BHUBANESWAR: Chandrabhaga, the magazine of Indian writing started and curated by legendary poet Jayanta Mahapatra, will now be published at least once every year. This was announced by poet and trustee of Ketaki Foundation Trust Rabindra K Swain at the second edition of Jayanta Mahapatra Memorial lecture on Wednesday.
The event was organised by the Trust to mark the birth anniversary of Mahapatra. Swain said the continuance of the magazine will ensure a sustained platform for contemporary Indian writings. He also reflected on Mahapatra’s multifaceted contribution to Indian English poetry and his close association with the trust spanning over two decades.
Celebrated poet and literary critic from Israel Diti Ronen delivered the memorial lecture and said Jayanta Mahapatra’s poetry transcends borders despite being deeply rooted in his native soil. She lauded the trust for its thoughtful initiative in instituting the lecture series.
Ronen also spoke on war and peace and the role Hebrew poetry played in it. She traced the long history of Jews struggling for their survival and also spoke about major Hebrew poets like Paul Celan, Primo Levi and Nelly Sach.
Chief guest Soubhagyakumar Misra reminisced about his personal association with Mahapatra and highlighted how his life and writings have deeply influenced generations of poets and readers.
The event was marked by the release of two major publications ‘Chandrabhaga’ (21st edition) edited by Swain, and ‘Asurakhita Chera’, a poetry collection by Ronen, translated into Odia by Basudev Sunani in presence of Jyotiranjan Swain, managing trustee of Ketaki Foundation.
The evening also featured recital of Mahapatra’s poems in both Odia and English by poets Subhashree Lenka, Saqti Mohanty, Swapna Mishra, Suman Das and Bharadwaj Mishra.
