The 10th edition of Dhaka Lit Fest began on the premises of Bangla Academy in the capital on Thursday after a three-year break due to the coronavirus pandemic.

State Minister for Cultural Affairs KM Khalid, Nobel laureate Abdulrazak Gurnah and Indian writer and literary critic Amitav Ghosh jointly inaugurated the event at the academy’s Abdul Karim Sahitya Bisharad Auditorium in the morning.

“The Ministry of Cultural Affairs was associated with this event since the beginning. This time our involvement with the event has decreased a bit but I hope that we will be more involved in future,” he said.

Nobel laureate author Abdulrazak Gurnah said he is impressed and delighted to be in Bangladesh.

He said, “This is my first time in Dhaka and I look forward to see things and events that I haven’t seen before. I’m really grateful to be here and wish to enjoy the discussions and talks coming forward.”

“I feel honoured to come to such an event. I’m a Bangladeshi in a way. My mother is from Gopalganj and my father is from Bikrampur. I grew up in Bangladesh. I always talk about Bangladesh. Now, everywhere I go, I hear Bangla and it feels like my connection with Bangladesh has been restored,” noted Bengali writer Amitav Ghosh shared his feeling in this way.

 Directors of Dhaka Lit Fest Sadaf Saaz, Ahsan Akbar and K Anis Ahmed gave the welcome addresses at the beginning.

The festival will remain open 10:00am to 8:00pm every day and will continue till January 8.