Over the three day of the festival 200 speakers, performers and thinkers, will take part in discussions on diverse topics.
The special focus of this year’s lit-fest is on Indigenous Languages as the UNESCO has marked 2019 as the year of Indigenous Language Protection.
Renowned literary personalities and authors from Bangladesh and abroad like William Dalrymple, Monica Ali, H M Naqvi, Prayaag Akbar, Shashi Tharoor are participating in the festival.
Iconic Bangla author Shankar is the festival highlight of Bangla literature this year.
On the first day of the event, West Bengal-based writer Abhisek Sarkar and Bangladeshi poet Rofiquzzaman Rony were given the Gemcon Young Literature Award and Gemcon Young Poetry Award.
Abhisek and Rofiquzzaman won the awards for their manuscripts, “Nishiddho” and “Dhoashar Tamate Rong,” respectively.