More than 200 poets from eight countries would recite poems to fans and enthusiasts at the 30th Jatiya Kabita Utshab that began yesterday on the Dhaka University campus.
The Jatiya Kabita Parishad, which organised the two-day festival, dedicated this year’s event to Language Movement veteran Tofazzal Hossain who died last year.
Eminent poet Syed Shamsul Haque, who inaugurated the festival, urged poets to fight against autocracy, militancy and fundamentalism with poetry. He asked the organisers to arrange such events at least twice a year to spread the appeal of poetry.
Apart from recitations, poets, writers and representatives from Bangladesh, India, Sweden, Norway, Morocco, and Taiwan took part in an open discussion.
Local participants include Shamsul Haque, Burhanuddin Khan Jagangir, Sheikh Hafizur Rahman, Pias Mojid, Asad Chowdhury and Dialara Hafiz.
