Poetry has the power to change, transform & bring a better

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday said that poetry has the power to change, transform and bring a better social order and called upon poets to create the kind of empathy that the world needs now.

Patnaik said this after inaugurating the 39th World Congress of Poets (WCP) at the Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) here.

"In the 150th year of the Mahatma, we are, in fact, celebrating the quintessence of basic human values, peace and non-violence," he said.

"In our attempt at a global society free from prejudice and a new social order in the path of peace and non-violence, our poets can alone create the kind of empathy that it needs," Patnaik said.

He said the World Congress of Poets is all about promotion of poetry as a natural and vital network connecting poets to the world's need of cooperation and peace.

"For us here, creativity coupled with peace and non-violence is taking new strides," Patnaik said.

Apart from noted author Ruskin Bond, more than 1,000 poets and writers from 82 countries including India and 500 poets from Odisha will take part in the WCP 2019.

'Compassion through Poetry' is the theme of the 39th World Congress of Poets.

Different kind of poetry like Compassion Poetry, Wisdom Poetry, Tourism Poetry, Spiritual Poetry and Reflection Poetry will be held during the five-day-long Congress.

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu is scheduled to attend the valedictory session of the WCP on October 6.