The
session was unique in that men outnumbered women 3:1 at the start.
The poetry of of the Mithila poet, Vidyapati, figured, and also the
poetry of the earliest Indian English poet, Derozio.
Priya
We
had a guest from America, Thomas Duddy, who has spent the past ten
years coming annually to reside in Fort Kochi for extended periods. He is a retired professor of English literature who has taught
in many colleges, and knew poets such as Allen Ginsberg and Denise
Levertov.
KumKum and Thomas Duddy
The
recitation ranged from the sophisticated cynicism of Andrew Marvell,
to the abstract symbolism of Lawrence Durrell, who is better known as a
novelist.
Sunil, Arundhati, and Sivaram
One
poet was repeated for the third time: Angelou – testament to her popularity. Here are
the readers at the end of the session in the Library of the Cochin
Yacht Club. The late joining of Arundhati Nayar reduced the majority
of men from 3:1 to 2:1 ! We are still waiting for Verghese Samuel to
join the poetry sessions.
Thommo, Priya, Tom, KumKum Sivaram, Arundhati, Mathew, Sunil, and Joe
Click below to read a full account of the session ...
