Writers, theatre activists and critics on Monday said that although the creative process needs liberty, authors should be responsible for narrating history.

They also said that in historical or biography fiction, authors should base their work on the context and use references.

They made the remarks at a seminar titled ‘Etihaser Bartaman, Bartamaner Etihas: Prekhit Shaista Kha’r Pori’ at the seminar hall of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy.

Organised by Ayan Prokashan, theatre critic Abu Sayed Tulu presented the keynote paper at the seminar which was chaired by poet and thinker Foyez Alam.

Jahangirnagar University professor Masood Imran Mannu, theatre activist Irene Parveen Lopa, senior lecturer of Theatre and Media Studies at Tejgaon College and writer Ismail Hossain, among others, spoke at the event.

Abu Sayed Tulu said that the novel narrated the tragic death of Pori Bibi, daughter of Mughal Subahdar of Bengal, Shaista Kha, and also detailed the historical architecture of Lalbagh Fort in the old city of Dhaka while the author portrayed the history of Bengal and Shaista Kha’s tenure as a ruler.

Masood Imran Mannu said that in historical fiction, the time frame of the characters and places of the history need to be appropriate for readers and for documentation.

‘The novel titled Shaista Kha’r Pori slips from the history and also historical context,’ said Mannu, adding that many fiction writers including Humayun Ahmed and Sunil Gangopadhyay used footnotes for historical references.

Irene Parveen Lopa said that the novel was based on a historical character but created many scenography based on creative fantasy.

The novel titled Shaista Kha’r Pori, written by Ismail Hossain, was published in 2016 and Meghdoot Natya Sampraday brought it to the stage, while the stage play was written by Abu Sayed Tulu and directed by Subhasish Datta Tanmoy.