IMPHAL, November 28: The 11th Annual Conference of Manipuri Sahitya Parishad, Meghalaya (MSPM) was held at Shillong today with Thoidingjam Tombi, president of Manipuri Sahitya Parishad, Manipur and Yengkhom K B, president of MSPM attending as chief guest and president respectively.
The 11th edition of “Mangaal”, the annual souvenir of the Parishad, was released during the function.
Four literary awards for the year 2015 were conferred during the function. Rajamani Nongthomba was conferred with the Kavi Ratna Award while Kabrabam Nilakanta Singh was honoured with the Sahitya Ratna Award.
Khangembam Ibeton Devi and Kshetrimayum Subadani Devi were conferred with the Kavya Bhushan Award and Sahitya Bhushan Award respectively.
These awards are given to the writers for their commendable contributions to Manipuri literature.
Six books written by four authors were also released during the function. The books are “Khenchanglon”, “Kanana Kujaba Yagani”, and “Khurumjabagee Athuppa” by Kabrabam Nilakanta Singh; “Loushingee Pukkei” by Naorem Nilamani Singh; “Manipur 1891: Aronba Khutshil Thourang” by Ningthoujam Munish Singh; and “Mawoo Kanglaba Upaal” by Ningombam Rojit.
The authors gave a brief account about their books and introduced each of them to the audience.
Anil Kumar, Additional Director General, Ministry of Forest and Environment, who was the special guest of the function, lauded the Manipuris for the achievements in all the fields of life, including literature, sports, education, etc.
However, he emphasised the need on how to get the talent to the national and international stage.
Thoidingjam Tombi praised the achievements of the Manipuris in the field of literature and said that Manipuris should be more proactive in publicising and taking our culture and works to the bigger audience.
Yengkhom KB thanked the delegates and invitees from various States for the support and love they extended to the Manipuri Sahitya Parishad, Meghalaya and making the function a grand success.
A poetry reading programme was also held during the second session of the conference wherein over fifty writers and delegates from different States including Meghalaya, Assam, Manipur and Mizoram read poems.