Delhi Poetry Festival: Do shaam Waris Shah ke naam

Delhi Poetry Festival will be back with its sixth edition for the national capital to soak in an evening dedicated to Waris Shah. This year, the largest standalone poetry festival in India will celebrate the 300th year of Shah, the 17th century Sufi saint.

Delhi Poetry Festival, as the name implies, celebrates two cultural cornerstones of this part of the world – Poetry and Delhi.

This year Delhi Poetry Festival will be celebrating poetry in four languages – Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi, and English but other Indian languages will also be celebrated.

The two-day-long event will be an opportunity to indulge in poetry – a window to escapism. There will be poetry readings, discussions, book launches, workshops and performances by Rabbi Shergill and Harpreet Singh.

Among the engaging sessions, there will be a discussion around Waris Shah’s Heer and his relevance in the 21st century.

Here is a look at the line-up:

– Dolly Singh in conversation with Rene Singh, Sakoon Singh and Dr Vaneeta

– Sumail Singh Sidhu to invoke Waris Shah in another session

– The heart-wrenching poetry from the war-ravaged Ukraine, Yudh ki vyatha- Ukraine ki Kavya Pukar, will be presented as a translation by Nidheesh Tyagi.

– Rabbi Shergill and Dolly Singh to discuss ‘The role of poets and creative artists in arresting culture decline’

– Navtej Sarna reads his translation of Zafarnama

– Echoes of Partition – of forgotten alleys and separated friends – Nirupama Dutt, with Sukrita Paul Kumar and Urvashi Butalia

– Bonding with people on the other side of the border through “Daak to Lahore” will be presented by Amy Singh

– Bringing folk songs and poetry back in the mainstream, a session on poetry in Punjabi Wedding

– Songs: Madhaniya’n shall be presented by singer Radhika Nayak Sood and narrator Amy Singh

– Delhi Poetry Festival-REX Karmaveer Poetry Awards and Fellowships will be announced for school children.

When: 11 am – 9 pm, December 10-11
Where: India Habitat Centre