The house of Mathrubhumi has enriched Malayalam language and literature since its inception way back in 1923. For close to a century, Mathrubhumi has been a platform for almost all of the leading writers from Kerala, and has published the best in Indian literature.
Both as an award-winning publishing and media house, Mathrubhumi has been an industry leader and a pathbreaker.
The Mathrubhumi International Festival of Letters (www.mbifl.com) was envisioned as an extension of this commitment and belief. MBIFL is gearing up for its third edition from Jan 30-Feb 2, 2020.
Encouraged by its success and acceptance both by the general public and the literary circles in India and abroad, it is fitting to institute an annual Mathrubhumi Book of the Year award, which carries Rs 5 lakhs and a memento, to honour and celebrate Indian literature.
“The Mathrubhumi Book of the Year award is a commitment from Mathrubhumi to honour the best in Indian literature every year. We are inspired to honour and celebrate brilliant works, and encourage the publishers to look for the best writing by Indian authors,” said M V Shreyams Kumar, Joint Managing Director of Mathrubhumi, and a patron of MBIFIL.
The award is open to Indian writers who are published in India. Works in regional languages should be translated to English to be eligible for the award.
With a theme of ‘Shrinking Spaces; Transcending Letters’, the third edition of MBIFL is a celebration of the liberating scope of human imagination and encouraging our innate spark of artistic, cultural and creative potential. In this short span, the festival has established itself on the cultural calendar of Kerala.
“With its first two editions itself, MBIFL has created its own space on the map of cultural festivals in India. The feedback from the speakers and the audience has been positive and encouraging. As we move on to our third edition, we look for more associations to add value to the festival in terms of workshops and master classes so that we will be able to contribute to the literary as well as creative landscape of the state,” said Sabin Iqbal, festival director.
ChandrasekharaKambar, president of Kendra Sahiya Akademi, also addressed the audience.The award will be announced and presented during the third edition of MBIF
