July 21, 2026 09:33 pm (IST)
Follow us:
facebook-white sharing button
twitter-white sharing button
instagram-white sharing button
youtube-white sharing button
Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra lead Congress march to PM Modi's residence over student protest crackdown | 'We can't ignore his concerns': Delhi HC gives Sonam Wangchuk big relief, clears shift to private hospital | 'Students are being tortured': Mamata Banerjee offers to join CJP protest in Delhi | Sikkim tunnel horror: 8 dead, several feared trapped after NHPC project collapse | As NEET protests intensify, PM Modi defends govt action, calls for 'foolproof' education system | After NEET storm, Modi govt faces fresh challenge as farmers march to Delhi over India-US trade deal | Jantar Mantar reclaimed! CJP defies overnight police eviction, returns to protest site | 'Listen to the students': Diljit Dosanjh breaks silence on CJP protests, says 'They'll call me anti-national again' | 'Abhijeet Dipke has been picked up': CJP alleges police detained founder as Parliament march sparks chaos | Major twist in CJP protest: Abhijeet Dipke ends hunger strike
Chair Poetry Evening

International poetry festival ‘Chair Poetry Evenings’ goes online this year

| @indiablooms | Oct 23, 2020, at 02:16 am

Kolkata/IBNS: Chair Poetry Evenings, Kolkata’s international poetry festival, has decided to go online this year owing to the global pandemic crisis.

The festival will be held from November 1 to 5.

According to the organizers, poets from the UK, USA, Macedonia, Italia, Estonia, Netherlands, Israel and India will participate online, reading their poetry and also engaging in talks.

Headliners for this year’s festival include Booker prize winning writer Ben Okri, Pulitzer Prize winning poet Vijay Seshadri, Padma Shri Keki Daruwalla, Ashok Vajpeyi, Poet laureate of the Netherlands Tsead Bruinja, Kaveh Akbar, 2020 Golden Wreath laureate Amir Or, TS Eliot prize winner George Szirtes, Nikola Madzirov, TriinSoomets, Elisa Biagini, Harry Man, Helene Cardona, Ajmer Rode and Christopher Merrill.

Neelesh Raghuwanshi, Nabina Das, Ganesh Visputay, Manohar Shetty, Christina Davis, Bibhas Roy Chowdhury, Prabal Kumar Basu, Nilim Kumar, A.J. Thomas and Priya Sarukkai Chabria will represent India.

Sonnet Mondal, poet and festival Director, Chair Poetry Evenings, said, “It is indeed painful to go online this year but I believe that the poetry that will be shared in the third edition of this festival will be no less than a festival of human realization.  Festivals all over the world have been hosting their events online this year and we are happy to have been able to keep the show going.”

Tushar Dhawal Singh, Hindi poet and festival Director, said, “Our emphasis is on promising poetry from around the globe. The hard work is on and the allure is guaranteed. The world has seen enough this year but such a crisis shall not be able to bind our thoughts. It’s high time the real human voice is heard through poetry that has sustained us through the ages.”

The five-day session will be moderated by poets Sarabjeet Garcha, Ashwani Kumar, Saima Afreen and Sunil Bhandari.

Singer and music composer Prajna Dutta will hold a music session.

The event will be available for viewing through live streaming on YouTube and Facebook pages of Chair Poetry Evenings on all five days.

Support Our Journalism

We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism

IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.

Support objective journalism for a small contribution.