Sahitya Bharati
A home for Marathi readers and writers
The Vasant Vyakhyanmala brings critics, novelists and translators to Ketakigaon each April.
See this year’s programme
Kavi Katta, on the second Saturday of every month
Anyone can read. Bring a poem of your own, or one you love by someone else.
Upcoming events
The 2025 Diwali Ank is out
196 pages of new poems, stories and essays. Download it, or have every issue posted to you.
Subscribe to the magazine
Essays from 63 schools last year
Entries are open for this year’s inter-school essay competition.
Read the rulesA home for Marathi readers and writers
Sahitya Bharati began in 1987 as a Sunday reading circle of eleven people in a room above Joshi Printing Press in Ketakigaon. Today it has more than 1,400 members and runs about forty programmes a year: lectures, poetry evenings, book discussions and workshops for young writers.
Our work is simple. We bring Marathi readers and writers into the same room, publish an annual issue of new writing, and help schools and colleges keep reading alive. Most programmes are free, and anyone is welcome to attend.
Most programmes are free and open to everyone. Seats for workshops are limited, so please register at the office.
Poetry gathering
Bring one poem of your own or a favourite by someone else. Each reader gets five minutes, and the list is drawn by lot at 6 pm. Tea is served at the interval.
Lecture
Dr Revati Kanetkar looks at six novels that broke away from the family saga and asks what readers gained and what they lost. Questions from the floor after the talk.
Event
Contributors read short extracts from their pieces. Copies will be on sale at the hall for ₹180, and members can collect theirs at the door.
Workshop
A three-hour workshop led by Sunanda Bhide. Places are limited to 25; please register at the office by phone or in person.
Event
Reading room, Sahitya Bharati Bhavan, Tilak Path
Thirty-two readers met to discuss the novel. The ending divided the room almost exactly in half, and the author stayed to answer questions.
Poetry gathering
Open-air stage, Ganesh Talav
Singers from three local bhajan groups performed abhangs by Sant Tukaram and Sant Janabai, with a short reading of each text before it was sung.
Lecture
Vasant Smriti Sabhagriha, Station Road
Translator Prakash Dhamdhere explained the choices behind his versions of three Kannada short stories and read from two of them.
This year’s issue has 212 pages and 41 contributors, with a special section on translation.
The final proofs went to Joshi Printing Press on Monday. This year’s issue includes twelve poems from the Kavi Katta evenings, five short stories by first-time writers and a long conversation with three village librarians.
Copies will be released at Vasant Smriti Sabhagriha next month. Subscribers will receive theirs by post in the same week.
Unpublished stories in Marathi, up to 3,000 words. The best three will be printed in the next annual issue.
The competition is open to undergraduate and postgraduate students anywhere in Maharashtra. Stories must be unpublished and written in Marathi.
Entries can be posted to the office or handed in at the reading room. Full rules are on the Activities page.
Prizes go to students from Ketakigaon, Pimpalner and Wadgaon schools.
This year 1,140 essays came in from 63 schools. The judges, all retired Marathi teachers, read every essay twice.
The winning essays will be printed in the Diwali Ank. Certificates for every participant have been sent to the schools.
From this month the reading room is open on Sundays from 9 am to 1 pm.
Several members asked for weekend hours, and four volunteers have offered to staff the room. Borrowing and returns work as on weekdays.
Akshar Bharati
196 pages. Twelve poets from the Kavi Katta evenings, a long interview with three village librarians, and stories by five first-time writers.
Each issue carries new poems, short fiction, essays and reviews by writers from across Maharashtra.