80 papers presented on Indian English writers

Visakhapatnam: The English Department of Andhra University on Saturday organised a one-day seminar on ‘Indian Writing in English – Retrospect and Prospect’, which is conducted every year to honour K R  Srinivasa Iyengar, who was a pioneer in Indian English Literature and also served as Vice-Chancellor of the University from 1966 to 1968.

 The aim of the seminar was to create awareness among students on the great Indian writers in English, who reflected the Indian society, culture, socio-economic conditions of India and the superstitions and political situation in their time. 
 
 Almost 80 papers were presented on the works of many Indian English writers like Bankim Chandra, Rabindranath Tagore, Sarojini Naidu, Aurobindo Ghose, RK Narayan, Mulk Raj, Raja Rao, AK Ramanujan, Salman Rushdie, Kamala Das, Vikram Seth, Kushwant Singh, Jhumpa Lahiri, Anita Desai and other writers. 
 
The different perspectives of feminism, identity crisis, search for roots, cultural assimilation, Diaspora element, politics and colonialism in the works of Indian English writers were analysed by the students during the workshop. 

The students who participated in the seminar felt that they were exposed to many Indian writers and their works in the seminar since each student works on a different aspect of a different writer or work and it also improves the confidence level and presentation skills among students which would be useful for their future.