NT BUZZ
Goa’s statewide reading movement ‘Phirse Kitaab’, organised by the Girls Islamic Organisation (GIO), aimed at reviving the culture of reading and restoring the relevance of books in everyday life, recently culminated in
a literature festival.
The 20-day campaign engaged communities across Goa through diverse literary initiatives. These included school sessions encouraging students to explore reading beyond academics, parenting sessions focused on cultivating reading habits at home, and educator interactions that emphasised the creation of
student-centric libraries.
Read-aloud sessions, reading retreats, meet-the-author interactions, library visits and corner meets enabled participants to engage with books in informal and reflective settings, reinforcing reading as a shared
community practice.
As part of the initiative, the Phirse Kitaab Literature Festival was held on December 27, 2025.
The festival brought together readers, writers, educators, parents and children. A session on designing student-centric libraries was conducted by Booktique Goa’s Elijah D’Souza, who shared insights on creating inclusive and engaging spaces for young readers.
A panel discussion titled ‘Literature for Social Change’, moderated by Shoib Shaikh, featured Talullah D’Silva, Alexandre Moniz Barbosa, Albertina Almeida, Frederick Noronha and Pachu Menon, and examined literature’s role in social awareness, collective memory and critical engagement.
Storytelling sessions by Arthy Muthanna Singh and Barkha Sharda highlighted the emotional power of stories, while creative expression sessions facilitated by Sana Patel, Madeeha Khan and Muskan Siddikhe encouraged artistic exploration.
Children participated in sessions such as ‘Brain Boosters – The Power of Reading’ by Mediha Shah and ‘Joy of Reading – Discovering the Reader Within’ by Akila Bepari.
A parents’ session, ‘Raising Readers – Building the Habit at Home’, was led by Altaf Shah.
The ‘Open Poetry Recital’ featured poetry in English, Hindi, Marathi and Konkani, including works by Abhay Surana, Purnima Desai and Chitra Kshirsagar.
The ‘Literacy Activity Corner’ featured interactive reading activities and a silent reading zone with over 200 books.
Chief guest Damodar Mauzo addressed the closing ceremony, urging writers to write with sincerity and promote local languages.
Chief patron of GIO Goa Asif Hussain spoke on the enduring role of books.
