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THE ENGLISH ACADEMY

Ritwika Sanyal, 3rd Year, English Honours

The English Academy of St Xavier’s College is a cultural society which has been the torch bearer of the literary tradition represented by innumerable students of this esteemed institution. The Academy over the years has offered a platform to students to showcase their creative talents by organizing diverse inter college and intra college activities. These include creative writing competitions, seminars, paper presentations, film screenings, literary quizzes and debates.

Over the past few years, the Academy has presented a plurality of opportunities to the students of the college and to other Kolkata colleges, under the leadership of its president, Prof. Dr. Chandrani Biswas.

2009 began with a Poetry Reading Session and Art and Photography Exhibition. There were student paper presentations on a whole range of topics including the paintings of Turner and Constable and the evolution of popular culture in India. The annual event in 2009 consisted of a two day Shakespeare Film Festival to celebrate the 150 years of St Xavier’s College. The festival, in which some of the most eminent colleges of Kolkata had participated, comprised of screenings of cinematic adaptations based on Shakespearean texts, including ‘Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead’ and some rare prints of silent Shakespeare films from Italy, Great Britain and USA released between 1908 and 1910. There were two competitive events- presentation of student papers from different Kolkata colleges. In this section the first position was won by third year students of English, Sushovan Sircar and Abhirup Mascharak, while Abira Nath and Hiya Chatterjee stood third. An extempore based on topics related to the theme of the festival was conducted on the second day. The first position was won by Sushovan Sircar, while Tirthankar Sengupta, a second year student of English from the college, stood second.

The last event of the day was an extremely invigorating lecture on Shakespearean adaptations by Prof. Amitabha Roy. The events have been blessed and supported by Rev. Fr. George Ponodath, S J, Fr. Principal, Rev. Dr. Fr. Felix Raj, S J, the vice principal, Rev. Fr. Jimmy Keepuram, Prof. Bertram Da Silva, Dean of Arts, Prof. Kajal Bakshi, Dean of Science and all the professors of the department of English.

The Academy is aiming towards two intra college events concerning animated films and the performance of short plays. The English Academy hopes to expand its horizons in its continuous quest for excellence in the cultural map of Kolkata.