Raleigh Literary Society Organizes Cultural Events On Occasion of the 19th International Biennial Symposium on Literature and Culture in the Asia-Pacific Region
Aligarh : The Raleigh Literary Society, Department of English, Aligarh Muslim University organised three important competition on Spoken Word Poetry, Storytelling and Poster making on November 26 & 27. The Competitions were organised as part of the ongoing 19th International Biennial Symposium on Literature and Culture in the Asia-Pacific Region on the topic “Literature and the Non-Human: Abrogating the Anthropocene”.
The event on the first day began in the Faculty of Arts lawns with an introduction to the society and an address by the Chairman of the Department of English, Prof. Mohammad Asim Siddiqui, who is also the President of the Raleigh Literary Society. The programme was anchored by postgraduate students of English, Alina Hadi and NausheenNizami. There was a stellar participant turnout, with more than 15 entries present for performance in addition to on-the-spot registrations. They spoke with great creativity and enthusiasm, both in the themed section as well as the open theme one.
Among the two prizes for the Storytelling competition, the prize for Best Story was bagged by Abdul Muneem Khan while the laurel for Best Storyteller went to AffanShikoh.
On the second day, the Spoken Word Poetry Competition was held at the Faculty of Arts Lawns. The programme was anchored by students of English, YasirAffan and Sahil Raza. There was a very impressive turnout of both audience and participants, with more than thirty entries for participation in addition to more on-the-spot registrations. The time in between performances was kept lively and riveting with performances from the student body as well as alumni of the Department of English, with a diverse array of Urdu, Hindi, as well as English performance poetry.
The event was closed with a piece of performance poetry and a note of encouragement by the Secretary of the RLS, Abdullah Parwaiz, followed by prize distribution by the Chairperson of the Department of English, Prof. Mohammad Asim Siddiqui.
The first prize for Spoken Word Poetry was awarded to Waseem Akram, the second prize was bagged by Tanya Kainaat while the third place went to Abdul Muneem Khan. This was followed by the prize distribution for the Poster Making Competition, where the prize for Best Poster (Handmade) was awarded to Abdullah Faizul Hasan and the prize for Best Poster (Digital) was awarded to Bilal Haider. These two posters were chosen from an array of more than 15 posters that had been submitted as entries for the competition, all of which were exhibited in the lawns for the duration of the Symposium.
The organization of the competitions on both days was overseen by the Secretary of the Raleigh Literary Society, Abdullah Parwaiz, and the Joint Secretary, Utkarsh Saini, and executed by the PR committee of the RLS, headed by Tuhel Ahmed, Sharmien, and Sidrah Noor, as well as the Event Management committee, headed by Mohammad Bilal.
The entire two-day event of the cultural competitions under the banner of the Symposium was organized by the Raleigh Literary Society under the guidance of the RLS Coordinator, Dr. Akbar Joseph A. Syed and Event incharge, Dr. KishwarZafir, as well as the President of the RLS and Chairperson of the Department of English, Prof. Mohammad Asim Siddiqui.
This two-day event has been a reprise of the Raleigh Literary Society and the vibrancy of the Department of English and a resonance of the history that it represents, with the excellent attendance on both days representing a spirit undaunted in the face of even the most arduous of adversities. With the success of this event, the Raleigh Literary Society hopes to have embarked on a brand new journey of continuing legacies and laying down new achievements. As part of the RLS’s vision of expanding into interdisciplinary areas, all three of these competitions were open to people from all departments and all fields of study as well.