ABOUT US
In 2001, the renowned Bengali poet and writer, Sunil Gangopadhayay visited Melbourne and a few other places in Australia. To mark this occasion an ad hoc committee was formed in Melbourne comprising a few literature-loving persons. The responsibility of this committee was to organise a function in Melbourne with the author. With the added participation of other Melburnians, the function held in honour of the author was a great success. Sunil Gangopadhayay spoke of his numerous experiences, recited his own poems and generally enthralled the audience. The members of the committee enacted four pieces from Sunil’s writings, recited group poems, and did a few other items. With the success of this event, the members of the ad hoc committee felt that holding events of this type could partly fulfil the need of the Bengali community to enjoy Bengali literature in Melbourne.
With this in mind, a small organisation Bangla Sahitya Sansad (BSS) was born. There were ten member couples, five of whom came from West Bengal and five from Bangladesh. This organisation has retained its structure, being small in size, though a few members left the organisation over time while others took their places. Inviting literary guests from West Bengal or Bangladesh is one of the main activities of BSS.In addition to bringing in writers and poets, the activities of Bangla Sahitya Sansad include the observance of International Mother Language Day, Bengali New Year, and workshop on literature for children, Bengali drama together with discussions on Bengali literature. Some of our Sansad members are writers in their own right – publishing books, contributing in prestigious magazines published in Kolkata and Bangladesh. We as members of BSS are proud of their achievements.
‘Dokhina Prayas’, the in-house magazine of BSS is published to commemorate the visit of an invited author. Articles published include contributions from the local Bengali diaspora. This magazine is enriched by contributions from our previous guest authors and other popular authors from West Bengal and Bangladesh.
Event Front
Technical Team
Stage Ready for the show
Nabanita debsen and anusuya bhattacharyya
We remember our founding member anusuya bhattacharyya
