Konkani literature through different media’ which will be chaired by Sandesh Prabhudesai. The last session for the first day will be ‘Literary contribution towards the enrichment of the Konkani language’ chaired by Devidas Kadam at 6 p.m. “This session is an interesting one as we will review the works in Konkani going on in places like Karwar, Belgavi, Mumbai, Malvan, Manglore etc,” said Rane. Post the sessions, a cultural programme will be held from7:30 p.m. onwards.

The second day will start with poetry session ‘Ghodkam’, followed by a session on ‘Contemporary time and the lack of appropriate avenues in Konkani literature’ at 10 a.m. The event will also witness a panel discussion at 11:30 a.m. and poetry session by 12:30 p.m.

“At the concluding function, four people from Canacona who have worked in the field of Konkani – Ramesh Komarpant, Chandrkant Prabhu, Dilip Gaitonde and Martin Fernandes, will be felicitated for their contribution,” said Rane. The venues and the halls where the activities will take place will be named after Konkani writers, poets and others who have contributed immensely to the field.

The chief guest for the valedictory function will be Konkani writer, Uday Bhembre. President of Karnataka Konkani Academy, RP Nayak and councillor, Canacona Municipality, Samita Madgaonkar will also be present at the function.