A Holi of Poetry

To select, translate, and edit an anthology of poems from a vast field of Odia poetry is a hard task indeed. I must pay my sincere tribute to Prabhanjan Mishra, a distinguished poet himself, for such a wok. Seven poets, from. Arupananda Panigrahi to Runu Mohanty, make up the anthology. In between are represented Bijay Ketan Patnaik, Hara Prasad Das, Hrushikesh Mallick, Kamalakanta Panda, and the poet-editor himself. And, with ten poems allotted to a single poet, a reading gives us a fair idea of the poet’s commitment, and response to the conflicts on the human condition. I should like especially to focus on the poems of Hara Prasad Das, who has also created a prolific variety of prose, and who most obviously considers that the field of poetry is the interior life and the awareness of one’s cosmic condition.- Jayanta Mahapatra, (Poet).
A Holi of Poetry” is a celebration of colours, sights, sounds and scents. The seven poets featured in the anthology offer a many-splendored palette that enchants all our senses. The poems, infused with all that is Odiya in lifestyles and culture, are simultaneously explorations of universal human themes like love, change and death. This spectrum, passing through the gifted psyche of Prabhanjan K Misra, creates for the readers a glorious rainbow of poetry. His own poems leave no doubt about his mastery of his medium. The poet’s vivid translations are felicitous and evocative, a word-scape that gives us a fine experience of the original work. – Geetha Nair G (Poet)Associate Professor of English (retd.)
Prabhanjan K. Mishra is basically a bilingual writer, more appropriately an ambi-lingual writer, which means the writer is equally competent in both the languages. He has used his bilingual competence to translate the poets whom he considers as representing the Odia sense and sensibility in contemporary poetry. As I understand, he writes poetry in both the languages with confidence and remarkable clarity.- Dr Bhagaban Jayasingh (Poet)Professor Emeritus, ASMB University, Bhubaneswar.

Prabhanjan K. Mishra, the former president of Poetry Circle of Mumbai, former editor of this poet association’s literary journal ‘Poiesis’, an award-winning poet, writes in a supple style both in Odia and English, using metaphors, symbols, motifs, mainly of Indian origin. His poems are replete with mild satire and irony. He writes generally on interpersonal relationship, landscapes, and social dichotomy. His literary politics leans towards the dregs of the society, the dispossessed mass. He is a poet, translator, critic, essayist and editor. Poetry is his first creative love. He has three books of poems to his credit and his poems and translations have appeared in more than twenty anthologies, Indian and overseas’. Widely published in journals. Has read his works in Poetry Festivals and from reputed platforms.