Who we are

Patron

Patron-

Late  Dr. K. Ayyappa Paniker,(12 September 1930 – 23 August 2006), a greatly revered Malayalam poet, literary critic, an academic and a scholar in modern and post-modern literary theories as well as ancient Indian aesthetics and literary traditions. He was one of the pioneers of modernism in Malayalam poetry, where his seminal works like Kurukshethram (1960),was considered a turning point in Malayalam poetry, Ayyappapanikkarude Krithikal and Chintha and several essays were an important influence on the playwrights of his generation. In an academic career which ran in consonance with his literary one, and spanned four decades, he taught in various colleges and universities before retiring as the Director, Institute of English, University of Kerala. He published over 25 works, translated several important work to Malayalam, including Guru Granth Sahib and a book in French; as a scholarly editor he produced numerous anthologies on Indian literature, he was the chief editor of the Sahitya Akademi’s Indian Literary Encyclopaedia. Another important works by him Indian Narratology, published by IGNCA, was the first of its kind to study various forms of the art of narration, in Indian literature, starting with Vedic and oral literature to Buddhist and contemporary literature. Paniker was a recipient of a number of honours including the Padma Shri, Kerala Sahitya Akademi award for poetry and criticism, Kendriya Sahitya Akademi Award for poetry, 2005 Saraswati Samman for his collection of writings Ayyappa Panikerude Krithikal, Distinguished Teacher award, Mahakavi Ulloor award for poetry, Kabir Samman, International Man of the Year (IBC, Cambridge, UK), Indira Gandhi Memorial Fellowship with lead to the book, Indian Narratology published by IGNCA, Gangadhar Meher National Award for poetry, Asan Prize and Jana Sanskriti Award (Abu Dhabi), Vayalar Award etc. He insistst on the idea of a regular poetry festival, and supported the name KRITYA, selected by Rati Saxena•  

Rati Saxena –Festival Director

Dr. Rati Saxena– – is a Hindi poet, translator, and editor, as well as an academic scholar of Vedic and ancient literature. She has five collections of poetry in Hindi and four in English (translated and/or rewritten). She has translated fifteen books, mostly from Malayalam into Hindi, and five poetry collections by International poets from English into Hindi. Her poetry is translated and published in book form in many languages, including English, Italian, Vietnamese, Spanish, Estonian, Serbian, Turkish, and Uzbek. She has participated in over 35 poetry festivals and has held three poetry residencies in Germany and China. Her poem was also part of a space mission by Jaxa, Japan, along with 24 other poems. Saxena has also published two travelogues, a memoir (Everything Is Past Tense), and a critical volume on Balamanyama’s poetry. Her recent important work, A Fist That Opens, discusses the uses of poetry therapy from ancient times to the present and into the future. She serves on the editorial boards of the Multilingual Journal of Literature and of Opto-Art “WürZarT.” Her awards include a fellowship from the Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts (2004-5), the Sahitya Akademi Award for Translation (2000), the State Bank of Travancore Award for Poetry (2001), Naji Naaman’s Literary Prizes (International) for a complete work (2016), the DJS Translation Award for Chinese poetry (2018; DJS is the acronym in Chinese of Emily Dickinson’s name) and the Rajasthan Patrika prize for best poem (2020). She is Founder and Editor of the first bilingual web journal Kritya, which started in 2005, and is the Founder and festival director of Kritya poetry festival

Art Director

Edina Barna – Hungarian poet, visual artist, and Government of India scholarship holder designer. She has several printed and online published poems in different magazines. Her poetry collection – Secret Romances – is a trilingual book, published in India.  She is the founder-owner of EdinArts – ’The empathetic creative design’ which performs complex designer projects, media image consultations and collaborates with artists, theatre groups, foundations, NGOs, magazines. 

She is ‘Kritya member’ since 2014,  and served as Art director of Kritya Festival in 2020 and in 2021.