Kathashilpa (literally, the Art of the Word), of 19, Shyamacharan De Street, Calcutta 700073 (now Kolkata) was founded in 1959 by Abani Ranjan Ray (1932–2008) and friends like Indranath Majumdar. It became a rendezvous of radical intellectuals and artists of Calcutta, including those with extreme left sympathies. It stayed alive for more than thirty years and published a number of books that would later become classics in their respective fields. At present, the stewardship of the organization is in the hands of Mr. Dulal Burman, Dr. Amit Podder and Mr. Asit Poddar.