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Metaphor Lit Fest 2022 kicks off in Lucknow, day 1 witnesses book launches, discussions & open mics
The festival was inaugurated by MLA Rajeshwar Singh, who spoke of the festival’s role in preserving the cultural richness of Lucknow.
LUCKNOW The 10th edition of Lucknow’s Metaphor Literature Festival kicked off with much fanfare on Saturday amongst a gathering of enthusiastic bibliophiles. On its first day, the annual event hosted literary discussions, book launches, felicitations, and open mics.
The festival was inaugurated by MLA Rajeshwar Singh, who spoke of the festival’s role in preserving the cultural richness of Lucknow. He assured the organisers that the state government is committed to offering assistance to support the endeavour. He also spoke to the importance of digitising libraries and promoting young and blooming writers of Lucknow.
In the afternoon, two books -- titled ‘Men No Pause’ and ‘Give A Damn!’ were released at the fest. While ‘Men No Pause’, penned by Viveik Pandit, is a collection of short stories with men in focus, ‘Give A Damn!’, written by Viveik Pandit and Saumya Tripathi, revolves around a group of travellers learning the value of acceptance and forgiveness.
Subsequently, Heera Lal, former district magistrate of Banda, launched the book -- ‘Dynamic DM’ -- which details his experiences with the villagers of Banda during his term as the DM. The DM talked about how truly connecting with the public helps to turn “governance into good governance”.
Following this, there was also a discussion on writer Alka Singh’s book ‘Colours of Blood’. Singh spoke about feminist literature and how her book empowers women and becomes a real poetry of life helping women to excel and inspire others in similar situations.
Besides, a felicitation event was also held to recognise Covid warriors. Jaideep Narain Mathur of Lucknow Expressions Society and Asim Arun, minister of state for social welfare gave away awards to those who toiled in service during the pandemic. The award-winners included doctors, hospital staffers, sanitation workers, kitchen staffers, and lab technicians.
Meanwhile, two erudite panels were organised at the ‘Baradari’ venue. Asim Arun and Santosh Valmiki spoke about Dalit literature in a discussion moderated by Preeti Chaudhry. Both writers referenced famed yet under-appreciated Dalit works. Valmiki also stresses that Dalit issues should not only be restricted to literature but should permeate into social media as well.
Another much-awaited panel -- titled ‘Heritage Hype’ -- saw researchers, restorers, and photographers of Lucknowi architecture speak on the different types of heritage buildings from different periods in history each with their unique historical significance. The audience too engaged enthusiastically with the speakers on this panel.
Also, the festival hosted an open mic, where young poets and musicians got the opportunity to showcase their talents. A ‘Daastangoi’ performance and a book exhibition on the front lawn were among the other attractions of the fest.
