Where:
Bhanja Kala Mandap, Sanskruti Bhawan, Near State Museum, Kalpana Square, Bhubaneswar,
Odisha,
Odia literature compares with the best amongst the regional literatures of the country. Odia has also been recently accorded the status of a classical language along with Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam, in view of its great antiquity and richness of the literary heritage. Like any regional language, the readership base of Odia literary works is limited by the geographical and linguistic boundaries set by the territory and population where Odia language is spoken and written. Due to inadequate translation of Odia literary works and absence of good number of bilingual writers writing both in Odia and English language with equal ease and competence, Odia literature does not get its rightful place in the literary landscape of the country and abroad. The major object of the Utkal Literature Festival is to promote Odia language and literature and take it beyond the borders of Odisha through translation and bilingual writing and to fully realize the rich potential of a classical language. As such, the role for the Trust organizing the festival is not confined to holding a lone literature festival as an annual event, but to hold such festivals on a lesser scale in different parts of the State as well as different parts of the country, where there is a substantial Odia population. The festival also intends to connect to the Odia diaspora in the country and abroad and promote Odia art and culture . The wider thrust of the festival is on promotion of regional literature so that the Indian literary tradition is collectively enriched by the rich diversity and traditional wisdom available in the regional literary traditions of the country. This year, another focus area of the festival is on the interface between cinema and literature. Thus, the festival aims to highlight the ultimate unity of art and aesthetics, the interface between literature and other creative arts and the synergy amongst various literary and creative art forms.