They both are seasoned writers in Konkani and Marathi and are excited to share the wealth of Konkani literature with other writers from Asia. Dr Jayanti Naik and Sampada Kunkoliekar will be part of the online FOSWAL Literature Festival, organised by Sahitya Akademi and Foundation of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Writers and Literature (FOSWAL) with the participation of BIMSTEC countries which include Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand on November 6 to 9.
The Foundation of SAARC Writers and Literature (FOSWAL) is the only SAARC apex body in the region, projecting, nurturing and strengthening cultural connectivity through literary and cultural interactions among the SAARC countries, for peace and tranquillity in the region, through people-to-people contacts and dialogue.
Dr Jayanti Naik from Amona, Quepem will be joining the panel of Ranjana Niraula (Nepal) Dr Ram Kumar Mukhopadhyay (India) and Dr Selina Hossain (Bangladesh) on November 6 for a fiction session which will include a self-introduction and reading of a piece of fiction. Dr Jayanti will read a Konkani story translated in English. Sampada Shenvi Kunkoliekar will be part of the papers session along with Kaushalya Kumarasinghe (Sri Lanka), Shoma Afroja (Bangladesh) and Prof Abhi Subedi (Nepal) on November 7.
On the other hand, Dr Jayanti was an awardee of the Sahitya Akademi Literary Award in 2004 and Sahitya Akademi Translation Award 2019. A Konkani writer and folklore researcher from Goa, she is a short story writer, dramatist, children’s writer, folklorist, translator and was the first person to earn a doctorate from the Goa University’s Department of Konkani. An author of over 45 books, she has her work published and translated in different languages.
“We were given a literary option of either poetry, storytelling or story reading. I am still deciding on what to read as it is a representation of Konkani at an international level. It would have been much more exciting if the conference was held offline and we would get an opportunity to meet everyone face to face. I have been part of national conferences organised by Sahitya Akademi in places like Bhopal and Andaman and Nicobar islands. There we are given the option of reading our work either in English or Hindi, which is usually the preferred language by most writers,” says Dr Jayanti, who earned her PhD with the thesis, ‘Female images in Konkani Folkore, a socio-cultural study’.
‘Salt of the Earth’ was her first Konkani book of short stories which were translated to English by Augusto Pinto. “The true essence of the language is often different with the colloquial language and folk terminology which has no translation in English. However, Augusto has tried his best and retained the words and has given footnotes about the terms,” says Dr Jayanti.
Her short stories are also published in Hindi, Marathi, Telagu, Mallyalam, Kannada etc. “My short story collection, ‘Aarth’ and ‘Athang’ are both published in Kannada. ‘Aath’ is translated by Geeta Shonoi and ‘Athang’ by Dinesh Nayak. My poetry book ‘Mirgavenno’ is published in Marathi and translated by Dr Cecelia Carvalho, a noted Marathi writer,” says Dr Jayanti, a recipient of Yashodamini Award by the government of Goa, Kala Academy award
and was recently honoured with the Gulab Personality Award 2022.
These international festivals are important to the growth of a writer as they are exposed to different ideas and issues plaguing the literary and publishing world. “We also learn about literature and where we stand in terms of Konkani literature. Through the interactions with authors from different parts of the world, we learn about their problems in publications, social environment and challenges especially of women authors. I am happy that the standard of Goa is quite high in that area as we as women authors are more open minded and liberal,” she explains.
She is next working on a dictionary in Konkani Folklores for the Mangalore University and one of a major project which she has dedicated many years of her writing life is, an encyclopaedia of Konkani
Folk culture.
Sampada Kunkoliekar will be speaking on Ravindra Kelekar’s book ‘Othambe’. “Ravindra Kelekar was a philosophical writer and I chose this book because it is only one of its kinds in Konkani literature. Inspired by Frederick Nitche’s ‘Twilight of the Idols,’ when a writer sums up what he has to say in one page or a couple of paragraphs with the philosophical insights about different aspects of life,” says Sampada, an awardee of the Sahitya Akademi’s Yuva Puraskar 2020.
Sampada has been writing since 2009 in Konkani, Marathi and English and has published 13 books which includes three books in English, ‘Mysterious Power’, ‘Mystical Power’ and ‘Power Your Life’. “I have also written three books in Marathi and seven books in Konkani. The last book was ‘Jeevan Yog’ in Konkani, a collection of philosophical essays. I am currently doing research on Indian philosophy and working on my upcoming book, ‘Gitarth (Essence of Bhagvad Gita)’,” says Sampada, who was awarded the Sahitya Akademi’s Yuva Puraskar 2020 for the travelogue ‘Chaar Paanvla Ashiyet’. She has also been awarded the state award, Yuva Srujan Puraskar 2019, Goa Hindu Association’s AN Mhambro Award and the Central Art and Culture’s Junior Fellowship 2014-16.
This is also Sampada’s first international festival, “It is a great opportunity especially to speak about my favourite book that has helped me to shape my personality. It’s great to hear from other research scholars from different countries and even though it is online, will be attending all the sessions,” concludes Sampada.
