"Kobitai tobey protirodhe aaj puspo futuk shottai... Jago sombhabonai, jago kobitai” (So let flowers blossom in hearts with poetry of defiance. .. Rise in Possibility, Rise in Poetry)

With the rendition of this song, written by eminent poet Syed Shamsul Haq and bearing the music of noted singer Fakir Alamgir, the National Poetry Festival-2015 began yesterday on the first morning of February on the Dhaka University central library premises.

More than 200 poets from home and abroad are taking part in the two-day festival having 11 sessions including the inaugural and closing ceremonies.

Apart from the recitation of poems in Bangla as well as indigenous tongues of the country and foreign languages, two seminars would be held today on new and Bangladeshi poems.

Twenty-four poets from India, Ecuador, Malaysia, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland, the United States and Nigeria are taking part in the 29 th festival.

Today the first session would begin at 11:00am with discussion on new poems and the festival would end at 9:00pm with songs composed from poems.

Poet Mohammad Rafiq would be presented the National Poetry Award for 2014 for his work in this field.

The National Poetry Council has been organising this festival since 1987 every year at the beginning of February.

In the 80s it was a cultural journey led by poet Sufia Kamal and Faiz Ahmed to unify people against the then military ruler HM Ershad.

Yesterday the festival was inaugurated by eminent poet Shamsul Haq after the council came back in a procession after paying tribute at the mausoleum of poet Kazi Nazrul Islam and artistes Zainul Abedin and Quamrul Hassan and at Central Shaheed Minar.

"Art is the last bastion of truth, "said the poet referring to the current political unrest where "truth is being murdered and cornered".

Poet Ashis Sanyal of Kolkata, India termed appropriate the slogan of the 29th festival "Rise in Possibility, Rise in Poetry", stating that Bangladeshis' love for poetry was expressed through the festival as they dared to organise it even under so many problems.