Glimpses from the Dhaka Lit Fest 2023
The Dhaka Lit Fest was established as a way to promote Bangladeshi culture and literature to the rest of the world. This year’s lit fest was arguably one of the most memorable ones. Not only were there many renowned speakers and guests from all walks and nationalities but each individual had a story to tell. Spanning five days, the popular event had authors and creatives from a variety of genres and backgrounds, from Bangladesh, Australia, England, Switzerland, to India. Notable among them were names such as Amit Ashraf, Amitabh Reza, Amitav Ghosh, Animes Roy, Armeen Musa, Asaduzzaman Noor, Azmeri Haque Badhon, Kazi Amdadul Hoque, Kishwar Chowdhury, Muhammed Zafar Iqbal, Nuhash Humayun, Orhan Pamuk and more. Held at the Bangla Academy of Dhaka University, hundreds of people braved the bone-chilling cold to enjoy their love of literature with like-minded individuals.
There was a host of interactive sessions with the guests that were met with great enthusiasm by all the visitors. ‘Torn Apart’ was one of the most insightful segments, hosted by Nuruddin Farah, Geetanjali Shree, and Shehan Karunatilaka with Barbara Epler as the acting chair. The insightful session dealt with a broad range of abstract topics such as the dwindling concept of human empathy, how dangerous social media has become nowadays, and how losing one’s roots was akin to losing one’s conscience.
At the end of the fourth day of the event, book lovers could be seen thronging the book stalls one last time and frantically buying books whilst simultaneously listening to the Coke Studio performance by Animes Roy, Pantha Kanai, Rubayat Rehman, Rituraj, Nandita, Sunidhi Nayak, and Boga Taleb.
Another memorable and impactful segment was, ‘The Street Is Not A Home’ featuring Shirah Majumdar and children’s author Mike Sherriff which talked about the difficulties faced by the street children of Dhaka and how their lives are drastically different from ours. It was an interactive session that made many young readers rethink the phrase, “life is hard”.
Renowned writer, Amitav Ghosh’s segment, “The Hungry Ghost” had many eager listeners, particularly female readers who resonated with his characters. It was important to the female listeners as it not only dealt with the social expectations that women had to deal with but also talked about the generational trauma and guilt that most women deal with, especially the guilt when it comes to prioritising either their family or their career, which is something that is becoming a deeply relevant and personal issue.
There was a host of interactive sessions with the guests that were met with great enthusiasm by all the visitors.
Another interesting segment that caught my attention was, “Icons: From Marilyn to Mao, and many more” which was hosted by Dominic Ziegler, Florence Noiville, Milan Kundera, and Sudeep Chakravarti, and was moderated by Sarah Churchwell, The session talked about the god and bad sides of social media. It focused on how social media has helped many influencers to become famous and yet those who truly need to be acknowledged, such as lawyers and healthcare workers are not as respected or not known. This is especially true when individuals are either born into wealth or have access to wealth such as Elon Musk or those who have a large social media presence and can use it to sway public opinion. The session ended with the speakers acknowledging the fact that one of the biggest reasons that people blow up on social media or become icons is the power and influence they have over the general populace.
Another sad but brutal segment that I believe deserves more attention is called, “Nobody’s Children”. The session talked about how Street children in Dhaka demonstrate enormous resilience in coping with the vulnerabilities and adversities that are systemically forced onto them. The numbers of street children grow every year, and the post-Covid rise in their numbers causes higher concern for the responsibilities of the state, the way the state has failed the street children, and what can be done to give these children a part of their childhood back.
Alongside the guest speakers and their riveting talks, the Bangla Academy also hosted stalls from many different organisations such as Brac Kumon, Goofi World, ULAB press, as well as North South University and IUB University. In addition, there were a large number of food stalls selling various types of food. Moreover, many well-known book stalls were present ready to display and sell their wares. With genres from romance and comedy to horror, every kind of book immiginable was present in both Bangla and English.
At the end of the fourth day of the event, book lovers could be seen thronging the book stalls one last time and frantically buying books whilst simultaneously listening to the Coke Studio performance by Animes Roy, Pantha Kanai, Rubayat Rehman, Rituraj, Nandita, Sunidhi Nayak, and Boga Taleb. All in all the 10th edition of the Dhaka Lit Fest went off with a bang, especially after the 3-year hiatus which whetted the appetites of book and literature lovers all over Bangladesh.