Bengaluru Poetry Festival 2024: A celebration of prose, verse and music

Children’s festival from last year’s Bengaluru Kavita Mahotsav. | Photo courtesy: Special Arrangement

The Bengaluru Poetry Festival is back with its eighth edition. Presented by Atta Galatta, the two-day event will feature poetry performances transcending language barriers. It will include a connection between music and poetry, interactive workshops, and a storytelling festival for children.

Over 450 poets from across the country have participated in the festival over its seven years, showcasing a rich mix of regional and ethnic flavours that celebrate India’s literary diversity. This year too, over 50 invited poets, artists and musicians have been confirmed to participate.

From a conversation with music maestro Shankar Mahadevan to the interpretation of poetry through dance by the Bendre Project, this two-day event is a celebration of music and poetry in every form.

Subodh Shankar | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

“This year we are going to look at poetry through the eyes of singers, lyricists, composers and lyricists,” said Subodh Shankar and Atta Galatta, co-founders of Bengaluru Poetry Festival.

“We are also looking at the poetry through other allied art forms, one of them is on the life of Kannada lyricist Da Ra Bendre, which will be depicted through a Bharatanatyam dance performance by the Bendre Project.”

The eighth edition will see an academic exploration of the poetry of music through Sadhana Rao, a research-oriented writer and art curator, who will look at the character of poetry in a Hindi film song.

Preeti Das | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Storyteller, theatre personality and stand-up comedian Preeti Das will conduct a session with Gujarati singer and poet Saumya Joshi, whose song sailor There was a lot of discussion on social media last year. Preeti says, “He is the reason most of us got into theatre. As a contemporary poet and lyricist, he has been a prominent voice in the field of theatre, addressing a wide range of issues from gender to caste politics.”

Saumya is one of the writers and lyricists of the National Award winning Gujarati film ‘Kaho Naa Pyar Hai’. Hellaro, who portrays Garba Dancing is considered a form of rebellion.

Children’s celebration

The children’s festival will run parallel to the poetry festival, “Whenever we have such a festival, we ensure that there are a large number of children’s programmes. I feel that whatever activity you do, children should be involved. Unless you invest in the children of today, you will not get the poets, writers or audience of tomorrow,” says Subodh.

Preeti will perform at a children’s festival, she will narrate a story The clerk who eats Khakra, It is the story of a young sailor who falls in love with his wife. Khakra“Through this I am trying to celebrate the idea of ​​leftover or recycled foods in the Indian kitchen, some of which became comfort food for us while growing up, something we also associate with our grandmothers’ cooking.”

Preeti has already packed a lot of stuff Khakra For kids, “the idea as a storyteller is to awaken the five senses, I want it to be a sensory experience as well when they listen to the story.”

Vaishnavi Giri | Photo courtesy: Ruth Dhanraj

Apart from several other sessions, author and illustrator Vaishnavi Giri will also present a storytelling session. in forest Which talks about the delicate ecosystem of Sundarbans. “There are different fragmented forests in India, and they all hold equal importance as different settlements. Sundarbans is a place that is not talked about much to children like the deserts of Rajasthan or Gujarat. Sundarbans is important because it prevents major floods. It is one of the oldest forests and largest mangrove forests in the world. Sundarbans, the only mangrove forest that has tigers, presents a fascinating ecosystem,” says Vaishnavi.