Event Details

The Lit fest 2020, 'Whispers for Now, Hear the Hills'

FROM 28 Nov 2020 TO 30 Nov 2020

Venue : Online @

The Lit fest 2020, 'Whispers, for Now, Hear the Hills', the first-ever virtual Literary Fest of Sikkim and Darjeeling Hills was jointly organized by Sikkim Manipal University, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences and Cafe the Twins, Methibari, Siliguri. The event was organised with an objective to promote literature and creativity in the Hills. Mr. Prayash Gupta and Mrs. Lekha Rai were the coordinators of the event.
Day 1 of the fest began with the inaugural programme (Session I) and was hosted by Mrs Lekha Rai, event Coordinator and the owner of Cafe THE TWINS. The event was graced by esteemed poet and critic Dr Rajendra Bhandari, Associate Professor (Retired) of the Department of Nepali Language and Literature, Sikkim Govt. College Tadong. The event started with a welcome address by Mr. Prayash Gupta, Event Coordinator of the LitFest 2020 and Assistant Professor, Sikkim Manipal University followed by an address by Mr. Haresh Satpathy, Assistant Professor Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Sikkim Manipal University.
Session 2 of the event Creative Writing Workshop for Aspiring Writers was graced by Mr. Pankaj Giri (Author, "The Fragile Thread of Hope" and winner of Best Author (Fiction) at Indian Literary Awards 2020) as the resource person.
The third session of the day was graced by Mr. Raja Puniani, Poet, Lyricist, Translator, Assistant Professor, Surendra Institute of Engineering and Management (SIEM, Siliguri) with his talk on Green Writing: An Irreplaceable Necessity scheduled from 8 pm IST. Ms. Tenzing Doma Bhutia, Assistant Professor, Sikkim Manipal University was the moderator of the event.
Day 2 witnessed two sessions. Session 1 started with a Panel Discussion on the topic Literary Translation: Its Importance, Challenges, and Limitations with Prof. Ashes Gupta, Dept. of English, Tripura University, Agartala, Dr. Rosy Chamling, Head, Department of English, Sikkim University, Dr. Sarita Sharma, Editor-in-chief at TAFFD's Magazine (USA), Academician, Poet and Translator, and Mr. Mahesh Paudyal, Central Department of English, Tribhuvan University as the esteemed panelists. Dr. Priyanka Kakoti was the moderator of the discussion.
Session 2 for the day titled Tale of three-Story Tellers featured two promising storytellers Ms. Arpana Gurung and Ms. Kate Sarah. Mrs. Lekha Rai was the host for the session.
Day 3 of the LitFest started with Session 1, In Conversation with Manoshi Sinha, author of the best-seller "Saffron Swords". Session 2, witnessed Talk on Book Publishing: Perspectives with Mr. Anurag Basnet, Head, Department of Mass Communication and Journalism, SRM University, Sikkim as a resource person. Ms. Deepa Sharma, Assistant Professor, Sikkim Manipal University, was the moderator of the event. Session 3 of the day, Poetry reading- "Antaral" featured 15 talented poets from Sikkim, Darjeeling, and Assam. The session was graced by Mr. Tashi Chopel, Poet "How to Collect a Folktale". The session was hosted by Mr. Prayash Gupta, Event Coordinator of the LitFest 2020 and Assistant Professor, Sikkim Manipal University.
The Fest concluded with a Vote of thanks by Mrs. Lekha Rai.