The Kerala International Literature Festival organized by the Kerala Sahitya Akademi came on Thursday with a lively ceremony that combined reflection, honor and cultural pride.
Akademi President satchidanandan inaugurated the Valedictory session, while secretary CP Abubacker lowered the festival flag.
In a historic moment, the Akademi library was renamed ‘Kerala Sahitya Akademi Lalitambika Anthharjanam Memorial Library,’ pay tribute to the groundbreaking writer and social reformer.
“It is an honor to devote the library of the Akademi to Lalitambika Antharjanam, a name that represents courage, compassion and progressive thinking,” said Mr. Satchidanandan.
“Literature festivals open windows in democracy at a time when it always feels closed. They are spaces for free conversations between various ideas and the efforts of Kerala to get into rhythm with the progress of the world,” he said.
The session contained a keynote address from Quiz Master and writer GS Pradep and a special address of Praseetha Chalakudy. Poets from Nepal, including Bhuvan Thapaliya and Amar Akash, were present as special guests together with members of the Lalitambika family Anthharjanam, Rajendran Namoothiri and Tanuja Bhattathiri.
The meeting was chaired by Akademi Vice-President Ashokan Charuvil.
The festival, which started on August 17, brought together writers, poets and thinkers around the world and promoted open dialogue and cultural exchange.
Earlier, while tackling a session entitled ‘Indian Literature – Singular or Memultural, Panelled members said that language unit and literary harmony were threatened.
The current political climate in India was a serious threat to linguistic unity and literary harmony, said speakers during a session under the chairmanship of writer and poet Chandrakant Patil.
Panel members noted that Indian literature was deeply interconnected, but today regional languages struggled to thrive under the growing dominance of Hindi and English. “Regional languages find it difficult to maintain themselves against Hindi and the English hegemony,” said writer Sachin Ketkar.
Literary critic Prafling Shildar emphasized the unique multiple of India and noted: “A single story takes on countless forms in this country. For example, Ramayana alone has more than 900 versions, which is proof of the complex polyphony of the Indian literature.”
In the discussion, learned Manu Chakravarti said that literary diversity flourished through cultural and linguistic exchanges. “We live in a time when literature expands and evolves more than ever,” he said.
The session emphasized that although the multilingual traditions of India have historically enriched its literary material, the current tilt to a few languages runs the risk of reducing this diversity and to undermine centuries of cultural integration.
Writer NS Madhavan said the country was a non -declared emergency. In a conversation with V. Musafar Ahmad, he warned that the refusal of voting rights, as witness in Bihar, could be repeated everywhere in the country. “The danger of detachment is real and cannot be ignored,” he warned.
What the literature turned, Mr. Madhavan noticed that although world literature became increasingly symbolic and was significant, Malayalam novels became more visual in their narrative style. He also noticed a worrying trend in translations. “Most translations are nowadays from Malayalam to English. But what we urgently need are translations between Indian languages,” he said, emphasizes that such exchanges are of vital importance for enriching literary traditions throughout the country.
Published – August 21, 2025 at 8:10 PM
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