Young writers said- they were not invited to speak at Kanniyakumari Book Fair

Kanniyakumari: Alleging lack of representation at the ongoing Kanniyakumari Book Fair, a section of budding writers have claimed that they were not given a chance to speak at the event. In response, the officials have said that the intention was not to stop them from speaking.

The Kanniyakumari Book Fair has been jointly organized by the district administration and (Booksellers and Publishers Association of South India) BAPASI, and is being held from February 17 to 27 at the SLB Government Higher Secondary School campus in Nagercoil. Many writers are giving speeches during this period. Speaking at the book fair, I Kennedy of Venadu Sahitya Sangathan said that a section of young writers have not been given the opportunity to interact with the audience.

He said that any opportunity to speak at the fair would encourage the writers of the young generation. Nagercoil-based writer Prabhu Dharmaraj (40) said he was not even aware of the book fair, adding that only a section of writers were invited to speak. Agreeing with Dharmaraj, 27-year-old writer S Saju said that visiting writers should also have been invited to share a few words. “But the organizers said only two writers can speak per day. So, a total of 20 writers have been invited to speak in 10 days,” he said.

According to officials, before the book fair, the district administration had held a meeting with authors and publishers who suggested a list of authors who were later invited to speak at the fair. When contacted, District Magistrate PN Sridhar said that if the interested authors had submitted a memorandum before the book fair, they would also have been given a chance to speak.