The 2017 Srinivas Rayaprol Poetry Prize Event was organized at Dept. of English, School of Humanities, University of Hyderabad on 19 Jan. 2018 around 5:30pm. The Program started with the Introductory welcome by Prof. Vinod Pavarala who introduced the audience to the history and essence of this award ceremony. He also spoke about the Chief Guest Sachidananda Mohanty, who formerly worked at Dept. of English, University of Hyderabad, and currently is the Vice Chancellor of the Central University of Odisha.
After the introductory session, Prof Usha Raman recited few poetries from the collection of Srinivas Rayaprol namely Friendship and Poem for Birthday. She also mesmerised the gathering by reciting some of her own poems like Transparent and Republic Day all over again.
Succeeding the event, Debarshi Mitra, 22-year old poet from New Delhi was awarded The 2017 Srinivas Rayaprol Poetry Prize Event. He is currently enrolled in the Integrated Ph.D. program in Physics at IISER, Pune. His debut book of poems Eternal Migrant was published in May 2016 by Writers Workshop. His works have previously appeared in anthologies like Kaafiyana and in literary magazines The Scarlet Leaf Review, Thumbprint, Punch Magazine, The Poet Community and Leaves of Ink.
In his Congratulatory speech, Prof Mohanty said that the Jury chose Debarshi Mishra’s because of the precise and simple language of his poems. Calling University of Hyderabad his home he said-“The recognition one gets at home is the most profound and he is honoured to be the part of this prestigious award ceremony.”
The event ended with Prof. Mohanty gifting Orissa Tribal Paintings to Prof Pramod K. Nayar, Department of English and Debarshi Mitra, winner of 9th Srinivas Rayaprol Poetry Prize Event and to other esteemed guests.
By Swati Pant and Monika Tiwari
Department of Communication