A poem in Singaporean slang of English (referred to as ‘Singlish’) about candles stolen from a church, another poem with just the number one, a poem made up of sounds and one on an ‘i-human’.
These were some of the gems that glittered at the inaugural session of ‘Poetry with Prakriti’ (edition VIII) presented by The Hindu Lit For Life 2015, on Wednesday.
Alvin Pang, who is mentioned in the 2nd edition of
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“It is the language that I hear on the streets. But the government is trying to do away with it. They want English to be spoken the proper way,” he said. Sound poet Dirk Heulstrunk and travelling poet Jessy James Lafleur, too, held the audience captivated with their works.
Ranvir Shah, founder, Prakriti Foundation, which curates the festival, said eight years ago, when he proposed such a festival, it was his friends Nirmala Lakshman (director, Kasturi and Sons Ltd), V. R. Devika (founder Aseema Trust) and Geeta Doctor (writer) who encouraged him to go ahead with the idea. “It has grown over the years and this year we will feature 200 poets at 30 venues, including schools and colleges,” he said.
Ms. Lakshman said Mr. Shah was involved in a host of activities including running a hospice, an Ayurveda hospital and curating a poetry festival. She said this event was a precursor to the Lit For Life Fest 2015 that has been slated for January.
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Director of Alliance Française of Madras Pierre-Emmanuel Jacob, director of Goethe Institute Helmut Schippert, and deputy consul general of the Australian High Commission Stuart Campbell also spoke at the event, which is on till December 10.
On Thursday, sessions will be held at the British Council (5 p.m.) and at Spaces in Besant Nagar (7 p.m.)