National Seminar Poetry is not a luxury.

It is a vital Mahapatra National Award for

necessity of our existence. It forms the Literature appositely avers that ‘in times
on quality of the light within which we of distress, poetry can trigger
Poeming the World: predicate our hopes and dreams toward conversations and heal your wounds’.
survival and change, first made into The earth scientist and eco-poet,
Jayanta Mahapatra’s Contribution language, then into idea, then into more therefore, pleads: “Poetry, like bread,
to Indian English Poetry tangible action. should be for everyone”.
-Audre Lorde, “Poetry is Not a Luxury” (1977)
12 - 13 March 2024 Jayanta Mahapatra (22 October 1928 -
A poem, at its best, may be seen as a 27 August 2023) is a name to reckon
metaphor for the ideal in worldly with, in the English-speaking world.
existence. Poetry, therefore, is the Someone who belongs to the
perennial human endeavour towards community known as poets dedicated
perfection, not just as a wish-fulfilment to dreaming of a better world through
exercise but as a commitment to their pursuit of poeming it. The first
imagining amelioration of the world. Indian poet to win the Sahitya
Significantly, human civilisation has Akademi Award for English poetry,
been evolving through the human effort Mahapatra was a physicist by training
at poeming the world. We humans and a poet by calling. Along with A. K.
dream, act, err, make amends and move Ramanujan and R. Parthasarathy, he
on, just like the lines of poetry. Poetry formed the trio of poets credited with
Department of English and has not only been cheering humanity founding what has been canonised as
Modern European Languages through its triumphs but seeing it Indian English Poetry. Mahapatra
through its travails as well. If the world stands out for what Meena Alexandar
Venue: today is plagued by challenges ranging argues, in her article published in The
Senate Campus, Faculty of Arts, from the geopolitical to the ecological, Journal of Commonwealth
UoA, Prayagraj, India then there are poets who are appealing Literature, 18 (1), 42 - 47, as ‘poetry of
to our collective imagination to seek decreation’. Decreation denotes a
Email: [email protected] creative ways of addressing them. Gopal certain quality of attention, an
Website: www.allduniv.ac.in Lahiri, the inaugural winner of Jayanta emptying out of the self, an almost
mystical waiting. No wonder, Patron Organising Committee
Mahapatra studies has become a Prof. Sangita Srivastava Dr. Pratima Chaitanya
burgeoning field. Dr. Vijay Kumar Roy
Vice Chancellor
University of Allahabad Dr. Nakul Kundra
The 2 - day seminar proposes to Dr. Kumar Parag
provide a platform for conversations
Dean, Faculty of Arts Dr. Vivek Kumar Dwivedi
on Indian poetry in English
Prof. Sanjoy Saksena Dr. Rajesh Verma
foregrounding Jayanta Mahapatra.
Dr. Satish Kumar Prajapati
Research papers can address to topics
Head, Department of English & MEL Dr. Sadaf Siddiqui
such as follows:
1. Poetry and History Prof. Susheel Kumar Sharma Dr. Ambrish Khare
2. Poetry as Activism Dr. Kanchan Chakravarty
3. History of Indian Poetry in English Convener Dr. Shubham Singh
4. Decolonising English through Poetry Prof. Manoj Kumar Dr. Prashant Kumar Pandey
5. Poetry as Trans-disciplinarity
Mr. Shiban Ur Rahman
6. The Subaltern Voice in Mahapatra’s
Co-Convener Dr. Jaswindar Singh
Poetry
Dr. Debasisha Pati Dr. Charu Vaid
7. Mahapatra and Ecopoetics
8. Feminist Concerns in Mahapatra’s Dr. Amar Nath Kumar
Oeuvre Organising Secretary Dr. Aloysius Sebastian
9. Portrayal of Odisha in Mahapatra’s Dr. Umesh Chandra Dr. Yuvraj Nimbaji Herode
Poetry
Dr. Pradeep Kumar
10. Mahapatra’s Poetry as Political
Commentary Dr. Mona Agnihotri
Advisory Committee Dr. Kanchan Yadav
11. Mahapatra’s Poetic Techniques
12. Religion in Mahapatra’s Poetry Prof. Gunjan Sushil Dr. Pramod Kumar Gond
13. Mahapatra and Other Poets: A Prof. Sarvajit Mukerji Dr. Mrityunjay Rao Parmar
Comparison Dr. Papiya Lahiri
Prof. Indrani Mukherji
14. The Autobiographical in Mahapatra’s
Prof. Jaya Kapoor Dr. Hariom Singh
Poetry
15. Cultural Identity in Mahapatra’s Prof. Prakash Joshi
Poetry
 Speakers Registration Fee:
Prof. Binod Mishra For Teachers: Rs. 1500/- Link for Seminar Registration:
IIT, Roorkee, India For Research Scholars: Rs. 1000/ - https://forms.gle/6dko7a72vnqiBdUS6
For M. A. Students: Rs. 750/-
Prof. Krishna Mohan Pandey Papers selected through blind peer
Banaras Hindu University, The Registration fee shall take care of
Conference Kit, Tea, and Working review will come out as an edited
Varanasi, India book with a reputed publisher.
Lunch on 12 and 13 March 2024.

Prof. Priyadarshi Pattnaik The payments should be made to: For assistance of any kind, please
IIT, Kharagpur, India
feel free to call:
HEAD DEPT OF ENGL MOD EURO LANG
A/c No: 10341398951 Dr. Umesh Chandra @ 9818260481
Prof. Ranu Uniyal
IFSC: SBIN0001621
University of Lucknow, India Dr. Sadaf Siddiqui @ 9336219861
BRANCH: SBI, Allahabad University
Dr. Satish Prajapati @ 9452838494
Prof. Sravani Biswas Dr. Shubham Singh @ 9452162581
Tezpur University, Assam, India Dr. Hariom Singh @ 7355651743
Guidelines for Abstract Submission:
Abstracts of 300 words should be
sent as Word files (font style -
Times New Roman, font size - 12)
to [email protected] latest
by 03. 03. 2024. Each abstract should
contain the paper’s title, the name
of the author(s), affiliation and
country of residence, email address,
and a short bio-note of max. 50
words.