In the domain of Indian Writing in English, drama, unlike novel and poetry, is a much neglected genre and it has been referred to as the “sad Cinderella waiting for a knight” to give it an identity. Against this backdrop, this national seminar on Indian Drama in English will definitely serve as a platform to scholars and students alike to undertake an in-depth study of Indian drama and dramaturgy which will eventually help the academic community to familiarise themselves with the dramatic tradition of India, both ancient and modern, and national as well as regional, and also assess and critique the works of Indian playwrights writing in English. The seminar will also examine the representation of Indian culture embodied in these plays.
The seminar will focus on major as well as minor playwrights and national as well as regional dramas. Teachers and research scholars are invited to present papers on the works of:

* Rabindranth Tagore
* Sri Aurobindo
* T. P. Kailasam
* Asif Currimbhoy
* Gurucharan Das
* Girish Karnad
* Mahesh Dattani
* Manjula Padmanabhan
* Vijay Tendulkar
* Badal Sircar

They may present papers on other notable dramatists as well. They may also present papers on:
* Natyasastra and ancient Indian dramaturgy
* Indigenous/Alternate theatre
* Drama as literature and performance
* Comparative study of playwrights & their works

Deadline for sending abstracts: 21 January 2008 For further details please contact: Dr. A. Joseph Dorairaj, Reader in English or Dr.S.Lakshmi,Reader in English Faculty of English and Foreign Languages Gandhigram Rural University Gandhigram- 624 302, Dindigul Dist., Tamil Nadu, India. Phone No: 0451-2452371-74. Extn: 2011, 2151, 2081