Department of English, NEHU Shillong organized a National Symposium on Temsula Ao and the Northeast on February 10 in collaboration with Sahitya Akademi.
Born in 1945, Temsula Ao was the first woman Anglophone author from Northeast India to receive Sahitya Akademi award in 2007 and Padma Shri award in 2013, who is well-known for her books of poems and collections of short stories like These Hills Called Home (2005) and Laburnum for My Head (2009). In her inaugural address of the symposium, Prof. Malashri Lal, national convener of the English Advisory Board of Sahitya Akademi, highlighted the important contributions Temsula Ao made to Northeast literature.
She said Temsula Ao opened up the stories of Northeast to the rest of the world.
In his introductory remarks, Prof. Jyotirmoy Prodhani described Temsula Ao as the great matriarch of Northeast literature and highlighted how the story of her life was equally powerful and inspiring for all.
The Dean of Humanities, Prof. Moon Moon Mazumdar, who chaired the first academic session spoke about Temsula Ao as a writer and described her as one of the most important voices from the Northeast.
She also recalled her association with Temsula Ao as the professor of English and the Dean of Humanities at NEHU. In the session, Prof. Mala Renganathan discussed the various dimensions of Temsula Ao’s short stories when Prof. Desmond Kharmawphlang recalled his experiences with Professor Ao as a teacher and later as a fellow poet who shared her interest in music with him.
Prof. Esther Syiem, who presided over the valedictory session, described her memoir, “Once Upon a Life: Burnt Curry and Bloody Rags” as a significant literary achievement that narrated the stories of universal predicaments of a woman.
Prof. K. C. Baral, former Director of EFLU Shillong and former Pro-Vice Chancellor of EFLU Hyderabad in his valedictory address, read by Dr. Preetincha Barman, explored the rich body of her literary works as a poet and a critic.
In her concluding remarks Dr Setolu Tunyi paid a rich tribute to Temsula Ao as the most important woman voice of Nagaland. Krishna Kimbahune of Sahitya Akademi, who moderated the online event, described the symposium as a fitting tribute to the great author who redefined the way marginal voices narrate their tales from the periphery.