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World Poetry Day is
March 21, and was declared by UNESCO (the United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization) in 1999. The purpose of the day is
to promote the reading, writing, publishing and teaching of poetry
throughout the world and, as the UNESCO session declaring the day states, to
"give fresh recognition and impetus to national, regional and
international poetry movements." (Wikipedia)
The idea of taking international action for the promotion of poetry has
led to recognition of and given fresh impetus to national, regional and
worldwide initiatives in favor of poetry. The main aim of this action is
to encourage linguistic diversity through poetic expression and to provide
endangered languages with an opportunity to be heard in their communities.
The principal instrument in
this respect is the
World Poetry Directory, which has been giving
information about poetry activities worldwide since 2000. The Directory
lists festivals, prizes, magazines and associations, and provides links to
other major websites presenting poetry activities in UNESCO's Member
States, Associate Members, and non-Member States.
Each country is invited to celebrate the day in its own way, with the
active participation of national commissions, NGOs, public and private
institutions, concerned schools, municipalities, poetic communities,
museums, associations, publishing houses, local authorities, etc. UNESCO
for its part encourages and supports all national, regional and
international initiatives taken in this respect.
World Poetry Day 2004
UNESCO paid tribute to Chilean poet and Nobel Literacy Prize winner, Pablo
Neruda (1904-1973), the centenary of whose birth was also being
celebrated.
World Poetry Day 2005
Organized by UNESCO, the Permanent Delegation of Hungary to UNESCO and, in
co-operation, with the International Festival “Struga Poetry Evening” of
Macedonia, the evening was devoted to the theme “Poetry against
discrimination.”
UNESCO paid tribute to Hungarian poet Attila Jozsef (1905-1937). The Day
was marked by the proclamation of the laureate of the Golden Crown of the
Struga Poetry Evenings, American poet William Stanley Merwin. Attila
Jozsef published numerous collections of poetry and is considered to be
one of Hungary’s greatest poets. The Hungarian-born writer and journalist
Francois Fejto, who was a close friend of the poet, paid tribute to Attila
Jozsef and gave a reading of his verse. An exhibition on Attila Jozsef’s
life and work was displayed at UNESCO from March 30 to April 7 (Salle des
Pas Perdus).
The laureate of the Struga Poetry Evenings, W.S. Merwin, born
in New York in 1927, is the author of some 15 poetry collections and more
than 20 translations including Dante’s Purgatory. He won the Yale Series
of Younger Poets prize for his first book A Mask for Janus (1952).
Established in 1919, the Prize is the oldest annual poetry distinction in
the U.S.A. It rewards the most promising young American poets. His work
has earned him numerous other distinctions including the Pulitzer Prize
(1970) and the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize (1998). Merwin’s French translator,
Luc de Goustine, gave a reading of his poetry during the ceremony.
The laureate of the second edition of the Bridges of Struga Prize was also
proclaimed during the ceremony. The prize was created in 2003 by the
Struga Poetry Evenings in cooperation with UNESCO to recompense young
poets from all over the world.
The evening closed with a poetry recital “Chants mêlés contre l’exclusion”
(intertwined songs against exclusion) by Benjamin Jules-Rosette, who works
with an African network of education through theatre. |
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