To be held in Kolkata, the event is aimed at giving a platform to transgender writers and introducing them to a larger audience.
New Delhi: India’s apex literary body, the Sahitya Akademi, is organising an exclusive meet of transgender writers in Kolkata Tuesday, a first in the country.
The decision to hold this event was taken at the annual meeting of the Akademi’s language advisory board earlier this year.
“There are many transgender writers who do not find mainstream platforms to express their voices,” Sahitya Akademi’s secretary K. Srinivasarao told ThePrint.
Calling it an effort to bring the marginalised to the forefront, Rao said it was “Akademi’s routine activity in a different style”.
Six members of the transgender community — Aruna Nath, Dubadatta Biswas, Debajyoti Bhattacharya, Prosphutita Sugandha, Ravi Majumder and Sankari Mondal — who come from different walks of life, will be reading their pieces at the meet.
Manabi Bandyopadhyay, India’s first transgender college principal and a member in the language advisory board, will chair the event.
An inclusive idea
Although the event is being held exclusively for transgender writers, it is open to all, says Srinivasarao. The idea is to make the institution and society more inclusive and to incorporate the transgender group into the mainstream.
Calling it a milestone for not just the community but also for the larger society, 25-year-old PhD scholar Biswas says, “Art has no gender and now with this event, perhaps people will realise this fact.”
Sugandha, a school teacher, says it’s an attempt to recognise that there is a pool of talent within the trans community as well. “Such a platform is necessary, and it is happening now.”
Mondal, who does odd jobs such as selling clothes, working at tea stalls among others, writes in her free time. She has also acted in a Bengali feature film. “Such initiatives will definitely aid in bringing a change in the society,” she said.
Problems remain
A common concern raised by the trans people is the continued discrimination faced by the community. They are of the view the stigma and stereotype attached to the community is a social evil that needs greater attention.
Bandyopadhyay says the situation has improved slightly after the Supreme Court ruled that transgender must be recognised as a ‘third gender’. But, she adds, “this can only be achieved through proper education”.