Kolkata, Nov 22 (IANS): After a gap of two years owing to the Covid-19 pandemic, India's first Bengali literary festival, 'Apeejay Bangla Sahitya Utsob' (ABSU) curated by Kolkata's iconic Oxford Bookstores, will be back in physical format this year with the three-day festival commencing from November 25.

This will be the eighth edition of the literature festival.

According to Swagat Sengupta, ABSU Director and CEO of Oxford Bookstores, due to the pandemic, the sixth and seventh editions of the festival could not be held in physical formal in the last two years.

"The sixth edition of the festival was held virtually, while the seventh was conducted in a hybrid mode. The final day of the event last year was a physical event, as opposed to the prior two days when it was conducted online. The festival is making a comeback this year in its typical offline guise," informed Sengupta.

He said the highlights of this year's festival will be presentation of perspectives on Bengali literature and Bengali culture by different luminaries from the fields of education, literature and culture, including educationist Pabitra Sarkar, film director Ashoke Viswanathan, writer Abul Bashar, singer Rupam Islam and novelist Tilottama Majumdar, among others.

According to Sengupta, the eighth edition of the festival will continue to support, promote and strengthen Bengali language through 27 specially-curated sessions that will delve deep into topics such as poetry, little magazine, illustrations, use of dialects, politics, youth literature, thriller, book publishing and editing, journalism and cinema in Bangla literature.