JLF and JBM are committed not only to translation and Indian languages but also to poetry. The session on the necessity of publishing poetry elicited a rather surprising comment by Ashok Bajpeyi that poetry books are selling more than ever in India. While the discussion devolved to the appropriation of poetry by people’s causes into songs and anthems, the interest in poetry and poets was borne out in the early morning session of the JLF that discussed the release of AK Ramanujan’s diaries. Notably present and involved in the discussion on the necessity of publishing poetry, was the young winner of the Queensland Premier’s Young Writers and Publishers Award and the Tom Collins Poetry Prize Mindy Gill.
