20th & 21st July
Khayal is musical poetry that flows with Time and Space – Neela Bhagwat
தலை கோதி மடி சாய்த்துக்கொள்ளும் நட்பாகக் கவிதையை உணர்கிறேன். அதே உணர்வை வாசகருக்கும் கொடுக்குமானால் அதைச் சிறந்த கவிதையாகக் கருதுகிறேன். அடுத்தடுத்த தலைமுறை வாசகருக்கும் நட்புணர்வைத் தருமானால் அதை மிகச் சிறந்த கவிதை என்பேன் – Perumal Murugan
There is a no man's land between conscious and the sub-conscious mind. This is where poetry grows in some minds. – Javed Akhtar
I've been trying to continuously simplify for my own self what the idea of poetry means to me. I think I came close to the answer when I heard the poet Robert Pinsky in an interview once say, poetry is like a songbird singing itself hoarse in the forest, singing about what it feels like to be that particular bird on earth, in that place, in that time. – Rohan Chhetri
As Mandelstam said, "The people need poetry as much as they need bread. – Amit Chaudhuri
Poetry is a retrieval of music from life and language. – Mani Rao
Apni pehchan ke masaayil hain, Sher kehna to ik bahana hai. – Ayaz Rasool Nazki
Poetry is freedom. – Salma
I write to understand and to question the worlds I live in. – Tsering Wangmo Dhompa
It is perhaps a complete dichotomy that one's poetry, a “dialogue between self and soul”, achieves closure, and truly enhances itself when it sheds its self-consciousness and allows itself to become a bridge, allowing others in and going where it has never been before. I thank the Bengaluru Poetry Festival for the privilege of being able to share some of my work. – Varun Gandhi
It is heartening to know that a festival of poetry is being launched in Bangalore when many publishers and critics seem to think that poetry is a dying art. But poetry is the densest and the most passionate articulation of human angst and resistance in a world that is becoming increasingly inhuman. – K. Satchidanandan
The programming is a mix of the popular and the purist. From the epics to poems of solitude, chaos and everyday life, the festival will hit every note. – Shinie Antony
Bengaluru Poetry Festival is as significant as our own Oora Habba.Celebrating poetry has never been this exciting. Not to be missed. Its an honor to be a part of it. – Prathibha Nandakumar
