Darjeeling: The first edition of the Darjeeling Literature Festival (DLF) was announced at a curtain-raiser event held at the Gymkhana Club in Darjeeling on October 1, with organisers unveiling a year-long programme of literary and cultural activities leading up to the festival in November 2027.
The festival’s official logo was unveiled by Padma Shri awardee Dr Gambhir Singh Yonzone, marking the launch of an initiative aimed at promoting Darjeeling as a literary hub and preserving the cultural heritage of the hills.
Organised by the Darjeeling Literature Festival Society, the initiative will include creative writing workshops, heritage conservation projects, travel literature sessions and programmes to bring indigenous practices and traditions to a wider audience.
A key component of the initiative will be the establishment of heritage clubs in schools to encourage students to learn about and preserve the region’s indigenous culture beyond the classroom.
Festival director Anirban Dutta said the initiative was intended to go beyond a conventional literary event and focus on heritage education and social development.
“We are sharing Darjeeling not just as a tourism destination, but as a literary hub and a knowledge centre rooted in spiritualism and heritage,” Dutta said.
The curtain raiser brought together writers, publishers, journalists and academics, including botanist and environmentalist Dr Yonzone, Vatsal Verma of DK India and Penguin Books, Trisha De Niyogi of Niyogi Books, and Raman Shresta of Rachna Publications.
Journalists Vivek Chettri of The Telegraph and Sourabh Shukla of Hindustan Times were also among the participants, alongside filmmaker and ethnographer Dutta.
Authors present at the event included Udaya Mani Pradhan, Dr Satyadeep S. Chettri, Chuden Kabimoo and David Cecil.
The organisers said the festival aims to connect literature with tourism while creating opportunities to document, preserve and promote Darjeeling’s literary and cultural heritage.
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