A serious attempt to give poetry the space it deserves

Mint Lounge has just launched a fortnightly series that is sure to warm the cockles of the hearts of poets and poetry lovers everywhere. "Poetry Pradesh", which will bring readers "stories about publishing, writing, and preserving poetry", is a serious attempt to give space to an art form that many Indian publications ignore.

In the inaugural column published earlier this month, Rajni George admits that selling poetry is tough. She writes:

Being ignored as well as sometimes blindly adored by the masses is the birthright of poetry. Even dedicated readers do not always have time for it. Out of everyone reading the books pages, a few might read this piece.

However, George asserts, poetry is still a vocal player in its tough corner of the market and she then puts the spotlight on a small group of publishers who, as she says, comprise India’s independent poetry scene today.

Read the piece in its entirety here: "Limited edition".

You can also savour two poems here, one by Adil Jussawalla, and the other by Tenzin Tsundue.

• You may also like to read Aakar Patel's scintillating explanation of why Gulzar and Javed Akhtar need to be considered among the  great poets of Urdu, alongside Mir, Ghalib, Iqbal, and Faiz:  "The list isn't complete".

• UPDATE (July 1, 2012): In the second column in the "Poetry Pradesh" series, Gayatri Jayaraman puts the spotlight on the lack of poetry archives in India. Also on offer: Two poems from Adil Jussawalla's archive.