Saumya Choudhury founded the poetry organization Delhi Poetry Slam in 2013, bringing the art of performance poetry to India. For many people who aspired for freedom, both in the socio-political environment of the country and within their own selves, poetry slam became a catalyst for transformation. The space created by Delhi Poetry Slam emanated a magnetic energy, driven by shared hopes and dreams of people, along with an awkwardness of making spontaneous connections.
In 2017, Choudhury took a hiatus from the world of events, focussing on a programming project that would scale the impact of poetic expression without the limitations of an event- seating capacity, time constraints and traffic. She moved from Delhi to the small village of Santiniketan in West Bengal, where she built the popular networking website Poem Pajama from scratch- an uncensored place for Indian poets to share their works online. She lived for two years in the homes of Santhali tribals, interacting closely with the children and families, learning about their artistic work in composing Bawl music, sohrai murals and construction of double storied mud-houses.
Saumya Choudhury became the first and only Indian to be invited to Washington D.C. (USA) as part of Gulen Institute's endeavour to honour emerging youth voices from across the world.
Witnessing a global melting pot of voices deeply inspired her to create a residency for artists within her home country. This birthed the Slam India Writing Retreats which have taken place in twice in Jaipur and once in Goa, serving as a home for global collaborations, friendships and belonging. Financing the project with savings, she has hosted numerous international poets, writers and artists in India.
She has been a featured performer at leading venues such as American Embassy, Bikaner House, Korean Cultural Center and Siri Fort Auditorium. Her writing has appeared in mostly offbeat publications such as 63 Channels, O Heraldo, Shakthi Daily and The Hindu. Recently, her article on the expressive output of children being shaped by the reading and writing of poetry in early years was featured in Teacher Plus.
She is the recipient of the 35th Y. Kumar Award for International Understanding presented to her by the late Sitaram Yechury. Occasionally, she teaches poetry at universities including IIM Ahmedabad, IIT Kharagpur, Miranda House and conducts writing workshops with teenagers at Prometheus School, Heritage Xperential School and Sanskriti School.
Choudhury is a passionate writer and reader of poetry, and uses her extensive experience across the fields of editing, publishing and publicity to represent new authors at Delhi Poetry Slam.
Saumya’s work has been featured as a special highlight in Across Latitude & Language, an international anthology showcasing some of the finest contemporary poetry from around the world.