Image credit - Semeen Ali

The survival of any form of expression, be it in writing or through orality, depends a lot on its adaptive abilities. Here I will focus on poetry and its varied paths, adapting itself and surviving. If the Avant-garde form of writing was at its peak and continues to trickle down and impact the current form of expressing oneself, then one cannot ignore the impact the Romantics had over an entire generation of people at different points in time. I have provided a very basic example of the vast form of experimentation that poetry has undertaken to remain relevant. I unfortunately use the word relevant here as increasingly one observes the changes that we as readers are experiencing and are a part of.

As much as this would sound like a bitter truth, there is a general decline as can be observed in poetry readership as well as of people who buy a book of poems. As an editor who has published anthologies of poetries, over the years, I have observed to what extent are people willing to even buy a copy of such books that are purely dedicated to poetry. There are instances where poetry as a form of writing has been discarded and prose has been adopted to make one’s way and be a part of the changing face of literature. There are hardly any publishers who focus only on publishing poetry as it does not bring in the required monetary profits. So, what went wrong and where? I am reminded of an essay by Dana Gioia, Disappearing Ink: Poetry at the End of Print Culture, where she gives a very important insight into this current trend. She observes –

What will be the poet's place in a society that has increasingly little use for books, little time for serious culture, little knowledge of the past, little consensus on literary value, and –even among intellectuals –little faith in poetry itself?

The essay was published in 2003 and I am afraid the question she posed remains relevant. In a world that one cannot imagine without the number of technological advances that we are now surrounded by; the onslaught of visual media through television and the various social media apps is hard to ignore. What is emerging as a hopeful case for poetry in all of this is how a generation of poets is now rising to the challenge—if one can call it—to revive the power poetry has had over people. One can look at the generation of slam poets from India who are slowly owning this form of poetry in ways that are mesmerising, to speak the least. From packed halls to enraptured audiences; this form of poetry relies a lot on one’s memory and affirms one’s faith in the revival of a lost art that we once had a command over in varied forms. Poetry in the form of imagery, and poetry that reads like prose are a few examples in which there is a fight to not let this form of art retreat into the shadows.

While all these attempts continue, I am glad to share the twenty-one poetry submissions that we received for this issue, and continue to get a large number of submissions generally, reaffirming my faith that there are poets out there who will remain faithful to this form of expressing themselves that is through the written format.

I welcome my dear readers to familiarize themselves with these 21 poets who stand here, in this feature, in unison to declare that poetry will remain relevant and that the impact that it has had over generations shall not get reduced.

Wishing you all a very Happy Poetry Year!