<span style="color: #222222;">The ninth edition of the Dhaka Lit-fest started today with a galaxy of writers and book lovers thronging the venue ground at the Bangla Academy.</span><br />'' <br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Over the three day of the festival 200 speakers, performers and thinkers, will take part in discussions on diverse topics. </span><br />'' <br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">The special focus of this year's lit-fest is on Indigenous Languages as the UNESCO has marked 2019 as the year of Indigenous Language Protection.</span><br />'' <br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Renowned literary personalities and authors from Bangladesh and abroad like William Dalrymple, Monica Ali, H M Naqvi, Prayaag Akbar, Shashi Tharoor are participating in the festival.</span><br />'' <br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Iconic Bangla author Shankar is the festival highlight of Bangla literature this year.</span><br />'' <br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">On the first day of the event, West Bengal-based writer Abhisek Sarkar and Bangladeshi poet Rofiquzzaman Rony were given the Gemcon Young Literature Award and Gemcon Young Poetry Award. </span><br />'' <br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Abhisek and Rofiquzzaman won the awards for their manus, "Nishiddho" and "Dhoashar Tamate Rong," respectively.</span><br />''