Bengaluru: Festivals dedicated entirely to poetry are a rarity in India, a rarity anywhere else, too. It seems as if today's fast-paced life has little appreciation for the slower, nuanced art of poetry. That is, until, the Bengaluru Poetry Festival arrived on the scene four years ago. Over 5,000 people attended the two-day event last year, to hear poetry in a spectrum of languages and a range of formats.
This year, the fourth edition, will be held on July 20 and 21 at Taj West End. Again, a number of internationally recognised poets and artistes will make their way to the fest, including Amruta Dongray, Maitreyee Bhattacharjee Chowdhury, Prashant Sankaran, Shikha Saklani Malaviya and Sourav Roy. Dongre, who began writing poetry in 2010, is due to launch her second book this year. Sankaran spent 25 years in the corporate world before breaking away in favour of more arty pursuits. Shikha Malaviya, co-founder of The (Great) Indian Poetry Collective, a literary press, and Sourav Roy, a now-popular Hindi poet, who also translated the plays of Howard Zinn into Hindi, are part of the lineup.
Subodh and Lakshmi, the founders of Atta Galatta, realised that poetry was gaining immense popularity, with poets gaining recognition the world over. They got together with a core team of poets and poetry lovers, along with author Shinie Anthony, the Festival Director, to put together the Bengaluru Poetry Festival. It is the first event of its kind in the country.
The Bengaluru Poetry Festival will happen on July 20 and 21, at the Taj West End.
