5th World Poetry Conference [18,19,26 Nov. 2023] was a unique event organized by the Aazaad Foundation [Regd], a Mohali based charitable Trust, and International Academy of Ethics. It brought more than a hundred poets and scholars from 30 different countries on one stage. The Inaugural function was held on 18 Nov. which was presided over by Dr. Jernail S. Anand, Chairman of International Academy of Ethics. On this occasion, in the International Conclave, nearly 15 poets participates who represented countries like Israel, New Zealand, Greece, Mexico,Phillipines etc. A senior academician, poet and scholar from Hyderabad, Dr. Pedapudi Rama Rao was honoured with the Academy Award in Literature. The guests included Dr. Basudeb Chakraborti, Dr. Kalpana Purohit [Keynote Speaker] and Dr. Maja Herman Sekulic. The proceedings were curated by the Organizing Secretary, Dr. Parneet Jaggi. A highlight of the programme was participation of 3 poets from Israel which sharpened the focus of poetic dialogue.
On the second day, [19/11/2023], 35 poets from different countries participated in the poetic symposium. The three sessions were conducted by Dr. Sarita Sharma, Meenakshi Goswami and Dr. Sandhua K. Rao.
On the third day, [26/11/2023], more than 50 poets participated. The three sessions had Sh. Vinod Khanna, Raj Babu Gandham, Sh. Mukul Kumar IRTS, Dr. Kul Bushan Razdan, Ibrahim Honjo and Dr. Mutiu Olawuyi in the Chair. The moderators were: Harinder Cheema, Dr. Sushmindarjeet Kaur and Dr. Shalini Yadav.
On the concluding day, Prof. Dr. Jeffrey Levett, from Greece was honoured with Academy Award in Literature and Philosophy, and he was also bestowed Fellowship of the International Academy of Ethics. A book of short stories by Principal Surindra Lal ‘Alive in the Procession of the Dead,’ was also released. Dr Parneet Jaggi. Organizing Secretary, welcomed the guests while Vice President of the International Academy of Ethics Dr Maja Herman Sekulic (a Serbian author) thanked assembly of poets, and dwelt on the theme of the Conference. The Vote of Thanks was proposed by Chief Coordinator Dr Molly Joseph.
Sh Brij Bhushan Goyal, Coordinator of the Organizing Committee of the Alumni Association, SCD Govt. College, Ludhiana, was honoured with The Master of Creative Consciousness Award for his extraordinary example of setting up an Alumni Library in the College, and encouraging students to access books, in an effort to wean them away from drugs.
The poets felt that they must raise a unified voice in order to be heard by the forces that set the narrative of the world society. War dominated the poetic discourse on all the three days, and the proceedings were sprinkled with pain, despair, a sense of loss – which truly represent our contemporary society, but finally, there was agreement with the running theme of the World Poetry Conference that Poetry is the Last Hope of Humanity.
Dr Manminder Singh Anand
Vice President
Aazaad Foundation (Regd)
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