Asutosh Kumar

All of 22, Ashutosh Kumar, the writer of The Great Return of Doctor Faustus, is set to chair a seminar on Maithili literature to be jointly organised by Sahitya Akademi and Chetna Samiti.

The two-day seminar will start on June 22 at Vidyapati Bhavan. The topic of discussion is — Maithili Yuva Rachnadharmita: Dasha aur Disha (Maithili: Trend and Dimensions in Youth and Creativity).

The seminar will be held in five sessions and the fifth session will be presided over by Ashutosh.

The young writer said: “I will speak on how literature, Maithili in particular, is a perennial source of delight and inspiration. We cannot ignore the fact that trend and diction of writing is changing among the youth these days.”

Padma Shri Ravindra Rajhans, a scholar of English and a creative writer, told The Telegraph over telephone from Kota, Rajasthan: “I had attended the book release function organised by the English department of Patna University to honour Ashutosh Kumar for his debut novel — The Great Return of Doctor Faustus. It was really amazing to read the novel in which he recreated the character of Doctor Faustus in the Indian context. A novel in English by Ashutosh, an undergraduate student (when the book was released), is very creditable. There is no instance of a young writer, especially in Indian English, to have made a name in the field of fiction from Bihar. All those who were present in the meeting praised the literary acumen of this youth.”

About the selection of Ashutosh, Rajhans said: “I think the selection of this budding writer for chairing a session on the topic is a right choice. It will be source of inspiration of all the writers in Maithili and English.”

Khagendra Thakur, a writer, said: “There should be such a scheme under which other young writers will also get an opportunity to share their views. They should also be invited to these events.”

Ashutosh had penned the novel The great return of Doctor Faustus when he was just 17 and a student of BA Part-I. He graduated from Patna College in 2009 and was the university topper (Patna University) in BA, Part-I. He got a certificate of recognition from the varsity for scoring extraordinary marks (71.5 per cent) in English.