Celebrating the writings of women

New Delhi, Feb 16 (IANS) Women writers, journalists, academics and professionals will come together later this month to debate and discuss issues that shape women professionals in the 21st century at an event that aims to go beyond the scope of existing literature festivals and to provide a forum for women's writing.

The Women Writers' Festival is being organised by SheThePeople.TV and the Vedica Scholars Programme for Women on February 24 and 25 at Sri Aurobindo Centre for Arts and Communication.

"The first edition of the festival will focus on themes around women in the workplace -- how we must think, and what we must do to inspire more women to pursue meaningful careers," Vedica Scholars Programme for Women Founding Dean Anuradha Das Mathur told IANS in an e-mail interview.

The panel discussions at the festival will bring up women's issues, with writers like Monika Halan, Bahar Dutt, Aparna Jain, Veenu Venugopal, Mala Bhargava to Yashodhara Lal, Urvashi Butalia, Nishita Jha, Bee Rowlatt, Amrita Tripathi, Shaili Chopra, Sonia Golani, Shreyasi Singh and many more.

"We cannot have this conversation without men joining the fight. The speakers also include a panel of male feminists, who will discuss what they need to do to change stereotypes around women in the workplace," said Mathur.

"Our target audience is both men and women, who are engaged and motivated to be a part of this conversation," she added.

The festival will also feature professional workshops and break-out sessions on topics ranging from personal finance to social networking, as well as thought-provoking and relevant performances.

"I think there is a lot of good writing now and more and more diversity in the works of women. As female authors turn role models and writing gets more wide ranging and indepth, there is bound to be more hunger for more writers. SheThePeople.TV Founder Shaili Chopra told IANS.

"Women writers have definitely seen a big surge in their number. Bolder and stronger conversations are now in print, personal memoirs and experiences are interesting and inspiring too," Chopra said.

"We need to celebrate writing across genres, way beyond literature. We have women ahead in screen writing, short stories, business and entrepreneurship, fiction, environment, some fantastic columnists and more," she explained.

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