About Us

A Vibrant and dynamic society to foster and espouse literature and creativity…

The Academy of (W)riters And World Literati (ARAWLII) was incepted in 2008, with the launch of its flagship—PROSOPISIA—the Biannual International Journal of Poetry and Creative Writing, and with an aim to promote creative writing in English in particular through bringing together poets and writers from all over the world on a single participatory platform and, thus, strengthen the cultural and literary ties which bind India with other countries

Today when Bharat which is India for the non-Indians or pseudo-Indians, is rapidly emerging as Vishvaguru with its noblest and most perennial ideal of Vasudhaiv Kutumbkamto be in reach of realization, the efforts of the ARAWLII may be considered as a little offering at the grand yajna of this Amritkaal and likened to the ones of the little squirrel who used to besmear herself with the sand at the seashore and dust it off in the ocean during the building of Ramsetu. The founding members of the Academy had a grand vision and a noble cause to re-establish and re-discover the fast-eroding values in the human society which is torn between consumerism and commodification of relationships, cut-throat competition, a fast-degrading quality of human fiber and the drying up of the springs of love and compassion in the man’s breast. And they had envisioned, of course, with well-arrived convictions that it is only through literature—which has the unconsumable potential to make this planet the right place to live through re-instilling the samskaras of caring and sharing—it is only through literature that there could be any redemption, that there in literature lies the panacea to the moral and ethical ailments of mankind. The Academy also believes that creative writing can serve as a safety valve for the pent-up and smothered emotions, complexes, and cries of the human soul. The Academy is a mantric utterance of shared human existence and an echo unto progeny.

No wonder, poets, and writers from all over the world—like (Late) Les Murray, (Late) Niranjan Mohanty, Christopher Rollason, E.E. Sule, Geoff Page, Mark O’Connor, Satendra Nandan, Jayanta Mahapatra, Sheela Upadhyay, Bill Ashcroft, John Kinsella, S. Asnani, Adele C. Garaghty, James Ragan, to name a few—joined the Academy as members of the Advisory Board.

The Academy, now a registered Society, has more ambitious and proud plans/projects to carry out. We are spreading our wings to scale beyond the horizons and opening up the gates of the Academy for a larger community of lovers of literature—both local and worldwide—to accompany us in our pilgrimage to the shrine of the Muse. We sincerely and seriously plan to make Prosopisia a quarterly publication from the upcoming Winter issue. School and College Level Poetry and Creative Writing Competitions/Workshops will be organized for the grooming of literary talent. The Academy also has plans to begin Writer-in-Residence Fellowships for the contemporary world literati.

Satish Verma

Patron

Satish Verma was born in 1935, did his post graduation in Botany in 1957. At the age of 18, he started writing poems in Hindi and got them published in various journals. In 1957 he started a literary journal called Lahar (The Wave…) which immediately became a grand success and sold like hot cakes. In the early 60s he successfully tried his hand at translating the classic works of Ravindra Nath Tagore like Balaka, Jyoti-Kanikain, and Manimal into Hindi which were hailed as landmarks in the art and craft of translation. His versatility and creativity almost goaded him to compose poems of a different sort and a class by themselves which came out in volumes like Prayaas and 1974 and Other Poems. In 1980 his first-ever collection of English poems called INWARD JOURNEY saw the light of the day, which was well received and reviewed in various journals and magazines in India and abroad. And all these years he was teaching Botany to graduate students. In 1980 itself he started a social project of Holistic therapies called SEWA MANDIR which in due course of time has become the biggest institute of charitable kind in India. Sewa Mandir, however, was also in a way responsible for making Satish the poet undergo a long hibernation. And for about 25 years he did not write a single word. And suddenly the creating urge erupted almost in a volcanic fashion and for the last twenty years he has been writing literally daily without any compromise with profundity, infact. Presently he lives in Ajmer, INDIA. No wonder, till date, he has brought out as many as fifty collections of poems.

Anurag Sharma

President

A bilingual poet, critic, short-story writer, playwright, translator and creative writer, Anuraag has to his credit nearly twenty-eight books published so far. He has been a globe-trotting Seminarian representing India at various international forums in China, Denmark, Australia, Fiji and the U.S. A retired Associate Professor of English, he currently lives in Ajmer and is, now, a full-time writer devoting himself to his books and studies.

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