The Poetry Society (India) was formed in July 1984 at New Delhi as a voluntary association to promote Indian poetry and to look after the interests of Indian Poets. The founding members included the Indian poets Keshav Malik, J P Das, H K Kaul and Lakshmi Kannan. The Society conducts seminars, creative writing workshops, reading and publication of poetry journal and anthologies. It also conducts All India Poetry Competitions, including competitions among school children.[1][2]
The Poetry Society also publishes a half yearly Poetry Journal. It was started in 1990 and it publishes the best of Indian poetry written in English, including those translated from Indian languages. The journal also publishes book reviews and literary criticism.[3] The society has been conducting all Indian poetry competition among school children.[4]
SInce 1988, The Poetry Society (India) has been conducting All India Poetry Competitions in collaboration with the British Council. The competition is open for all Indian citizen for their original poems written in English or for poems translated into English from any of the recognised Indian languages. Thousands of poets have participated in this tough competitions, in which the number of prizes is very few. The judges, consisting of eminent poets from India and abroad, evaluate the poems without knowing the identity of the poets participating in the competition. The competitions organised by the Poetry Society are among the premier Indian Poetry Awards.[5]
The following poets have won the All India Poetry Competitions organised by the Poetry Society (India):[6]
There were no awards between 2000 and 2013. Till 2000, the awards were sponsored by the British Council. Since 2013, the awards are being co-sponsored by the MHRD