3-day National Poetry Festival takes off

Dhaka, Feb 18 (bdnews24.com) – The 23rd Jatiya Kabita Utshab (National Poetry Festival) kicked off on Wednesday with hundreds of poets and lyricists participating of from across the country and West Bengal. Addressing the crowd at the inaugural ceremony, poet Syed Shamsul Haque said it was their duty to deliver poetry to the people regardless of geographical and social divides. Haque, president of the festival's board of advisers, inaugurated the three-day long annual festival, with the slogan 'Power to poetry, power to the people', around 11am at the premises of central library of Dhaka University. "The country is now enjoying good times after a long period of peril. This has come about due to the people's spirit," said Haque. "If the democratic flow continues unabated we will be able to practice our art and culture freely. " The festival this year has been dedicated to the memories of poets Khaleda Edib Chowdhury and Samudra Gupta. West Bengal poets Swati Chaterjee, Anjalee Banarjee, Kajal Chakrabarty, Ratul Deb Barman, Nilcharjo, Pinaki Thakur, Rafiq Ul Islam, Dhananjoy Ghoshal, Chandana Khan, Siddhartho Singh, Shibash Mukherjee are in Dhaka to join the festival. Festival convener Robiul Hossain and general secretary Golam Kibria Pinu also spoke at the inauguration among others. Poetry sessions will be held each day of the festival up to 8pm. bdnews24.com/jf/sm/su/rah/1937hours