Anantha Literary Festival

What does a festival of poetry hope to achieve? In the literal mushrooming of in-person poetry and literary festivals, what are the chances that an online poetry festival will have takers? And who will listen? Who will view? Especially in the post-covid era when the malls are back to bursting capacity, frenzied shopping sprees capture the imagination and there is so much to do than log in and listen to poetry….these and worse were the doubts that I harboured in my mind as I pondered over the wisdom of announcing yet another festival. samyuktapoetry.com is a site for poetry that I set up in 2020 at the height of the pandemic and what struck a chord with the readership was the attention to detail that was paid to every submission- the editorials took care to ensure the poets and their work in as much totality was covered and the results were some really great narratives and poems that the site could be proud of. There is more to come from samyuktapoetry this year! On the first anniversary of the site, I received a suggestion that we could run a small festival, just at least to boost the site. The name of the festival was a no-brainer- Anantha- meaning unending and also a reference to the old name of Thiruvananthapuram- the city where the festival and the site and I are based. The first edition of the festival ran for seven days, I made some errors in scheduling, but I made more friends. Learnt a few lessons- like leave some breathing space, to think is not to have done- the thing has to be actually done! The second year, the festival ran on for ten days. The errors were few and we gathered more friends. Friends who took some of the weight off my shoulders, who hosted sessions cheerfully, expecting nothing in return and giving it their all. The third year, we did not have the festival. I thought maybe we were done. But like John Donne, we were not done, “because I have more”.

In 2024, on a whim and a prayer, I just put out a small feeler, just a post on Facebook asking, “let’s go again? Anantha 2024?” The response was encouraging to say the least.

I put out an open call for participation, like every year. And the responses came in. Generously, familiarly- like hailing an old friend, some a little timidly, hesitantly – but they were there. And like seeds waiting for rain to fall, so were the friends of Anantha- my co-organisers, Soni Somarajan, Kashiana Singh, Mandakini Pachauri, Shobhana Kumar, Aswin Vijayan- who came in with their suggestions, their ideas and above all, their presence. Soni is the one who elevates this festival every year! He comes up with a set of names and says, “go on, ask them if they will come.” He never stops- like an artist fashioning a delicate glass vase, he keeps thinking and working and pushing me and the results are always lovely. Kashiana brings in these brilliant panels and this year, Mandakini and Shikha Malviya too came up with some lovely round tables on climate, history and activism.

I have often felt a stifling lack of diversity in festivals- and hence it was imperative that Anantha be different. The open call for participation gave everyone a fighting chance to be able to participate and most importantly, be heard. And that meant, the festival this year, ran for fourteen days- from 19 June to 1 July 2024. Some working days saw four or five sessions and weekends had up to seven or eight. There was a total of fifty-nine sessions involving nearly 175 poets (excluding multiple appearances).

There were sessions where people read their own poems- including poetry panels by sites such as Usawa, sessions where the poems of other poets were read, books were launched, books launched earlier were discussed under the Spotlight section, The Bombay Literary Magazine had an interesting session called Query the Crow- where they took questions regarding their submission and editorial process, introspective panels, Roundtables where there were deliberations on the technical and ethical aspects of what it means to be an editor, one on one conversations with poets like Sukrita Paul Kumar, Mani Rao, Jerry Pinto, Rahul Soni, Anisur Rahman, AJ Thomas and Masterclasses by personalities like Omkar Bhatkar. We also had two sessions of readings titled In Memoriam in honour of Jayanta Mahapatra.

I am often asked how this festival is pulled off. How it is that I can sit there year after year, day after day, hour after hour, controlling the video, listening, speaking, intervening? – the answer to that is, truly, I don’t know. I must confess, every year, just before the start of the first session of the first day, I ask myself if I should have done this- if this is even doable- but the minute the event goes live and I say, “Hello everybody and welcome to Anantha”, all doubts vanish. And then when I see the love the poetry community gives the festival, the respect it garners and the viewership it enjoys, it makes everything worthwhile. Kerala had some of the most violent rains during the precise days of the festival. The festering, sweltering summer was replaced by really moody rains and each session began with a silent prayer to the electricity gods to please hold on. For once, my prayers were answered. Unfailingly.

I often feel that Anantha has a life of its own. That it manifests. Because how else it is that without any money, with just a laptop and a stable internet connection, something like this is made possible? It is the goodwill above all, and the willingness of people to attend. Some of the conversations with poets on this platform have been beautifully open- emotional, honest and which have knocked aside the fences of defensiveness that we so often build up. There were focused discussions that examined poetry at its most personal and political. The spirit of volunteering that Anantha has gathered moves me every time. People write in asking- “How can we help?”- and make time to internalize the idea of respect and attention to detail that are the hallmarks of the festival. And as for me, I am happy that Anantha has so many co-parents!
If I am asked what Anantha’s legacy will be, I would say that it is the sense of community that it is capable of building. A lot of people have met on this platform and have gone on to do some wonderful work together. The most important thing is that each poet- whether they are award winners or rank first timers- are seen and heard. Are welcomed with a lot of love and respect. So, do come to Anantha next year. And catch the recordings of the previous sessions at facebook.com/samyuktapoetry . Just find your space and settle down.

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Sonya J. Nair
Festival Director (so they tell me)
Anantha