An Invitation to POETS- Harvard Poetry Reading

"India Poetry Reading" event will be held on May 9, 2009 at 3:00 PM

The topic for this year will be 'My Language'. Poems from the classics and original poems in any language on the theme topic are invited for recitation.

Location: Hall A of Harvard University Science Center, 1 Oxford St., Harvard University, Cambridge.

India Poetry Reading as an event commenced in Harvard University in 1997 and has continued every year on second Saturday in the month of May.  This year’s event is scheduled for Saturday, May 09, to be held at 3 PM in Hall A of Harvard University Science Center located at 1 Oxford Street in Cambridge.

 In consonance with the ongoing lecture series on “Languages and Literature of India”, the theme for this year’s Poetry Reading event will be “My Language”.  Poets of all ages are invited to read original compositions or share segments of classical literature in the gathering.  Compositions and readings in all languages are invited on the theme topic. A brief translation or summary in English is desired.

India has been the home of bards, story tellers, event chroniclers, and literary geniuses over her history and has contributed to the world the form of lyricism, expression, meters, language and the fanfare of poetry in life. From the ancient Vedas to the late romantic compositions in films, India has created songs for every aspect of human life and integrated it into the cultural fabric of her people. Over time, many languages and dialects have spawned over the geography of the subcontinent and each has made its mark in contributing ideas, thoughts and rhythm to the stream of life in India. Indian sentiments of spirituality, family living, respect of earth and nature, and ornamentation in words and style have been practiced by many other cultures all over the world.  Poetry is the celebration of the story of mankind.

Some of the poets who have participated in the past include; Pramod Thaker (Gujarati); Champa Bilwakesh;; Manjusree Sen (Bengali); Ajit Chaddha (Punjabi); Shiva Gautam (Nepali); Achyut Adhikary (Nepali); Harsh Mehta (Gujarati); Michele Jankowski-Smith (English), Uma Nelaiappan (Tamil), Edith Parekh (English) Laxman (Sanskrit) P M John (Malayalam), Bijoy Misra (Oriya), Sajjad Kamal (English), Niranjan Dudani (English), Maya De (Bengali), Alok De (Bengali), Rahul Ray (Bengali), Satyapriya Sarkar (Bengali), Subhash Sehgal(Hindi), Raju Sivasankaran (Tamil), Jayanto De (Bengali) Reshma Singh(Punjabi), Jaspal Singh (Hindi), Masood Khan (English), Naseem (Bengali), Anila Asghar (Urdu), Pratyush Bharati (Urdu), Chandrakant Shah (Gujarati), Sapna Ray, Arjun Ray; Raju Chaddha (Punjabi); Nasim Badiuzzaman; Professor C. Gopinath; Kevin McGrath; Arjuna Ray (Bengali); Jayant Dave (Gujarati) Rekha Upadhyaya (Gujarati).  Thematic concluding remarks by Poet Brother Blue have always graced all the previous occasions.

For any further information and participation please contact Dr. Bijoy Misra, Convener, Outreach Committee of the Department of Sanskrit and Indian Studies at Harvard University.  He can be reached by email at bmisra@fas.harvard.edu  or by phone at 781.259.0029.  The Gujarati poet of eminence Sri Chandrakant Shah will help coordinate the event.  He may be contacted at chandu420@gmail.com  or by phone at 781.983.4941. The event notification of the Department can be viewed for participation at http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~sanskrit/event.html

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