Today on My Poetic Side, we take a look at the celebrations for the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s first folio, the trust gifting Welsh Poetry and the winners of the 2023 Jnanpith Award.
The Dames, and a Queen Celebrating Shakespeare
A dozen dames joined Queen Camilla last week, in one of the most illustrious, star studded line-ups of female acting talent that Britain has to offer as they celebrated the work of William Shakespeare.
Dame Judi Dench read sonnet 116 which is one of the most famous love sonnets that Shakespeare wrote, and there were a number of other performances that took place.
The event which took place on 14th February was part of the celebrations that are ongoing and mark the 400th anniversary of the Bard’s first folio.
Male actors took part in the event as well and it included a number of very well known individuals, many of whom are veteran Shakespeare actors.
The Borzello Trust Gifts Posie of Poetry
A number of Sixth Forms and libraries across Wales will receive copies of the selected poems of the late Nigel Jenkins “Wild Cherry”. This is being made possible as a result of a generous bequest that was made to The Borzello Trust.
Nigel Jenkins, who died in 2014, was one of the leading poets, writers and essayists from Wales. He was the winner of the Wales Book of the Year for his publication called Gwalia in Khasia. This was a travel book which told the story of the north-east India Khasi Hills trek completed by the Welsh Calvinistic Methodists Mission. He also published a selection of articles and essays in 2001 under the title Footsore on the Frontier. He was noted for his translations from Welsh and was a co-editor of the Welsh Academy Encyclopaedia of Wales in addition to working at Swansea University in the Creative Writing department and also at the National Writing Centre of Wales.
The Borzello Trust, which was founded by Bob Borzello is committed to supporting the publication of Welsh poetry and also distributing new works by Welsh poets.
Poet and Scholar Selected for the Jnanpith Award 2023
The Sanskrit scholar Rambhadracharya and the Urdu poet Gulzar have been selected for this year’s Jnanpith Award. This year marks the 58th anniversary of the award.
Both men are eminent writers in their chosen language and Gulzar is a recipient of 5 National Awards, he also has a Grammy for Jai Ho, which featured in Slumdog Millionaire and an Academy Award.
Rambhadracharya is the head and founder of Tulsi Peeth on Chitrakoot and is also a well respected spiritual leader. He was awarded the Padma Vibhushan in 2015.
The Jnanpith Award is the highest literary honour in India. Presented by Bharatiya Jnanpith, the award recognises outstanding contributions that have been made in the field of literature. For 2023 the judges have decided to give the award to two eminent writers, celebrating contributions made to literature in both Urdu and Sanskrit.
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