The 39th World Congress of Poets (WCP) will commence in KIIT Deemed to be university from October 2, coinciding with the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. More than 1,000 poets, writers from 82 countries and 500 poets from Odisha will attend the meet, which has ‘Compassion through Poetry’ as its theme.
This is the third time WCP is being hosted in India. On previous two occasions it was held in Chennai in 1986 and 2007. It is a matter of pride for Odisha and India to be hosting such a coveted Congress.
Founder, KIIT and KISS and president of the 39th WCP Dr Achyuta Samanta took initiatives to bring the mega event to Odisha to promote the art, culture, heritage, literature, tradition and tourism of India and Odisha at international level. He has taken all steps to make it a grand and colourful event.
During different days of the five-day Congress, Compassion Poetry, Wisdom Poetry, Tourism Poetry, Spiritual Poetry and Reflection Poetry will be held. The Wisdom Poetry will be held on October 3 at KIIT, while the Tourism Poetry will be held at Konark Sun Temple on October 4. The venue for Spiritual Poetry is Puri Sea Beach, Reflection Poetry will be held at KISS.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik will inaugurate event, whileUnion Minister of State for Culture and Tourism Prahlad Singh Patel will inaugurate the Wisdom Poetry. Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu will grace the valedictory session on October 6 as the chief guest, while Governor Prof Ganeshi Lal and Union Minister Pratap Chandra Sarangi will join as guests.
The WCP ‘Golden Gabel’ will be conferred on Dr Samanta. Besides that, honorary DLitt will be conferred on six eminent litterateurs and honorary diploma on five eminent persons. The Gandhi Prize for Literature will be awarded to noted Gandhian Acharya Bhabananda.
A statue of Mahatma Gandhi will be unveiled too.