kolkata voicing narratives of political resistance and subversion poets sholeh wolp from iran and iryna vikyrchak from ukraine featured in this years fifth edition of kolkata international poetry festival chair poetry evenings inaugurated on saturday the common theme running through both poets verses is the alienation and heartbreak of exile from their home countries i never meant to stay away they said come back and you will die exile is a suitcase with a broken scrap recited wolp from her memoir abacus of loss residing in california wolp left iran when she was 13 wolp said i am fighting for womens rights in the best way that i know how while i cannot be in iran to support my people i can lend my voice and spread awareness across the world about my experiences wolp had not returned to her country in years certain of imprisonment or worse vikyrchak recited a poem about the sky that she wrote a decade ago which strikes a very different meaning today in the context of the ukraine war ten years ago i wrote this poem in gratitude for the sky that connects us across borders today i read it as a prayer for a return to peaceful skies keeping in mind all of those who have to hide in underground basements to escape the terror of the sky she said on saturday vikyrchak has been residing in kolkata since march lending her voice to share her experiences to audiences in the city my mother is a teacher in ukraine any time there is an air raid my mother and her students have to go to underground bunkers where they sometimes stay upto four hours no child should be deprived of their childhood in this way asserted vikyrchakthe threeday festival which is hosting a total of 18 poets from norway chile the netherlands uk usa and across india will conclude on monday night with poetry on a hooghly river cruise