Vijayawada: Supreme Court Judge Justice Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha will be inaugurating 36th Vijayawada Book Festival at Indira Gandhi Municipal Stadium premises here on Friday, under the aegis of Vijayawada Book Festival Society. The festival will feature centenary celebrations of eminent personalities and seminars focusing on the growth and evolution of Telugu literature.
Addressing a media conference held at stadium premises on Thursday, Society president T Manohar Naidu and Secretary K Lakshmaiah announced the detailed programme of the festival. On this occasion, the festival invitation was formally released by Sahitya Akademi member and noted publisher, EMESCO chairman Vijay Kumar.
Manohar Naidu said the inaugural ceremony of the book festival will be held on Friday evening ¬(January 2). Prominent leaders, including Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan, Odisha Governor Dr Kambhampati Haribabu and former Vice-President of India Muppavarapu Venkaiah Naidu, are expected to visit the Vijayawada Book Festival.
The organisers stated that several eminent personalities will attend the occasion, including AP Chief Secretary K Vijayanand, AP Deputy Speaker Sri Raghu Ramakrishnam Raju, Sakshi Editorial Board director B Murali, senior editor K Ramachandra Murthy, Andhra Jyothy Delhi Bureau Chief A Krishna Rao, CPI national leader K Narayana and other distinguished guests.
The 11-day book exhibition will host 315 stalls, set up by publishers from across the country and various government departments. A special ‘Book Lovers’ Padayatra’ will be flagged off on January 6 by High Court Judge Justice Krishnamohan.
As part of the literary programmes, seminars will be conducted on significant themes such as 25 years of publishing (January 3), 25 years of poetry (January 5), 25 years of the novel (January 7), 25 years of literary criticism (January 8), 25 years of short stories (January 9), 25 years of theatre and 25 years of children’s literature (January 10).
Centenary celebrations will also be a key attraction. The centenary meeting of noted political thinker Mandali Venkata Krishna Rao will be held on January 6, followed by the centenary celebrations of literary stalwart Tumati Donappa on January 7 and renowned litterateur Munipalle on January 8.
