Ballari: The prestigious International Booker Prize winning Kannada writer Banu Mushtaq has been selected to chair the 88th Akhila Bharata Kannada Sahitya Sammelana to be held at Ballari in December.

Speaking to newspersons after the Kannada Sahitya Parishat Executive Committee meeting at Ballari yesterday, Parishat President Dr. Mahesh Joshi said that the name of Banu Mushtaq has been finalised as the Chairperson of Kannada Literary Meet.

Pointing out that 44 of the 56 Committee Members who attended the meeting endorsed the name of Banu, he said that the names of Malathi Pattanshetti and Veena Shanteshwara too came up at the meeting. However, the name of Banu Mushtaq was unanimously proposed, he said adding that the date and venue of the meet would be finalised after holding a  meeting with Ballari District In-charge Minister.

This is perhaps for the first time, that the name of the Chairperson (Sammelana Sarvadhyaksha) of the Akhila Bharata Kannada Sahitya Sammelana has been finalised 6 months well in advance before the  event. In the past, the Sammelana Chairperson’s names used to be finalised only 1 or 2 months before the event.