Booker Prize winner Banu Mushtaq to chair 88th Sahitya Sammelana in Ballari

Ballari: The Kannada Sahitya Parishat, at its executive committee meeting here on Sunday, unanimously picked veteran Kannada writer and International Booker Prize winner Banu Mushtaq as the president of the 88th Akhila Bharata Kannada Sahitya Sammelana scheduled here in December.

Apart from Banu Mushtaq, Malathi Pattanashetty and Veena Shanteshwar’s names were proposed for the presidency of the Sammelana at the meeting. It, however, resolved to select Banu, KSP president Mahesh Joshi told reporters.Joshi said that Banu had accepted the invitation to chair the Sahitya Sammelana.

The Sammelana venue and dates will be announced after a meeting with the district incharge minister on July 1, he added.

Banu Mushtaq, who won the International Booker Prize for ‘Heart Lamp’, a collection of short stories, translated into English by Deepa Bhasthi, became the first Kannada writer to win the coveted prize.

The collection of 12 short stories, chronicles the resilience, resistance, wit and sisterhood of everyday women struggling in the patriarchal setup in southern India. The Parishat also decided to felicitate Deepa Bhasthi during the Sammelana.

5th woman to do honours

Banu will be the fifth woman writer to chair the Sammelana. Only four women have chaired the meet since its inception in 1915.

Jayadevitayi Ligade was the first woman to preside over the Sammelana held in Mandya in 1974. She was followed by Shantadevi Malawad (Bagalkot-2000), Kamala Hampana (Moodbidri-2003) and Geeta Nagabhushan (Gadag-2010).