Amjad Ali Khan, Kambar to grace B'luru Poetry Fest

The second edition of Bengaluru Poetry Festival, organised by Atta Galatta, will be held on Saturday and Sunday at the Leela Palace, Old Airport Road.

The festival will be inaugurated by Sarod maestro Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, Jnanpith awardee Chandrashekhar Kambar and Hindi poet Ashok Vajpeyi.

Amjad Ali Khan will be in conversation with dancer Kumudha Bharathram about legendary Indian musicians.
The first day of the festival will take you on a poetic journey, starting from Karnataka’s Kambar, into the Northeast and across boundaries to Malaysia and Ireland.

Hindi actor Padmavati Rao’s ‘Kuch Pyaar Kuch Tadap’, a book of poems on love and longing will be released by writer and playwright Girish Karnad. The book, published by Atta Galatta, has Padmavati’s poems, handwritten in Hindi along with the English translations.

Young, aspiring poets will have a chance to interact with publishers at the event. The second edition has many strong, feminist voices like Margaret Mascarenhas, Sumana Roy and Punam Chadha Joseph. Salma, the rebellious Tamil poet who had been a chil d bride, will talk about women’s rights and desires in a session titled ‘Oru Pennin Kadhai’ or ‘The Story of a Woman’.

The festival has workshops in slam poetry, writing, folktales and more for children. Adults also have workshops on poetry appreciation, comparing songs and poems, and others.

Entry to the festival is free. For the full schedule, visit http://www.bengalurupoetryfestival.org.