New Delhi: Over 50 poets from 19 countries along the Indian Ocean rim are set to showcase their verses at a poetry festival hosted by the Sahitya Akademi here. The three-day festival “Waves – The Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) Poetry Festival” is scheduled to begin here on March 1 and is being organised by the External Affairs Ministry.
Shiv K Kumar (India), Nabaneeta Deb Sen (India), Surjit Patar (India), Nida Fazli (India), Edwin Thumboo (Singapore), Abdul Jabbar Kakaei (Iran), K Satchidanandan (India), Mohammad Haji Saleh (Malaysia), Zakariya Amataya (Thailand), Nirmalendu Goon (Bangladesh) are among the participants.
Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) formerly known as the Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation (IOR-ARC) established in 1997 is the largest grouping of countries in the Indian Ocean region.
The association has 19 member countries – Australia, Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Iran, Kenya, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mozambique, Oman, Seychelles, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, UAE and Yemen.
“The Indian Ocean Rim constitutes not merely a geographical area, but a cultural one too. These countries got connected long ago through sea routes and exchanged ideas, concepts and forms of art. “It is extremely important to retrieve that partly lost organic connection, both politically and culturally. And what can connect nations and peoples better than poetry?,” a statement by the Akademi said.
30 poets representing 24 Indian languages are also participating in the festival. “They will devote three days to fruitful exchanges of thought and poetry through reading sessions as well as panel discussions, leading to greater understanding cooperation among the countries and cultures they represent,” the Akademi said.
On first day of the IORA Poetry Festival the keynote session by Sitakanta Mahapatra is followed by inaugural readings by Keki N Daruwalla and Thailand’s Saksiri Meesomsueb. Nabaneeta Dev Sen would chair the first session, featuring Sitok Srengenge from Indonesia, Mohammed Abdullah Mohammed Al-Mahgari from Yemen and Nida Fazli.
The following session would host poets Rekha Rajvanshi (Australia) and Prabodh Parikh (Gujarati), Kailash Vajpeyi (Hindi) and Chandrakant Patil (Marathi).
The Akademi also plans to bring out an IORA Poetry anthology. The anthology includes poems from the invited poets from various member countries as well as Indian poets. (PTI)
