Two short story books written by Karnail Shergill released

Amritsar, April 17

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Akhar Sahitya Akademi today hosted a special launch of eminent Punjabi author and poet Dr Karnail Shergill’s collection of short stories, Memory Lane and ‘Pandhravan Red Cross: The Very Best Stories in Punjabi’ and his daughter Karina’s poetry collection “Qadir to Zenith”.

Many writers of Amritsar and their families joined the Shergill family, which is now based in UK, for the launch. Akhar’s members including Punjabi critic and writer Dr Ravinder congratulated Shergill family for staying connected with literature and the soil of Punjab even after migrating to UK. “They have been promoting and disseminating the Punjabi language through constructive literature through last few decades and Dr Shergill is counted as among most prolific and celebrated Punjabi authors’ in diaspora.”

Dr Shergill shed light on his creative process and told how he has been able to put books in the service of Punjabi language by taking time out of medical engagements as practicing doctor for past 40 years. Apart from the novels Lockdown Alpha and Lockdown Infinity, which are being translated into other languages, one of his stories that has been celebrated as one of the best stories in Punjabi, Pandravan Red Cross, has been translated into 14 languages. He said there was no dearth of good literature being written in Punjabi.

Dr Ravinder said despite the destruction of various genres of literature with emergence of social media, no language remains unaffected by eroding book culture. “Despite the negative impact, books are the only way to introduce the power of words in your life. They leave an impression on you emotionally. Visuals are fleeting and cannot leave an impression on your mind for long,” he said, while encouraging youth to pick up the habit of reading.