International Poetry Festival from January 16

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kritya-2012, an international poetry festival, will be held in the city from January 16 to 18. The venue of the festival is the Vyloppilli Samskrithi Bhavan.  The festival will be dedicated to Rabindranath Tagore, said festival director Rati Saxena. A poetic presentation of Koodiyattam will be the highlight of the festival. Around 25 foreign poets and 50 Indian poets will recite their works at the festival.  The inaugural poetry reading will be made by poet O N V Kurup on January 16 at 10.35 am. An exhibition of paintings by K Jayakumar based on Gitanjali will also be part of the programme.  The valedictory function on January 18 will be presided over by Kerala Sahitya Akademi president Perumbadavam Sreedharan. Minister for Cultural Affairs K C Joseph, Ashok Bajpeyi, Ataol Behramoglu and K K Gopalakrishnan will attend the function.  It will be followed by a Koodiyattam performance by Painkulam Ramachakyar Smaraka Kalapeedam.