The Story
OrganizerDelhi Poetry Festival grew out of the Poets Corner Group, a poetry publishing and community organisation co-founded by Yaseen Anwer and Dolly Singh that has published over 340 poets across 21 anthologies in English and Hindi. The festival's inaugural edition was held on 19 January 2013. It has since run multiple editions at the India Habitat Centre, with a documented gap of roughly three years before its Season 6 relaunch in December 2022 ('after a gap of 3 odd years'), followed by Season 7 (DPF7, December 2023) and Season 8 (DPF8, 23-24 November 2024, themed 'The Hero Within Us' / 'Poets with Purpose'), described in its own materials as the festival's 11th year. Programming has included the Delhi Poetry Festival Junior strand for young poets and 'SheScapes', a women-centric platform founded by Dolly Singh.
Delhi Poetry Festival is documented, including by independent literary historian Rakhshanda Jalil, as India's first standalone literary festival devoted exclusively to poetry, distinct from the many general literature festivals that include poetry as one strand among several. Its multi-lingual, inclusive programming format and its consistent India Habitat Centre home over multiple seasons give it a stable institutional identity in Delhi's literary calendar.
Visit the Delhi Poetry Festival, documented as India's first standalone festival devoted purely to poetry, to hear verse in English, Hindi, Urdu and other languages read aloud across open mics, readings and performances. It offers a welcoming, multilingual platform where established and emerging poets share the same stage, making it a warm entry point into the country's vibrant contemporary poetry scene.
