Good news for fans of ‘the best Indian literature’

MORE than 60 writers, representing 22 Indian languages, gathered to discuss and share views on literary trends in language writings at the two-day LIC Gateway Litfest at the National Centre for Performing Arts, in Mumbai, this weekend.

The attraction this year was the 40 winners of Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar, who will be participating in the fifth edition of the festival.

Themed around “Youth Power in Indian Literature”, the festival aimed to celebrate the achievements of young writers in diverse literary streams.

Prominent speakers on the lineup included Padma Shree awardee and Sahitya Akademi president Chandrashekhara Kambar, Paul Zacharia, Perumal Murugan, Ranjith Hoskote, Manu Pillai, and S Harish, among others.

Meanwhile, the Rajkamal Prakashan Group has acquired four reputed Hindi publishing houses in one go.

“This is a milestone acquisition for us… the best of Indian literature will be available” to readers, Ashok Maheshwari, the group’s managing director, said this week.

“Our commitment to conserve the diverse heritage of the written word will further strengthen the literary fabric of country,” Maheshwari said.

The four publishing houses are: Sahitya Bhawan Private Limited, Purvoday Prakashan, Saransh Prakashan and Remadhav Prakashan, set up in 1917, 1951, 1994 and 2005, respectively.

Established in 1947, Rajkamal Prakashan has published some of the leading writers of our times.

Its catalogue includes thousands of books in 21 genres under 45 different subjects and translated works from more than 25 Indian languages.