Ziro in Arunachal Pradesh, already known unofficially as the educational capital of the state, has carved a niche on the literary map of the country. Thanks to the Ziro Literary Festival, held annually alongside the Ziro Festival of Music (ZFM) in September, the town’s young residents are experimenting with various modes of expression, including zines, graphic novels, poetry and even song-writing.
As the autumn slowly sets in with the ripening golden paddy fields flanked by misty hills, the campus of Saint Claret College, Ziro is abuzz with teachers and students gearing up for the third edition of the Ziro Literary Festival (ZLF) to be held on September 29 and 30 after a gap of two years. According to Father Dr Allwyn Mendoza, the Principal of Saint Claret College his students are eagerly waiting to share a slice of their lives with the literary giants visiting the festival.
The festival is organised by Phoenix Rising (the same people behind ZFM) in partnership with Saint Claret College and receives support from the Government of Arunachal Pradesh.
Welcoming this year’s edition of ZLF, Chief Minister Pema Khandu said: “Our songs, poems and stories form the bedrock of any culture. For any civilization to thrive, there must be a continuous exchange of these stories or songs. I am glad that the Ziro Literary Festival, since 2018, has turned out to be an important place for the exchange of great ideas and thoughts in Arunachal Pradesh. The festival has brought some of the best writers, poets and artists from all over the country to Arunachal Pradesh. The festival has inspired our youth to tell their stories, and learn interesting ways to express themselves, which I am sure will bring out our rich and diverse traditions for the rest of the world to experience. We see great potential in this and are happy to support it towards further growth.”
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The Ministry of Youth Affairs under its Minister Mama Natung is the presenting sponsor for the event.
Over the last two editions, the festival has become a melting pot of sorts for award-winning authors, poets, artists, bureaucrats, journalists and activists from across the country and literary voices from Arunachal Pradesh. The organisers have created a dialogical process through panel discussions and outcome-based workshops, where audiences are encouraged to bring out their own literary and artistic works.
“This free and open-to-all festival promotes inter-cultural exchange, dialogue, knowledge-sharing and skill-building. Like the previous years, this edition too focuses on creative expression, and a series of outcome-based workshops are being conducted to achieve this,” says Lubna Shaheen, Director, Ziro Literary Festival.
Five outcome-based workshops are scheduled for this edition and will begin in mid-September. These workshops will help the students to write short and long-form pieces and hone their poetic skills while training them in visualisation through graphic storytelling. “The workshops are open to our students for which we have already started the screening process for the participants. We are looking at an age group between 17 and 21,” adds Father Mendoza.
On September 29, the festival will be inaugurated by the Chief Guest, Mrs Koj Rinya, IFS and the Secretary of Horticulture (Arunachal Pradesh). After Father Mendoza’s opening remarks on the need for the festival, Pasighat-based Padmashree awardee and critically acclaimed novelist and poet Mamang Dai will deliver a talk on ‘The power of telling your own story’. This will be followed by a panel discussion on ‘Telling stories from northeast India’ which will have Ranju Dodum, a journalist from Arunachal Pradesh moderating the discussion with the Deputy Editor of Arunachal Times, Tongam Rina, Editor-in-Chief of EastMojo Karma Paljor and Sadiq Naqvi, an independent journalist reporting from the region.
Acclaimed poet and the founder of Poetry Couture, a movement for free poetic spaces, Madhu Raghavendra will release his new book Going Home. This will be his second book launch in Ziro as Raghavendra released a poetry collection, Stick No Bills in the previous edition of ZLF in 2019.
(L-R) Dani Sulu, secretary to the government of Arunachal Pradesh; Jene Hai, artist and vice president of AAFA Arunachal Akademi of Fine Arts; Ranju Dodum, journalist and Moji Riba, cultural activist and filmmaker, at the Ziro Literary Festival in 2019
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The focus of the next panel discussion will be on writings on and from Arunachal Pradesh which will be moderated by Yater Nokir, a researcher and a linguist from Rajiv Gandhi University, Arunachal Pradesh. The panel discussants will be author Mamang Dai and well-known folklorist, Ponung Ering Angu.
The organisers have also planned a poetry immersion on the first day of ZLF hosted by Raghavendra with performance poetry by Mamang Dai, Ponung Ering Angu, Gyati TM Ampi, Assam-based poet and graphic artist, Samudra Kajal Saikia and award-winning short story writer and poet, Subi Taba.
The second day will have Arunachal Pradesh Director General of Police, Satish Golchha, IPS, as the Chief Guest. The day will begin with a conversation between retired IAS officer and former election commissioner of Arunachal Pradesh, Hage Kojeen, who recently released his autobiography, and Ranju Dodum on the experiences of Kojeen’s journey from a remote village school to the Election Commission of India. This will be followed by Nagaland Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) and an accomplished author, Mmhonlumo Kikon’s talk on activism, politics and poetry. Author Daribha Lyndem will also be reading from her debut novel Name Place Animal Thing which will be followed by a conversation with Debanjan Chakrabarti, the Director for East and Northeast India, British Council in the next session.
ZLF will also feature a critical discussion on rampant drug abuse prevalent across Northeast India. This session will have Guwahati-based Rabiul Islam from the Guwahati-based Centre for Substance Abuse Prevention and Care and author of Substance Abuse and Recovery discussing the theme ‘Should we say no to drugs?’ with Superintendent of Police, Lower Subansiri, Dr. Sachin Singhal, IPS and journalist Ranju Dodum. The next session will have author Mmhonlumo Kikon reading from the latest novel Slingstones followed by a conversation with the poet, Madhu Raghavendra.
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The final session will bring in two artists, Mangka Mayanglambam from Manipur and Welsh-American William Rees who will discuss ‘Creative intercultural collaborations’ and composing music by transcending boundaries with Karma Paljor. Since 2021, Mangka has been part of Ziro Focus, an India/UK Together Season of Culture project.
This year’s workshops will feature Eshwar Sundaresan, an author and educator, award-winning filmmaker Aditi Banerjee, graphic artist and filmmaker Samudra Kajal Saikia, poet Madhu Raghavendra and Shubha Das, a professional storyteller. “Through these workshops, the participants will be churning out creative works which will be displayed during ZLF,” says Father Mendoza.
The college principal said that the previous workshops have been really useful for his students as well as other participants from the neighbourhood. “Some of our students have produced interesting and artistic narratives from the previous graphic novel workshops and zine making. Poets like Madhu Raghavendra have been a great influence on our youth as many of them are writing poems and lyrics. Besides, our students are also motivated by our head of the English department, Gyati TM Ampi, who has already published a novella and an anthology of poems,” added Father Mendoza.
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