52 literary figures were felicitated during the Goa Book Festival in Panaji.
PANAJI
Padma Shri awardee Goan writer Vinayak Khedekar was felicitated at the Goa Book Festival along with 52 noted literary personalities from the State. They included Marathi writers, novelists, poets and young authors. The event was attended by Prof Milind Sudhakar Marathe, chairman of the National Book Trust; Dr Kiran Thakur, chief patron of the festival; and Kiran Kendre, editor of Kishor magazine.
At the Author’s Corner, a panel on ‘Konkani, Marathi, English: Multilingual Future of Goa’ discussed the State’s language mix and cultural identity. Speakers said multilingualism is a part of daily life shaped by education, literature and social practice. They stressed dialogue and balance rather than rivalry between languages. The panel featured Prof Marathe, journalist Paresh Prabhu, writer Ramesh Saju Ghadi and academic Vinayak Laxman Bapat.
In another session, ‘From Text to Screen: The Art of Adaptation’, filmmaker Chandraprakash Dwivedi spoke with Dev Kanya Thakur about turning literature and history into cinema. Dwivedi said adaptation needs deep research, imagination and reading between the lines to build characters and conflicts. He also noted how film dialogues have changed with audiences and storytelling styles.
In ‘History as a Living Conversation’, Mohan Shete, in discussion with Sanjay Chakanne, narrated episodes linked to the Peshwas and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. Referring to battles such as Basrur and Palkhed, he showed how the past continues to influence present memory and identity.
