Kolkata: India's first Bengali literary festival to be held here on Saturday (October 10) will bring together litterateurs from West Bengal and Bangladesh, the organisers said on Tuesday.

Curated by the Oxford Bookstores in association with PatraBharati publications, the day-long Apeejay Bangla Sahitya Utsob (ABSU) will explore trends and changes in Bengali literature through debate, discussions and poetry sessions.

"Though there are three literary festivals held in Kolkata each year, there is no festival dedicated to Bengali literature," said Tridib Kumar Chattopadhyay, managing director, PatraBharati Group of Publications.

"Not only will it help to widen visibility but also bring controversial writings to the limelight," he added.

Participants include eminent authors Shirshendu Mukherjee, Nabaneeta Dev Sen, Samaresh Majumdar, Sankha Ghosh, Imdadul HaqMilon (Bangladesh), Bani Basu, amongst others.

To highlight the connect between cinema and literature, filmmakers Goutam Ghose, Suman Mukhopadhyay, Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury, Mainak Bhaumik as well as Bengali musicians Nachiketa, Surojit Chatterjee and Kalika Prasad will engage in interactive sessions.

Themes of discussion include "Epar Bangla Opar Bangla. Sahityer Bhasa Ki Bodle Jacche"(Is the language of Bengali literature changing across the border?), "Bitorko Na Holey Sahitya Jonopriyo Hoena!" (Literature has to be controversial to be popular!) and "Barshik Pujor Phosol! Ete Ki Sahitya Samriddha Hoye?" (Do the Novels, stories and poems published every year during the festive season contribute to enriching Bengali Literature).

This apart, topics such as adaptations to movies and vice versa, modern-day Bengali poetry and lyrics will also be debated upon at the event to be held at the bookstore.

(IANS)