Kaavya Dhaara, the poetry stream at HLF, will host 18 poets across 9 sessions over the three days of the 2025 edition. Poetry in Sindhi, the language in focus, as well as Urdu, Sanskrit, Hindi, Telugu, Odia, English, and Dehwali Bhili; a special reading celebrating the late poet Keki Daruwala, conversations around the craft of writing and sacred verse—there’s a lot to look forward to at this year’s Kaavya Dhaara. 

Combining readings in multiple languages with thematic conversations, Kaavya Dhaara will feature a range of voices and perspectives. Highlights this year include the following:

• Two Sindhi poets, Anju Makhija and Menka Shivdasani, will present from recent work and speak about language, identity, and the connection built through verse.
• Arundhathi Subramaniam will be in conversation about her new anthology of women Bhakti poets, Wild Women, with Hyderabad poet Sridala Swami.
• A discussion on Sanskrit poetry in contemporary translation will feature Anusha Rao and Suhas Mahesh, the curator-editors of the intriguingly titled How to Love in Sanskrit and Srinivas Reddy, Sanskrit scholar and translator. 
• Queer writing will be the focus of a conversation between UK-based writer afshan de souza-lodhi and Aditya Tiwari, whose new book celebrates heroes of the LGBTQI+ movement.

• The life and work of the late poet Keki Daruwala will be celebrated in a presentation by The Little Theatre, along with readings by some of the attending poets.  
• Lyricist-journalist-screenwriter Neelesh Misra will talk about his book of poems मैं अक्सर सोचता हूँ . 
• Two reading sessions will feature poetry in multiple languages, as well as work in the many tongues of the city, with well-known local poets Jameela Nishat, Laltu, and Ramesh Karthik, among others.
• As in previous years, the Srinivas Rayaprol Poetry Prize will be conferred in a special session on Day 2 of the festival, with readings by the winner Ajay Kumar and jury member Menka Shivdasani. 

And as always, there will be book signings and plenty of conversation between sessions.