JOIN USThe Capital’s literati are revelling in the rhythm of poetry. And why shouldn’t they? The double celebration, one marking the 150th anniversary of Swami Vivekananda and the other being the 100th year of Rabindranath Tagore’s Nobel Prize, call for a grand celebration in the literary world. Resonating with the mood, SABAD, a four-day World Poetry Festival organised by the Sahitya Akademi and Ministry of Culture kicked off in the Capital over the weekend.
Enlightening the audience with a myriad thoughts, the inaugural session of the fest at Meghdoot Theatre, rolled out an exhilarating composition of diverse voices and sounds. The fest which is a critical platform for self-expression, offering a space for cultural exchange in the capital city, consisted of 11 poetry sessions and two cultural programmes.
The line-up featured an impressive list of poets representing 21 countries across six continents. The eminent litterateurs who graced the festival were George Szirtes (UK), Les Wicks (Australia), Kunwar Narain (India), Nikola Madzirov (Macedonia), Najwan Darwish (Palestine), Oscar Cruz (Cuba), Ingrid Storholmen (Norway), Pai Tafdrup (Denmark), Philip Nikolayev (USA) and Tanure Ojaide (Nigeria), among others. Heralding the festival on the inaugural session Vishawanath Prasad Tiwari, president, Sahitya Akademi said, “It is always the best feeling to be on a voyage. The voyage has more trial, tribulations and moments that can be cherished. Poetry should be about the knowledge of all fields of human life than about the language of tender feelings.”
In tune with his thoughts, George Szirtes from United Kingdom exclaimed, “A poet is a scientist of emotions and these emotions should be preserved and woven into poetry so that many more can savour it and enlighten their thoughts and lives. Poetry is compared with the creator of the universe since a poem creates a scene which is as vivid, truthful and soul-enriching as the one by the creator or god himself.”
The inaugural session was followed by an Odissi dance performance by Shweta Mukti on the theme ‘Feminine Glory of Nirvana by Kavita Dwivedi’, setting the tone for the next three days of expressive and fascinating reading sessions by eminent poets. .