Report: Amaravati Poetic Prism 2017

Padmaja Iyengar 'Paddy'

A Report on the International Multilingual Poets’ Meet & Amaravati Poetic Prism 2017 


The Cultural Centre of Vijayawada and Amaravati (CCVA), Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, India, engaged in the promotion of literature, art and culture, organized the 3rd edition of their International Multilingual Poets’ Meet at the A plus Convention Centre, Vijayawada on 11 and 12 November, 2017. The event also saw the launch of the 3rd edition of CCVA’s International Multilingual Poetry Anthology Amaravati Poetic Prism 2017 at the hands of the Hon’ble Speaker of Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly Dr. Kodela Siva Prasad Rao. Several eminent politicians, bureaucrats, literary luminaries and prominent persons from Amaravati and Vijayawada graced this poetry event on both days, both on the dais and off it. Hon’ble Deputy Speaker of the A P Assembly Sri Mandali Budha Prasad, Hon’ble Mayor of Vijayawada Sri Koneru Sridhar, the very first Mayor of Vijayawada Dr. Jandhyala Sanker, Krishna ZP Chairperson Smt. Gadde Anuradha, Sri Mukesh Kumar Meena IAS, the Secretary to AP Govt – Tourism & Culture, Dr. Vizai Bhaskar, CEO, AP Creativity & Culture Commission were some of the dignitaries who graced the event and spoke highly of the initiatives and efforts of the CCVA to promote literature, art and culture and lauded Sri Y. Harish Chandra Prasad the Chief Mentor & Founder, CCVA & the Malaxmi Group, for his vision in setting up CCVA at Vijayawada to promote art, literature and culture and initiatives like Preserve Heritage for Posterity,, Dr. E. Sivanagi Reddy, the CEO, CCVA and CCVA’s Hon. Literary Advisor Smt. Padmaja Iyengar-Paddy the curator of Amaravati Poetic Prism 2017, showcasing 948 poems (including translations) in 85 languages contributed by about 500 poets from 67 countries.

The poetry reading sessions that followed the inaugural and the formal launch of Amaravati Poetic Prism 2017, saw a mini poetic universe descend upon the A Plus Convention Centre, Vijayawada as the event witnessed the participation of 15 overseas poet delegates from 14 countries viz., USA, Israel, Austria, Denmark, Albania, Poland China, Croatia, Estonia, Philippines, Iran, Jordon, Sri Lanka and Saudi Arabia and over 100 Indian poets. Mr. Darshan Darshi, Kendra Sahitya Akademi-2006 Awardee for Dogri poetry, Dr. Sangram Jena Kendra Sahitya Akademi Translation-2011 Awardee for Odiya, Dr. Anil Kumar Boro, Kendra Sahitya Akademi-2013 Awardee for Bodo poetry, several State Sahitya Akademi awardees and other prestigious award winners were amongst the poet delegates from India. From overseas, winner of several awards and honours including the Honoured Poet recognized at the 1981 White House Salute to Poetry Keresan language Poet Prof. Emeritus Dr. Simon J. Ortiz of USA, recipient of the Zhujiang Poetry Award & Chinese poet Ms. Jami Proctor Xu, Naji Naaman Prize winning Polish poet Dr. Darius Pacak, Gustav Suits Poetry Award winner Estonian poet Margus Lattik, State & Provincial awards winner Sri Lankan Tamil poet Mr. Somasundarampillai Pathmanathan ‘SoPa’, were amongst some of the foreign languages poets.

On both the days, sounds of poetry in various Indian and world languages reverberated from the tastefully decorated podium. The poet delegates and the audience were treated to poems in some rare Indian languages like Kaithi (a 5th century language), Koshli (Sambalpuri), Mizo, Bodo, Dogri, besides Maithili, Bhojpuri, Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Urdu, Sanskrit and all the four South Indian languages, as also foreign languages like Keresan, Estonian, Croatian, Polish, Chinese, Filipino, Persian, Arabic, Hebrew, Albanian, Danish, Sri Lankan Tamil etc., And of course, English too!!!

The unique International Multilingual Poetry Anthology Amaravati Poetic Prism 2017 showcases poems in some rare languages like Awadhi, Brij Bhasha, Bodo, Mizo, Santali, Koya, Gondi, Kaithi, Kandu (Chota Nagpur), Koshli / Sambalpuri etc. besides all major Indian languages, and Keresan, Zapotec, Estonian, Dutch, Latin, Greek, Croatian, Pangasinan, etc. besides all the major foreign languages. Notably, poems in Odiya and English by Padma Vibhushan & Gnanpith Awardee Dr. Sitakant Mahapatra IAS (Retd) adorns Amaravati Poetic Prism 2017 as also those of several Central  and State Sahitya Akademi awardees and winners of prestigious international awards and honours like the Member of British Empire (MBE), Chevalier des Arts et Lettres (Knight of Arts and Letters), Chevalier de l’Ordre, (Order of Merit)European Grand Prix for Poetry, Naji Naaman Prize for Complete Work, SAARC Literary Award etc.

Amaravati Poetic Prism 2017 has been recently recognized as a Record by the India Book of Records. The previous edition Amaravati Poetic Prism 2016 with 527 poems in 53 languages has also received recognition as a Record from the Limca Book of Records as a “Poetry Anthology with Most Languages”. Amaravati Poetic Prism 2017 has apparently beaten its own previous records!

The Sahitya Akademi (Central, State & Yuva) Awardees from India like Darshan Darshi (Dogri), Dr. Anil Kumar Boro (Bodo), Manthri Krishna Mohan (Yuva Sahitya Akademi Puraskar-Telugu), Mercy Margaret (Yuva Sahitya Akademi Puraskar-Telugu), and State Sahitya Akademi awardees like Anuradha Bhattacharyya, Dev Bharadwaj, Dr. Rajwanti Mann, Rajinder Kaur, to name a few, were honoured as also some delegates who helped us with the anthology compilation work and themselves accomplished poets too like  Elizabeth Kurian ‘Mona’, Rama Krishna Perugu, Raj Babu Gandham, Swapna Behera and Soumya Vilekar, to name a few. All our guests from overseas, each of them an accomplished and award-winning poet, were honoured at the event viz. Prof. Dr. Simon J Ortiz (USA), Jami Procter Xu (USA & China), Col. Delo Isufi (Albania), Dr. Zoran Mimica (Croatia), Muniam Alfaker (Denmark), Dr. Dariuz Pacak (Poland), Prof. Nizar Sartawi (Jordon), S. Pathmanathan (Sri Lanka), Ms. Gayatree Srikandavel (Sri Lanka), Gili Haimovich (Israel), Dr. de Vincent Miles (Philippines), Ms. Preety Sengupta (USA), Dr. Gitanjali Himanka (Sri Lanka), Margus Lattik (Estonia) and Mahtab Qadr (KSA).

The poet delegates were treated to a scintillating Kathak dance performance by Ms. Anjali Patil & Troupe, Canada and a captivating Mohiniattam dance by Ms. Seena Sreevalson, a poet delegate from Kerala. And then there was also a song in the Keresan language rendered by Poet & Prof. Emeritus Dr. Simon J Ortiz of USA and Rabindra Sangeet by Poet Supratik Sen of Kolkata. On 12 Nov’17, the delegates were taken for a boat ride across rivers Krishna & Godavari, and a visit each to Amaravati and the holy Kanaka Durga Temple.

The International Multilingual Poets’ Meet was co-hosted by M/s. Greenko as the Title Sponsor and AP Tourism, AP Creativity & Culture Commission, Vijayawada Municipal Corporation, AP Mineral Development Corporation Limited and Andhra Bank, as sponsors.

The Embassy of Israel in India facilitated the participation of the poet delegate from Israel Ms. Gili Haimovich.


Amaravati Poetic Prism 2017 has been printed at Pragati Printers, Hyderabad and M/s Cyberwit, Allahabad are handling its distribution and sale.

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