North American Punjabi Literary Conference report Milpitas, California (26th Nov 2006) North American Punjabi Literary conference organized by Vishav Punjabi Sahit Academy (VIPSA) of California ended successfully with a large gathering of Punjabi writers, poets and audience attending a number of academic, poetry recital and music sessions throughout the day. Academy honored the celebrated Punjabi poet Surjit Patar with a beautiful plaque and 51,000 rs/- cash appreciating his impressive contribution to the Punjabi language and literature. First such award of honor was given last year to Dr. Jagtar, another renown contemporary poet of Punjabi language. The conference was inaugurated by Surjit Patar with kind words of encouragement and predictions for a brighter future for Punjabi language and literature. Surjit Patar also released the literary magazine, “Vishav Punjabi Sahit-2”, a collection of selected writings of about 75 Punjabi writers living around the globe in various countries edited by Surinder Seerat and other Academy writers. Kulwinder, chairman of the VIPSA in his welcome address said that our goal is to introduce Punjabi literature through love of books and language to every home where Punjabi is spoken. In academic session conducted by Darshan Natt papers were presented by Surinder Seerat and Dr. Gurumel Sidhu on contemporary Punjabi literature and poetry in North America. Resham Sidhu conducted story reading session where Punjabi short stories were narrated for the audience by Karam Singh Mann and Amanpal Sara. A discussion mediated by Harjinder Kang on the role of Punjabi media in the propagating the Punjabi literature was well attended. Daljit Sra, Editor of Amritsar Times, Dr. Surjit Patar, Dr. Gurumel Sidhu and Satish Gulati presented their views on the subject. In the book release session, 11 books of Punjabi poetry, short story and biographies was released which included “Ikatti Nageenay” edited by included Kulwinder and Darshan Natt, Harjinder Kang’s “Chup de tukray”, Karam Singh Mann’s “Heth wagay darya”, Surjit Kaur’s “Shikasat rang”, Harbhajan Dhillon’s “dhol utte jagg nachda”, Prem Kumar’s “Ardh Shatabadi”, Surjeet Kalsey’s “naam tihare”, Amanpal Sara’s “Diamond Ring” among others and Urdu poetry collection of Sardar Panchhi “Sooraj ki shakheiN” in Gurmukhi script. Besides Surjit Patar, Academy also honored popular poet of Urdu from Punjab, Sardar Panchhi with a plaque and 25,000 rs/- cash award. Sardar Panchhi came from India to attend the conference along with Surjit Patar and Satish Gulati. Chairman of Academy Harbhajan Dhillon for year 2005 and General Secretary Jagjit Naushehrvi for years 2004-2006 were also honored with plaques for their contribution in organizing the Academy activities. Surjit Patar distributed plaques of appreciation to patrons of Academy Jasvir Gill, Somraj Singh Raj and Dennis Bhachu along with recognizing various members of Academy for their contributions to the Academy. All the guest writers were also recognized for attending the conference and participating in various events. An excellent Kavi Darbar (poetry recitals) was conducted by Surinder Seerat and presided by Surjit Patar, Sardar Panchhi, Kulwinder and Mohinderdeep Grewal. Kavi Darbar reached its peak with the recitals by Surjit Patar and Sardar Panchhi who recited their poetry for about an hour which was well appreciated by the audience. Other prominent poets who participated in the kavi darbar include Dr. Sukhpal Sanghera, Resham Sidhu, Farukh Taraz, Azad Jallandhari, Jasvir Gill, Ishar Singh Moman, Dr. Prem Kumar, Paul Dhillon, Surjeet Kalsey, Major Bhupinder Daler, Harbhajan Dhillon, Pankaj, Jas Fiza, Darshan Pataravi, Noshi Gilani and Mohinderdeep Grewal. Other writers who participated in the conference were Sukhwinder Kamboz, Jyoti Singh, Mohinder Singh Ghagg, Harbans Singh Jagiasu, Kamal Banga, Amandeep Boparai, Manjit Kaur Sekhon, Dr. Amreek Singh, Satnam Singh Chahal, Bakhshish Kaur Sandhu, Gurbakhash Singh Sachdev, Piara Singh, Surinder Dhanoa and Upkar Singh etc. A marvellous music concert was conducted by Asha Sharma in the concluding session where Sukhdev Sahil, Narinder Kumar Bagga and Surjit Bawa’s team participated. |
