The world’s “First Gender Literature Festival” will take place from April 7th to April 9th at NIFT Patna. No, really that is what it’s called. The First Gender Literature Festival. It is being hosted by the Gender Resource Centre of Bihar’s Women Development Corporation.
The festival, we are told, is an attempt to understand gender issues through literature, exchange ideas and experiences of those in the field of literature, and create conversations around literature through a gendered lens. The Gender Resource Centre explain on their Facebook page that they also hope to create a platform to “increase visibility for Gender Equity and Advocacy in the state”. The festival will bring together both international and national dignitaries in gender literature, and for the “creation of gender-based knowledge” through literature, art, and culture.
The three-day festival will include folk songs, theater and women band performances carrying stories of women’s realities and empowerment. It also includes competitions such as a logo design competition for the festival, poetry and storytelling events, panel discussions, short films, and street plays.