Bengaluru Poetry Festival is back this year with Shankar Mahadevan, Ila Arun and more to attend

Aug 02, 2024 01:26 PM IST

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The latest edition of the Bengaluru Poetry Festival is a celebration of cultural diversity across art forms

Returning with its eighth edition, the upcoming Bengaluru Poetry Festival (BPF) is a celebration of all things poetic. From the written word to performances based on poetry, this is the place for all literary buffs. Over 50 writers, artists and performers are set to participate in the two-day event.

The eighth edition of BPF will feature more languages and art forms to celebrate poetry

Festival co-founder Subodh Sankar shares, “The objective of any literature festival in the city — be it the Bangalore Literature Festival or BPF — is to bring the best of Indian literature to Bengaluru.” He goes on to tell us that the festival has never had themes, so as not to restrict the participants. “We are expanding in terms of bringing in artists, lyricists and performers who interact with poetry through their work,” he says. This year’s edition will include works in languages such as Gujarati, Punjabi and Dogri for the first time, along with Kannada, Tamil, English and Hindi.

The previous edition hosted more than 4,000 attendees and the organisers are hoping for a similar reception this time around. This year’s highlights include sessions with singer-composer Shankar Mahadevan, singer Ila Arun and Tamil actor M Nasser. The lineup also features lyricist-comedian Varun Grover, singer-poet Saumya Joshi as well as poets Jayant Kaikini and Ranjit Hoskote.

Speaking to us about what he is looking forward to this year, Hoskote says, “I will be in conversation with fellow poet Monica Mody, where we will discuss my recent books, Jonahwhale, Hunchprose and Icelight. It’s fantastic to have a festival devoted to poetry in all its diversity, across languages, literary contexts, publications and performance frameworks. I have always been moved by the generous response that I’ve received in Bengaluru — the city is blessed with superb readers, independent bookstores and a richly multilingual reading culture.”

Poet Rajesh Joshi, known for his works in Hindi, will be hosting a workshop on the process of writing poetry. “It is my first time at the BPF and I’m really excited. Poetry usually gets lost among other literary devices at literature festivals. I’m looking forward to meeting my contemporaries in other languages as well.”

There’s also a space for young literature lovers. The Children’s Poetry Festival (CPF) has a number of workshops, arts and crafts, as well as a magic show. Vaishnavi Giri, who writes and illustrates children’s books, will be hosting one of the sessions at CPF. “I’m going to be doing a dramatic reading of my books for the kids,” she tells us, adding, “I’m hoping to include an art segment where I let the kids make some wildlife pieces. This is my first time participating at BPF as a speaker. What I love about the festival is the fact that there is so much diversity. It is also not limited to a rudimentary definition of poetry, especially at the CPF. The organisers have included art, music and magic very tastefully without turning it into a carnival.”