Festival of Bangla Lit held in London

Since its inception in 2002, Bishwa Shahitya Kendro, London (BSKL) has been organising Baishakhi Literature Festival (BOI-LIT Festival) to mark the Bangla new year with a unique display of authentic Bangladeshi heritage. BSKL aims at promoting language, literature and culture in true flavour of Bengal at the very heart of cosmopolitan London, says a press release.

The two-day festival was held last month at Rich Mix Cultural Centre, London. The first day of the festival marked the children's literature emphasising on traditional and multicultural storytelling, dance–drama, songs and rhythmical recital of childhood rhymes. London's illustrious storyteller Sef Townsend, Daedalus theatre's artistic director Paul Burgess, and Poet Shamim Azad, Chair, BSKL -- inaugurated the children's fete by lighting up candles with the theme song “Alo Amar Alo” sung by BSKL singers. The owner of Bibiana fashion house, Lipi Khandker and poet/writer/musician Freddy Macha graced the show as special guests. The programme was presented by TV host Punam Priyam.

The second day of festival was themed on ''Bangla Renaissance and Influence of European literature''. Poet Shamim Azad briefly mentioned the reason for selecting such a theme. The programme focused on the work of Rabindranath Tagore, Michael Modhushudhan Datta and DL Roy's work and influence of WB Yeats, Homer's Iliad and Shakespeare's literature on their creativity.