Rita Chowdhury at the ceremony in Guwahati on Sunday. Picture by UB Photos

Guwahati, July 24: Novelist Rita Chowdhury, who had recently created a flutter with her book, Makam, on the displaced Chinese families in Assam during the 1962 Chinese aggression, is now on another mission — to take Assamese literature another step forward with the help of a forum, Adharxila, she floated today.

The 51-year-old writer and senior lecturer of Cotton College said Adharxila, which has nothing to do with political aspirations, would work to elevate Assamese literature, culture and society to a higher level.

A Sahitya Akademi winner, Chowdhury has several novels to her credit, including Makam and Deo Langkhui.

The forum will take up activities to extend support and encourage people who have been working for the welfare of the state.

“Initially, we have taken a few small steps which include commissioning six writers to write novels, organise a literary festival in Guwahati which will cover the entire South-East Asia, awarding littérateurs, collect and preserve historical documents of the indigenous communities and the state,” Chowdhury said. Anurag Mahanta, Geetali Bora, Juri Borah Borgohain, Pankaj Gobinda Medhi, Manalisha Saikia and Abhijit Saikia, who have already established themselves as promising names in Assamese literature, are the six selected to write novels on different topics.

In memory of Robin Dey, once household name and writer of Bhashkar and Paban Series, the forum has also announced an award. The award will be given to those who are not Assamese by birth but have contributed to Assamese language. Chowdhury said one award has been announced in memory of her sister, Rupa, who died 42 years ago.

Born in Nazira in Sivasagar district in 1927, Dey had occupied a special position in the minds of Assamese readers with his popular thriller series. Also associated with acting, Dey, remained a mysterious character for readers till his death as he used the penname Rongmon. Chowdhury said after Assam Movement, where she was an active participant, she stepped into political life for quite sometime. “Then I went into seclusion. Only my pen remained as a bridge between me and society. Now, I have decided to work for the society actively. But it took quite sometime to chalk out my plan.”

A new website to help people write Assamese in Unicode form in Internet was also launched at the ceremony.