Curtain goes up on 4th Edition of Mathrubhumi lit fest
Culture Minister hoists festival flag of MBIFL 2023
Trivandrum / February 1, 2023
Thiruvananthapuram, Feb. 01: The stage is set for the fourth edition of Mathrubhumi International Festival of Letters (MBIFL 2023) with Culture Minister Shri Saji Cherian hoisting the festival flag here this evening, heralding one of India’s largest the litfests commencing here tomorrow.
The four-day MBIFL coincides with the centenary of Mathrubhumi, one of India’s leading media houses, and 100 years of three literary classics— ‘Çhandalabhikshuki’ of Kumaran Asan, ‘The Waste Land’ of T S Eliot and ‘The Prophet’ of Khalil Gibran.
These monumental events were commemorated at the festival curtain-raiser event at Kanakakunnu Palace in the city.
Shri Cherian said MBIFL is a major annual event that reflects the significant role of Mathrubhumi in the country’s cultural and media domains. He said the Mathrubhumi newspaper and its allied publications have contributed immensely in nurturing and upholding the secular and democratic values of Kerala.
Revenue Minister Shri K Rajan, who launched the festival book, recalled the contributions of Mathrubhumi to freedom struggle and Kerala’s political and social progress on the occasion.
Welcoming the gathering, Mr MV Shreyams Kumar, Managing Director, Mathrubhumi, who is also the festival Chairman, said it’s an exciting co-incidence that the centenary of Mathrubhumi is being celebrated along with the 100 years of three great literary classics.
Shri VK Prasanth, MLA, Booker Prize winning Omani author Jokha AlHarthi, poet KG Sankara Pillai and Shri PV Chandran, Chairman & Managing Editor, Mathrubhumi, who is the Chief Patron of MBIFL, were present.
Poet V Madhusoodanan Nair, Dr B Hariharan and Dr MA Askar delivered commemoration speeches on ‘Chandalabhikshuki’, ‘The Waste Land’ and ‘The Prophet’ respectively.
Manipuri classical dance Pung Cholom and dance drama Raas Leela were staged to enthrall the gathering while students of Sri Swathi Thirunal College of Music, Thiruvananthapuram, recited poems.
The sessions of MBIFL, touching a wide range of live issues, will begin with the keynote address by Jnanpith laureate M T Vasudevan Nair at 10 am on February 2. At 6 in the evening, Chief Minister Shri Pinarayi Vijayan will formally inaugurate the festival. The theme of the festival is “Shadows of History, Lights of the Future.”
Tanzanian-born British author and Nobel laureate Abdulrazak Gurnah, Booker Prize winner Sri Lankan writer Shehan Karunatilaka, Jnanpith awardees Amitav Ghosh and Damodar Mauzo are also taking part in the fest.
MBIFL 2023, (also known as ‘Ka’ in Malayalam), will witness an impressive line-up of Nobel and Booker Prize winners and Jnanpith awardees, who will be among more than 400 eminent names in creative fields.
Mr P V Nidhish is the Festival Patron and Mayura M S and Devika M S are the Festival Directors.
