KOCHI: The literary campaign ‘Pink Pen’ by Ernakulam district panchayat received an overwhelming response. Women poets aged above 70 contributed around 100 poems to the book. The best were selected and published as an anthology. The organisers said that three or four of the authors are physically challenged, around three of them are bed-ridden and some are on wheelchairs.
“We received 219 entries by November 15. Of them, 100 were selected by a preliminary committee. These were later scrutinised by an expert committee. Women from 82 grama panchayats under the district were encouraged to participate. Most of them were homemakers,” said Ullas.
Joseph Alexander, one of the organisers, said they mainly looked at the quality of the poems, language, theme and beauty of the rhymes as qualifying factors. Most of the poems were centred around issues faced by women when they are forced to stay inside the four walls of their homes due to Covid and lockdown.
Participants included 76-year-old Indiradevi who is in a wheelchair, 73-year-old Vimala Thomas and 71-year-old Sherly Varghese. All the 100 participants were given mementoes and plaques when the anthology was launched on December 30. Very soon, all the contributing authors will be called to participate in a poetry workshop, said the organisers.