GUWAHATI, July 15 - The forum Guwahati Grand Poetry Festival is organising the region�s biggest ever virtual poetry reading and singing contest. The contest that was declared open on July 12 coinciding with the birthday of Pablo Neruda, one of the greatest poets of the 20th century, will conclude on August 9, said a press release.
Open for young people in the 15-35-year age group with the theme �Celebrating Life�, the contest is currently going on virtually and will continue till August 5.
The contest is an attempt to celebrate the North East India and its aboriginal populations and their life practices. It is being organised also keeping in mind the depressing environment prevailing due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which has greatly affected people, especially the younger generation.
Each of the winners will be awarded ten thousand rupees in cash along with a certificate and all participants will get e-certificates of participation after the contest.
The results will be declared on August 9 on the occasion of International Day of the World�s Indigenous Peoples, a day chosen in recognition of the first meeting of the UN Working Group on Indigenous Populations held in Geneva in 1982.
The contest organisers have invited a group of eminent people and artistes as jury members to select the winners. They include singer and composer JP Das, popular ghazal singer Anirban Das, classical singers Nandita Sarma and Pragyan Barua and Ahmedabad-based Assamese composer Anup Phukan for the singing category. For the poetry section, the jury members are Bhupen Chakravarty, Prof Rakhee Kalita Moral, Prof Asha Kuthari Chaudhuri and poet Madhu Raghavendra.
Guwahati Grand Poetry Festival claims to be North East India�s first and only of its kind poetry, literature and art forum founded in 2018 in association with Kamata Foundation, a charitable foundation formed for research and study on the indigenous cultures of NE India.
Interested persons willing to take part in the contest may obtain necessary details from Guwahati Grand Poetry Festival�s website https://www.guwahatigrandpoetryfestival.com/ and their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/guwahatipoetryfestival/, the press release added.
