|
The Honorable Panel of Judges Rabindranath Tagore Award - International | Judges 2012 Award
| | Yayati Madan G. Gandhi New Delhi - India
| Yayati Madan G. Gandhi
An elected fellow of Saint John College Cambridge, the recipient of several national and international awards and honours including Tagore Centenary Award in 1961; D Litt Honoris Causa from World Academy of Art and Culture and World Congress of Poets, USA; the author of 15 volumes of poetry, on whose work Phd and M Phil degree has been awarded by a few universities, occupies a very distinguished place among the contemporary English poets as the continuator of metaphysical tradition of Tagore and Aurobindo Ghosh and as pioneer of Poetry for Peace and One-Earth Mankind. He has edited collected works of Lala Lajpat Rai and several poetry anthologies. | Bharat Bhooshan New Delhi - India
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Laura Bailey United States | Laura Bailey
As a natural born lifetime collector of the ephemeral, Laura Bailey has bought and sold,
as both a collector and a rare book and rare paper collectibles dealer professionally in
the international markets. In addition to real life experience, Laura's academic
credentials include New York University and The New School for Social Research.
Her life experiences included touring in a band as a multitalented musician - (trumpet,
organ, all keyboard instruments, and electronic music),- working in the hospitality
industry as both manager and owner of a resort hotel in Eastern Long Island, and owning
a bookstore in New York City's historic Greenwich Village. Laura Bailey was a
conscientious activist even before Stonewall in 1969, and remains a staunch supporter of
Human Rights today.
Laura's expansive varied collections have included beat poetry, original 20th Century
art, Mayan art, stamps, and erotica. Laura continues her passions for collecting
materials reflective of cultural diversity, societal taboos, and those discriminated
against, ignored, persecuted and forgotten. Laura's current collection in inventory and
sheer numbers ranges in the hundreds of thousands.
| Judges 2013 Award
| | Raymond Arnold Wills Bournemouth, United Kingdom
| Raymond Arnold Wills
Raymond Wills - Poet and community worker, Born in Poole Dorset Ray is a
published poet and local historian. He has spent many years in the
field of play provision in the UK managing community schemes such as
children’s adventure playgrounds and promoting a variety of community
schemes locally and nationally. Ray has an abundance of poems and
stories on his website at http://www.thegypsypoet.co.uk/
|
Dr. Ram Sharma Meerut, Uttarpradesh, India
| Dr. Ram Sharma
Dr. Ram Sharma is an accomplished poet and writer both in English and
Hindi in the field of literature. He has added many feathers to his cap.
He did his doctorate on ` Post-Modernist Trends in Indian Novels in
English: A Study of Anita Desai, Arun Joshi, Amitav Ghosh and Vikram
Seth…He is a renowned poet, critic, reviewer and translator. His poetry
is indeed of very high order which
is read throughout the world. He has several research papers ,
articles, poems and reviews published in esteemed journals , magazines
and newspapers of India and abroad including Poets International [
Bangalore] , Bizz Buzz[ Mysore], Rock Pebbles[ Orissa],Contemporary
Vibes[ Chandigarh]Skylark[ Aligarh]Shine[ Tamilnadu] Poetcrit[ Himachal
Pradesh]Indian Book Chronicle [ Jaipur], The Vedic Path[ Haridwar]
Metverse Muse[ Vishakhapattnam], Young Poet[ Tamilnadu]Poetry
Today[Kolkata] Storm [Kolkata]Samvedna[ Mangalore]Pegasus[Agra] Hyphen[
Shimla]IJPCL[Kerala], Indo-Asian Literature[New
Delhi]Replica[Cuttack],Bridge-In-Making[Kolkata]Cyber Literature[Patna] Points of View[Ghaziabad],Kohinoor[Bihar],Voice of Kolkata[ Kolkata],Re-Markings[Agra]
Besides this his works has appeared in such web journals like Muse
India,Boloji.com, Literary India, Neo-poet,Academic India, IndianEnglish
LiteratureForum, Impressions Online Journal,Creative Saplings .His
poems are showing presence in foreign e-journals like
Poems-hunter.com,Voices-net.com,Coffe-connection.com,Autumn
Leaves,The Houston Literary Review,Asian-American poetry.com,
PoetrySketch Book etc. He has to his credit two poetry volumes
Muse[2002] and Serene Moments[2008],POETS FOR WORLD PEACE VOL 1 &2
[2010] , A STRING OF WORDS [2010], ANTHOLOGIES1[ 2011] At present he is working as a senior lecturer in English in J.V.P.G. College, Baraut, Baghpat, U.P., India
About Rabindranath Tagore Award
Poetry is heart`s rhythmic
creation and awards are its boosting energy .Rabindranath Tagore`s Award
in poetry is universal gift for all of us with its inspiration
Gopakumar ji. --------------DR. RAM SHARMA
|
Ms. Norma Perez Martinez United States
| Ms. Norma Perez Martinez
English Language Teacher in a Middle School
I would like to thank a great gentleman and
poet Gopakumar Radhakrishnan ji. I have been invited to participate in this outstanding
event that enriched my life. He gave me the honor and opportunity to be one of
the judges for the Rabindranath Tagore Award.
The contest was conducted in a truly
professional and respectful manner. Each poem was a gem in the treasure chest
of life. It was difficult to select only a few of the poems because all of them
were brilliant. There were many themes included in the selection. As the reader,
I felt the emotion and sublime message that each poem was conveying. It was an
amazing experience.
| Judges 2014 Award | |
Tate Morgan United States
|
Tate Morgan Tate is a product of the Midwest, raised on the plain states of North
America. He was nurtured on an ideal akin to the American Drama
"Mayberry". He grew to manhood under the Midwest sun. Playing
Baseball and running the streets of his little town. There friends were
lifelong spirits essence of their souls follow him still. He is a poet by nature, compelled through a
life time of experience to give voice to our existence, honoring the struggle,
not the reward.
Tate is a 6th generation Harness
horseman. Many of his works speak of the accomplishments of a wild tumultuous
life on the track. In 2005 he took up the pen to chronicle his life and times.
His works speak to the heart of a life spent in adventure and the final
realization of the true treasures we all have in this world, family. His poetry
tells the story not only of his own life and times but also of his ancestors.
Speaking on the subject in 2010 at the funeral of his son in law Michael
Wellman he said this. "Can any man say he is not beholding to the spring
from which life flows? As in the times of the ancient mariner we all hear the
call of sirens that gesture us to sail home. Continuity of purpose flows from
the wellspring of our lives. In the end we all find we are drawn inexorably
home, to the hearth from around which we told our tales of long ago and spun
our yarns of a life well lived. The well spent life will always beckon from the
winds of change a call for home."
A regular fixture at the preeminent
poetry sight in the United States http://www.writerscafe.org Tate has won over 1000
poetry contests there.
Tate has been interviewed many times adding that he likes this interview
best by Kathy Reinhart, posted here reproduced for Carty’s Poetry Journal.
http://www.cartyspoetryjournal.com/index.php/ink-drop-interviews-tate-morgan-kathy-reinhart/
In the years since he began writing
Tate has produced 3 books of poetry. His works are based in rhyme and meter. It
is his belief that poetry, like life plays on our emotions like a melody.
About Rabindranath Tagore Award
I would like to take this opportunity
to thank the organizers of the Rabindranath Tagore Award - 2014. It has been a
great honor to be asked to judge this contest. The contest is well organized
and well presented. I would like to offer my heart-felt thanks to the other
judges who participated and lent their expertise to this honored effort. It was
not easy to judge this contest. The competition was fierce. I myself am a rhyme
and meter poet. I find the classical education of the Indian population to be
quite extraordinary. I lent my time and effort for many a sleepless night to
the effort of fairly judging these entries. It has been a great experience for
me.
"You created a great system double blind it
is as good as any blind test in medicine. I like the system you have it judges blindly and justice is
supposed to be blind. In the states above every court room is lady liberty
holding a scale blindfolded weighing the evidence without deception or deceit.
The contest was fair impartial and that is all you can ask that makes it beyond reproach. It should be an award worth
the effort and those who win can take pride in how hard hard it was... it is excellence that makes for greatness. "
|
Hélène Cardona United States |
Hélène Cardona is a poet, literary translator
and actor, the recipient of numerous awards and
honors including a Hemingway Grant and the USA Best Book Award. Her books include
three bilingual poetry collections, most recently Life in Suspension (Salmon Poetry,
2016), and Dreaming My Animal
Selves (Salmon Poetry); and two
translations: Beyond Elsewhere (White Pine Press, 2016), and Ceque nous portons (Éditions du
Cygne). She also translated Walt Whitman’s Civil War Writings for the Iowa International Writing Program’s WhitmanWeb.
A Romanian translation of Dreaming
My Animal Selves was published by Junimea Editions in 2016.
She
co-edits Fulcrum: An Anthology of Poetry
and Aesthetics, is Co-International Editor of Plume, Essay
contributor to The London Magazine,
and co-producer of the documentary Pablo
Neruda: The Poet’s Calling.
She
holds a Master’s in American Literature from the Sorbonne, taught at Hamilton
College & Loyola Marymount University, and received fellowships from the
Goethe-Institut& Universidad Internacional de Andalucía. Publications include Washington Square, World
Literature Today, Poetry International, The Irish Literary
Times, Dublin Review of Books, The Warwick Review & elsewhere.
About
Rabindranath Tagore Award
It
was a pleasure and honor to be invited to judge the 3rd Rabindranath
Tagore Award. I am grateful to Gopakumar Radhakrishnan for giving me this
opportunity and to the other judges for sharing their expertise. It was so
difficult to choose. This international competition was extremely well
organized and offered eclectic poetry, with a wide range of themes encompassing
spirituality, love, war, feminism, romanticism, rape, and death, written in
free verse as well formal poetry.
|
Prof Rajendra Padhi Odhisha, India
|
Rajendra K.
Padhi
at present working as lecturer in the Department of
English in Women’s College, Bargarh, Odisha has already published four volumes
of poetry- THE LIVING TOUCH, O EARTH! by Alpha publications, New Delhi, SONGS
OF VOID and SUNYATARA PRIYATAMA in Odiya in bilingual edition. THE DARK HOURS
is his first English novel. His articles on education and literature in English
and Oriya have been widely appreciated. Articles like “Inquest of True
Education”, “Lyric poetry of western odisha” “Regional literature – an
overview”, “Going off the track”, “Frankenstein Monster”, “where are we?”,
“Women’s Colleges – A New Thrush” and many more have received high acclamation.
He was born at padampur in the district of Bargarh, Odisha in 1963.
About Rabindranath Tagore Award
My
journey of going through the poems of Rabindranath Tagore Award of
international poetry is to gather dreams for future thoughts, invoked my soul
to something luminous , subtler than subtle to dwell in them to know the speech
of the mind , the truth of the immortal souls born from the sublime ecstasy of
human consciousness, the rigorous self churning of life on Earth.
The
passionate stretching of imagination is so powerful that it is too hard to give
a poetic judgment to the great poems all in its wonder of beauty and
compatibility.
I
thank dear poet Gopakumar Radhakrishnanji for providing an opportunity of such
a rare kind to venture for such a unique task.
| Judges 2015 Award | | 
Diane R. Light United States
|
Diane R. Light
(Author/Poet/Psychology
Theorist/Psychotherapist/High School English Teacher)
Diane R. Light, MA, CIT, has worked in the fields of
education and mental health since the mid-seventies. She began her career as a
junior high and high school English teacher and worked with the guidance
department to provide communication, growth and development-oriented programs
and services to the students, their parents, and the community in rural West
Virginia.
Today she maintains a private practice in the
Virginia suburbs of Washington, DC as a Professional Life Coach and Certified
Personality Integration Therapist (CIT).
As an undergraduate in college, author Diane Light
studied British Literature and the great Irish poets. She went on to get her
graduate degree in Counseling and became a psychotherapist.
She is the
author of children's books Into Fairyland: A Treasure Chest of Fairy Stories,
an illustrated anthology of 25 original stories about her Irish grandmother's
fairies, and Alfonse L'Amour:The Dog Next Door. In the nonfiction, psychology
genre she authored critically acclaimed THIS WAY OUT: The Power to Change.
THIS WAY OUT: The Power to Change by Diane Light (Sep 27, 2011)
Alfonse L'Amour: The Dog Next Door by Diane Light (Aug 1, 2012)
INTO FAIRYLAND: A Treasure Chest of Fairy Stories by Diane Light
(Aug 14, 2012)
Eating Peas...: Puullleeeease! by Diane Light (Mar 4, 2014
About Rabindranath Tagore Award
It has been an honor and a pleasure to serve as one
of three judges for the 4th Annual Rabindranath Tagore Poetry Award -
International - 2015.
I found the poetry entries to be imaginative, varied
in theme and message, and many to be powerful in their impact. It was wonderful
to read and study them.
Many thanks to Gopakumar Radhakrishnan, the Contest Administrator,
for what I found to be a very positive and enjoyable experience.
I am very happy to have been a part of this year’s
Tagore International Poetry Award.
| Linda Ibbotson Ireland
|
Linda Ibbotson
Linda Ibbotson was born in Sheffield, England,
lived in Switzerland and Germany, traveled extensively throughout Europe and
Morocco, spent a month in India before finally settling in County Cork, S.
Ireland 19 years ago.
A poet,
artist and photographer her poetry has been published in various international
journals including the Blue Max Review, the Mad Swirl, the Porter Gulch Review
2013, The Inspired Heart, Virtuoso,
Episteme ( Bharat College) and Levure Litteraire 9. A research article
was published in Levure Litteraire 10. Poetry and an essay was published in The
Enchanting Verses Literary Review. Forthcoming journals in which her work is
published are the Spring/Summer issue 2015 of Iodine and a future issue of
Poetry Bus. She has had poetry read on Phoenix fm radio in Australia and
formerly written a regular poetry feature in Musicians Together on-line music
journal and a feature for Plum Tree Books UK . She has also been interviewed on
Cry 104 fm radio. Youghal, Ireland.
Linda was also invited to read at the Abroad
Writers Conference, Lismore Castle, Lismore, Co. Waterford, Ireland in December
2013.
In 2014 one of her poems published in The Enchanting
Verses Literary Review ‘A Celtic Legacy’
was performed in France at Theatre des Marronniers, Lyon, the village of
Saint Pierre de Chartreuse and 59 Rivoli, Paris by Irish musician Davog Rynne.
About Rabindranath Tagore Award
It was an honor and a privilege to have
been invited to be on the panel of judges for the 2015 4th Rabindranath Tagore
Award.
Having visited India many years ago I
felt an immediate kinship with the people, land and culture as I read these
poems.
I was very impressed by the diversity
of the poetry in this competition with a multiplicity of both style and subject
matter. Many poems touched me deeply in some way. I commend the great effort
and personal feeling that went into all of the work and I encourage you all to
keep writing as it gave me great pleasure to read all your work.
Many thanks to Gopakumar Radhakrishnan
for his dedication and hard work in making this a very fine competition
indeed.
| 
Dr. Vijay Nair, Palakkad, Kerala India
|
Dr. Vijay Nair
Former
Associate Professor, Department of English, Government Victoria College,
Palakkad, Kerala, has taught in various colleges for the last 31 years. His
poems have appeared in Pursuits, Littscape, Kerala Feature, Perspectives,
and Diotima’s. His collections of
verse include The City and the Hermitage
(1988), Eyes (2010), and Whispers of Light in Darkness (2013).
His poems have also appeared in the International Anthologies I am a Poet (2013), With Love (2013), Anthesis
(2014), and Synthesis (2014).
About Rabindranath Tagore Award
The
poems covered a wide spectrum of thematic concerns. One came face to face with
romantic effusions,philosophical and spiritual musings, epiphanic moments,
historical allusions, and strong feminist voices, Some "protest" poems
revealed a keen awareness of socio-economic issues. Flashes of inspired
satirical writing were also on display. Events and experiences were frequently
projected with the aid of subtle images and metaphysical conceits. Many poems
underscored a genuine love for the natural world. The observant
"eye/i" drew in and defined people and places. Congratulations to all
the poets who participated in the competition and made this "an affair to
remember"!
I was, indeed, pleasantly
surprised to have been invited to be on the panel of judges for the 4th
Rabindranath Tagore Award (2015). I consider it a privilege to be
associated with an Award named after one of India's greatest poets. We poets
owe a debt of gratitude to Gopakumar Radhakrishnan for his dedication and
devotion to the cause of propagating genuine poetry internationally.
| Judges 2016 Award | |
Adjei Agyei-Baah Kumasi, Ashanti, Ghana
|
Adjei Agyei-Baah
Adjei Agyei-Baah is
the co-founder of Africa Haiku Network and Poetry Foundation Ghana. He also
doubles as the co-editor of “The Mamba” and “Poetry Ink”, the official journals
of the two organizations respectively. He holds MA. TESL (Teaching English As A
Second Language)and MBA in Strategic Management and Business Consulting from
University of Ghana and Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology School
of Business respectively, and currently teaches Communicative Skills and Literature
in English as a part-timer at University of Ghana Distance Learning Center,
Kumasi Campus and Ghana Baptist University College. Adjei is an inventor and a champion
of “Afriku” (African Haiku) – an
avant-garde haiku type that focuses on the unique sight, sound and settings of
Africa. He is a widely anthologized poet both at home and abroad, and havepresented
eulogies such as“Ashanti” and “In the
Grey Hair of Soyinka”toOtumfuoOsei Tutu, the King of Ashanti and Wole
Soyinka, the Nobel Prize laureate respectively.
At the international
scene, Adjei is a Commonwealth poet, and his piece “For the Mountains”was selected by BBC to represent Ghana in the
Commonwealth Games held in Glasgow, Scotland, 2014. His other poems have also
received several honorable mentions and is the proud recipient of“The Heron’s Nest Award”March, 2016”,from
the Heron’s Nesthaiku journal and “Akita
Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Award, of the third Japan-Russia
Contest, 2014.
He is an ardent
follower of poetry and seesit as the surest way of uniting diverse cultures and
making the world live peacefully as one big family.Adjei currently has been
mentoring young Africa poets in the haiku/Afriku art with his African brother
and partner, Emmanuel Kalusian with their newly founded organization,Africa
Haiku Network, with the sole aim of sharing Africa’s uniquesettings with the
world in the beauty of three lines.He
launches his two maiden collections “Afriku “-Haiku & Senryu
from Ghana (with Red Moon Press, 2016) and Embers of Fireflies ( with Author
House, 2016) this year.
About Rabindranath Tagore Award
Nothing has been so
delightful than to walk through the minds of others, more especially your
fellow creative friends and come out as a judge of their thoughts. Though it
was an exciting experience, the selection had also come with its challenge, since
no individual has yet experienced every single culture, so as to be a better
judge over the thoughts and talent of men. Nonetheless, with the poetry
aesthetics as a guideline and aided by my personal experience as a poet was
able bring you closer to the winning poem, by extracting the real gem out of
the unpolished stones.
Personally I will say
contest of this nature should be encouraged, as it offers the world an
opportunity to know the pressing issues of its occupants, spanning across
racism, religious tensions, ethnic violence, discrimination, and others
divided-on issues such as gayism, sex-change and others. By the genuine concern
and proposition of these amazing poets, can aid world bodies like UNO, WHO etc.to
respond quickly on these matters before they degenerate into something barbaric
and unsightly, just as we have often seen on the television and other social
media platforms, which leave mankind with painful and irreparable memories.
I will personally
congratulate Gopakumar Radhakrishnan for this selfless
initiative as a way of contributing to world peace and the opportunity granted
me to serve as a judge over sample works of wonderful people from diverse
cultural background. Nothing has been more exhilarating to me than this role as
a co-judge of this contest, and will forever treasure it as one of the golden
memories of my career as a poet and editor |
Olivia Kent Southampton, Dorset, United Kingdom
| Olivia Kent I
have been writing poetry for around forty years. Having started writing
with a poem about a cat, which I entered into a local competition it
came second. As time has progressed I have written and self published several books. I
write all sorts of poetry from the darkest of darkness, akin to Robert
Browning to metaphoric words about changing seasons, nature and ageing. I am a nurse in the real world. About Rabindranath Tagore Award
This poetry completion has been running over a number of years. I was delighted to be a member the international judging panel. Everything has been organized to a very high standard. |
Dr S.S. Kanade
Osmanabad Maharastra, India
|
Dr S.S. Kanade
A
teacher, poet, painter, editor, publisher, and administrator, Dr S.S. Kanade is
blessed with multi-dimensional personality. He is Asst. Professor in English at
Shri MadhavraoPatil Mahavidyalaya, Murum, Dt. Osmanabad (MS) India, affiliated
with Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University, Aurangabad (MS). Apart from
this, he is known for his critical acumen. Edited several books and published
number of research papers in reputed journals and magazines; He is editor of
several academic research journals. Under his guidance, several students
pursued PhD successfully. He is actively engaged in research and social
activities and associated with several associations at global level.
About Rabindranath Tagore Award
Rabindranath Tagore
Award is a prestigious award at the global level. Being one of the juries, for
this contest, I have gone through all the poems, which are blessed with the
best thoughts. In fact, it was difficult task to rank these poems. It was an
intellectual and poetic feast.
Gopakumar Radhakrishnan,
Founder and Managing Editor (xpresspublications.com and PoiesisOnline.com) is doing yeoman’s service to the lovers of literature.
He is not only a good poet and editor but also a human being, as I have
experienced. He is a devotee of Saraswati,
Goddess of Learning in Indian culture, and dedicated his life for this noble
cause.
His institution
acts like a vehicle for philosophical ideas and policies by bringing forth
human consciousness among human souls. It highlights the desideratum of
harmonious understanding in the present society. Moreover, it acts with an
optimistic attitude to life by overcoming the difficulties. It manifests real the
colours of life.
| Judges 2017 Award | |  Herb W Bryce Maple Ridge, British Columbia, Canada
| Herb W Bryce
is a former journalist
and newspaper editor, book editor and teacher. He has been a traveler (kidnapped
and robbed), and has worked as a courier and a farm hand. His writings have appeared
in anthologies in the United States, in British Columbia, Canada, in the
“Fifty-five Plus” annual directory, “Today’s Senior Magazine,” and “Bryce’s
Blog for Seniors.”
He is also a
blogger, mostly of poetry, as an advocate in the fight against Alzheimer’s Disease.
He was the
February 2017 featured writer in the Royal City’s Word Play at Work magazine:
https://issuu.com/rclas/docs/february_2017_rclas_ezine New Westminster, British Columbia,
Canada, the province’s original capital city.
Previous features, and even comic strips, have
appeared in “The Daily Mirror Book for Boys,” and “…for Girls,” in London,
England, where he worked as a book editor. He also plied his journalistic
skills with a daily newspaper in Worthing, England.
He has a
degree in English and Journalism from Western University inLondon, Ontario,
Canada, as well as teacher’s certification from the University of Alberta. Upon
graduation from Western (then the University of Western Ontario) he joined the
staff of Canada’s national newspaper of record The Globe and Mail.
Mr. Bryce, author of “Ann - A Tribute,” and “Chasing
a Butterfly – A journey of love and loss to acceptance,” a book of poetry
arising from his decade as care giver to his Alzheimer’s wife, writes from is
home in Maple ridge, British Columbia, Canada.
About Rabindranath Tagore Award
The Rabinranath Tagore Award is a
very important contest. It is an outlet and a proving ground for poets
worldwide, an encouragement for aspiring poets; also it is a most rewarding, and
a learning, experience to be involved with it.
Mr. Gopakumar Radhakrishnan has
done a commendable, sterling service in setting up this contest, and he runs
its with diligence and impeccable manners. He is co-operative beyond necessity,
and has proven to be an excellent leader. Perhaps there is an award for him.
It has been an honor to serve.
| Melissa Studdard
United States
| Melissa Studdard
Of her debut poetry
collection, I Ate the Cosmos for Breakfast, Robert Pinsky writes,
“This poet’s ardent, winning ebullience echoes that of God…” and Cate Marvin
says her work “would have no doubt pleased Neruda’s taste for the alchemic
impurity of poetry.” Melissa Studdard
is an editor for American Microreviews and Interviews, executive
producer and host of VIDA Voices & Views, and vice president of
the Women's Caucus. She is also the author of the novel, Six Weeks to
Yehidah, and a collection of interviews, The Tiferet Talk
Interviews. Her awards include the Forward National Literature
Award and the International Book Award, among others. Her poetry, fiction,
essays, reviews and articles have appeared in a wide range of publications,
including Poets & Writers, Pleiades,Tupelo Quarterly, Psychology Today,
the Academy of American Poets' Poem-A-Day, and Connecticut
Review. Learn more at www.melissastuddard.com.
About Rabindranath Tagore Award
What a pleasure it was to judge for the
Rabindranath Tagore Award! Tagore was a man of deep altruistic, creative, and
spiritual gifts, and it’s gratifying to see Gopakumar Radhakrishnan keeping
Tagore’s torches lit to honor a new generation of poets. Gopakumar Radhakrishnan
and his organizers attended meticulously to the double blind process, and all
entries were treated with the greatest care and respect.Many blessings to all
the contestants past, present, and future. Their submissions show the true
range of their hearts and spirits, and that is a gift to us all.
| Smita Bahuguna Agarwal Allahabad, India
| Smita Bahuguna Agarwal
Smita
Agarwal belongs to Mussoorie, Uttarakhand. Her poems have received awards and
residencies from the British Council. She is the author of Wish-granting Words, Poems
(New Delhi: Ravi Dayal, 2002) and Mofussil Notebook (Calcutta: Sampark,
2016). She is editor of Marginalized: Indian Poetry in English,
(Amsterdam and New York: Rodopi, 2014). Her poems have been curated in
magazines, journals and anthologies published from India and abroad. Her
critical articles have appeared in Poetry
Review, Journal of Commonwealth
Literature and Plath Profiles for
which she is also an editor. She is Professor of English, University of Allahabad,
India, Director, Centre for Women’s Studies, University of Allahabad and a
professional singer with samples of her songs available on http://www.beatofindia.com, YouTube and Sound Cloud.
About Rabindranath Tagore Award
I see, all around me, a great interest in people, young and old, in
the reading and writing of poetry in whatever language they are
comfortable in. Most are far from being professional writers, yet, their
keenness to express themselves is genuine. Contests like the RBT give
them the opportunity to put out their poems among like-minded people and
draw out good advice regarding writing and reading. A contest like RBT
thus gets converted into public service.
I was honoured and
delighted to be a jury member for RBT. It was an enriching experience
reading a body of work and a difficult process deciding the winners. I
wish the organizers and participants of RBT all the best and applaud
them for making the flag of poetry fly high. | Judges 2018 Award |
|
Lois P. Jones United States
| Lois P Jones -United States
Lois P. Jones is a poet, editor, radio host for KPFK's Poets
Café in Los Angeles and co-host of the long running Moonday Poetry Series. Her awards include the Bristol Poetry Prize
(2016), the Tiferet Poetry Prize (2012) and the Liakura Poetry Prize. Her poems have been shortlisted for the
Bridport Prize in poetry in 2016 and 2017.
Jones' first collection of poems, Night Ladder, is Glass Lyre Press’s
2017 Book Award winner. She has work published or forthcoming in anthologies
including New Voices: Contemporary Writers Confronting the
Holocaust (Vallentine Mitchell of London); The Poet’s Quest for God
(Eyewear Publishing), Wide Awake: Poetry of Los Angeles and
Beyond (The Pacific Coast Poetry Series), and 30 Days (Tupelo Press). Some
publications include Narrative, American Poetry Journal, One, Tupelo Quarterly, The
Warwick Review, Tiferet, Cider Press Review and Tinderbox Poetry Journal.
|
|
Prof. Hanook Gohar - Pakistan
| |
Prof. Srinivas Vasudev -India
| Judges 2019 Award | | | Susan Rogers - United States
Susan Rogers considers poetry a vehicle for
light and positive energy. She is a lawyer, artist and a practitioner of Sukyo
Mahikari, a spiritual practice promoting positive thoughts,
words and action. Her poetry is included in numerous anthologies and
journals including, Altadena Poetry Review, California Quarterly, Carrying
the Branch: Poets in Search of Peace, Kyoto Journal, Light on Light Magazine.
Meditations on Divine Names: Anthology of Contemporary Poetry, Pirene’s
Fountain, Saint Julian’s Press, San Diego Poetry Annual: The Best Poems of San
Diego, Tiferet. She has featured at
readings at many locations in southern California
including galleries, museums, bookstores and botanical gardens and
has also participated in readings in Ojai, San Francisco and Santa Fe. Her poem
“The Origin is One” was made into a short film by Yoshikazu Ysa. Watch the film
at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzPA9zeC0Qc
The Origin Is One was also performed at the televised Akigami Ice Festival in Gifu,
Japan. She was interviewed on KPFK by Lois P. Jones and nominated for a
Pushcart in 2013 and 2017. She is co-editor for the forthcoming haiku anthology A
Sonic Boom of Stars and in 2019 was filmed reciting her poetry for Tim
Tipton’s variety TV show Rhyme Without Reason. Listen to her
poetry at: https://www.loispjones.com/susan-rogers/
About the Rabindranath Tagore Award
My gratitude to Gopakumar Radhakrishnan and the Rabindranath Tagore Award for allowing me the honor to serve as one of the International jurors for the 2019 competition. My gratitude to my fellow jurors Margo Berdeshevsky and Dr. Dushyant Nimavat as well.
Competitions such as this one create wonderful opportunities for poets both to create exemplary poetry and to share that poetry with others.
The winning poem “Peace Treaty” by Lozan Yamolky was one of many exemplary poems submitted to this competition. My gratitude to all the poets who participated this past year. | | Margo Berdeshevsky - France
MARGO
BERDESHEVSKY, a poet and a visual artist, born in New York city, often lives
and writes now in Paris. Her latest poetry collection,
“Before The Drought,” is from Glass Lyre Press, (September 2017.) (In an early
version, it was finalist for the National Poetry Series.) Berdeshevsky is
author as well of 'Between Soul & Stone,' and 'But a Passage in
Wilderness,' (Sheep Meadow Press.) Her book of illustrated stories, 'Beautiful
Soon Enough,' received the first Ronald Sukenick Innovative Fiction Award for
Fiction Collective Two (University of Alabama Press.) Other honors include the
Robert H. Winner Award from the Poetry Society of America, a portfolio of her poems
in the Aeolian Harp Anthology #1 (Glass Lyre Press,) the & Now Anthology of
the Best of Innovative Writing, numerous Pushcart prize nominations. Her works
appear in the American journals: Poetry International, New Letters, Kenyon
Review, Plume, The Collagist, Tupelo Quarterly, Gulf Coast, Southern Humanities
Review, Pleiades, Prairie Schooner, The American Journal of Poetry, Jacar—One,
Mānoa, Pirene’s Fountain,
Big Other, among many others. In Europe and elsewhere her works have been seen
in The Poetry Review (UK) The Wolf, Europe, Siècle 21, & Confluences
Poétiques, Recours au Poème, LevureLittéraire. A multi-genre hybrid “Square
Black Key,”and a new collection of poems, “It Is Still Beautiful To Hear The
Heart Beat” wait at the gate. She may be found reading from her books in
London, Paris, New York City, Los Angeles, Honolulu, or somewhere new in the
world. Her “Letters from Paris” may be found in Poetry International, here: https://poetryinternationalonline.com/category/letters/letters-from-paris/
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For more information, kindly see here : http://margoberdeshevsky.com
About Rabindranath Tagore Award
"I was very pleased to be asked to be one of the judges for the Rabinranath Tagore Award...to make selections based on high standards for excellence in poetry and commitment to our shared world."
| | Dr. Dushyant Nimavat Associate Professor, Gujarat University Gujarat, India
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