Mangaluru: Kavita Trust, which works for the promotion of Konkani poetry, will hold its annual James and Shobha Mendonca Endowment Lecture on Poetry in Mangaluru on Saturday, August 6.

Renowned English poet and writer Keki N Daruwalla will deliver this lecture at Gallerie Orchid, K S Rao Road here at 5.30 pm. The title of his talk is 'Poetry: The Rights and Wrongs of a Quest'.

The lecture occupies an important position in the many programmes of Kavita Trust. It is popular among poets and literary circles. The last four years have seen Kavita Trust playing host to renowned poets like Gulzar, Ashok Vajpayee, Jerry Pinto and Arundhathi Subramaniam.

Poet Keki N Daruwalla is a leading Indian writer with twelve poetry volumes, five short stories and two novels to his credit. His poems figure in reputable anthologies like 'Scanning the Century' by Viking London (ed Peter Forbes). Penguin India published his 'Collected Poems' (2006). His poems have been translated into Swedish, Spanish, Magyar, Macedonian and Russian. Daruwalla is a serious short story writer with five volumes, 'Islands' being the most recent volume. His latest novel 'Ancestral Affairs' was published by Harper Collins in 2015.

He spent a year at Oxford Queen Elizabeth House as a Visiting Fellow, and was Member of the Commonwealth Observers team for Zimbabwe Elections (1980). He retired from government as chairman, JIC (Joint Intelligence Committee) in 1995. He also worked as special assistant to the Prime Minister, and was a member of National Commission for Minorities.

Some of the prominent awards won by Keki N Daruwalla are 'Sahitya Akademi Award' in 1984 and Commonwealth Poetry Award (Asia) in 1987. His novel 'For Pepper and Christ' was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Prize (Asia-UK) in 2010. He was conferred the Padma Shri in 2014.

The entire programme will conclude by 7:30 pm and those desirous of participating can contact 9980136297 or email: kavitatrust@gmail.com, or reserve your seat by filling the form here: http://kavitaa.com/frm_lectureonpoetry/

About Kavita Trust

Founded in the year 2002, Kavita Trust is a registered trust working to popularise poetry, with a particular focus on Konkani poetry. The Trust takes up number of projects to promote poetry. Spreading its wings in Konkani region, it has brought diferent dialects of Konkani under one fold by being the platform for poetic expression. It has taken the richness of poetry to the doorstep of the layman by way of poetry sessioins, seminars, talks, symposiums, festivals and competitions.

In the last fourteen years, Kavita Trust has held around 114 programmes related to poetry. These workshops have helped many poets and poetry lovers to study and understand the nuances of poetry.