Chennai: Age is no bar for creativity: You would not think this is a tired cliche if you had attended the annual seminar of Chennai Poets’ Circle (CPC) on Sunday, 20 January, at the World University Service Centre, Chetpet. The highlight of this year’s seminar was the contribution of poets aged 11 years to 87 years.
The CPC is a non-profit, non-sectarian, literary body of academicians, professionals, students and homemakers interested in poetry writing in English, and sharing such creativity with like-minded personalities; over the years, the CPC has spread its wings nationally and internationally.
The local members of CPC meet once a month to recite and discuss poetic views. At the annual seminar, distinguished guest speakers share their views on poetry, member-poets present academic papers on Indian English writing and recite their poems in front of a distinguished gathering of poets, special invitees and the public. Amateur guest poets are encouraged to recite their poems.
During the seminar on Sunday, the anthology ‘Efflorescence 2018’, a collection of poems written by its members, was released.
The chief guest on the occasion was Dr C N Srinath, director, Dhvanyaloka Centre for Indian Studies, Mysuru, and the guest of honour was Dr V Rajagopalan, retired HOD, English, MCC College, Chennai.
Dr Thirumeni, chairman, welcomed the gathering, and Dr Kannan traced the achievements of the CPC in the last few years. Hema Ravi, secretary, anchored the poetry reading session in the forenoon, while Jairam Seshadri compered the proceedings in the afternoon session.
The paper presentations were chaired by Dr T V Reddy, Dr Biplab Chakraborty and Dr Kannan. Sharing their erudition with the audience, the speakers spoke about the contribution of great poets, emphasising that the poet is a ‘seer’ and poetry is the encounter with the impossible.
Quoting a renowned poet, one of the speakers said, “Like a piece of ice on a hot stove, the poem must ride on its own melting.” The role of poets in ‘digital detoxification’ was also stressed upon.
The highlight of this year’s seminar was the contribution of poets aged 11 years to 87 years and paper presentations by academicians from Sastra University. Eminent writer, poet and media personality, Andal Priyadarshini, who has been awarded the Kalaimamani award by the Tamilnadu government, was among the audience as a contributing poet.
Poets had come from Tirupati, Hyderabad, Kochi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Puducherry and Tiruchi. Two budding poets, aged seven and ten, wards of member-poets recited their verses confidently in front of the gathering.
For details, contact secretary, Hema Ravi, at 9841003201.