World Poetry Day | |
---|---|
Also called | WPD |
Observed by | UN Members |
Celebrations | UNESCO |
Observances | Promote poetry |
Begins | 1999 |
Date | 21 March |
Next time | 21 March 2024 |
Frequency | Annual |
First time | 1999 |
World Poetry Day is celebrated on 21 March, and was declared by UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) in 1999, "with the aim of supporting linguistic diversity through poetic expression and increasing the opportunity for endangered languages to be heard". [1] Its purpose is to promote the reading, writing, publishing, and teaching of poetry throughout the world and, as the original UNESCO declaration says, to "give fresh recognition and impetus to national, regional, and international poetry movements".
It was generally celebrated in October, but in the 20th century the world community celebrated it on the 15th, the birthday of Virgil, the Roman epic poet and poet laureate under Augustus. The tradition to keep an October date for national or international poetry day celebrations still holds in many countries. [2] The United Kingdom generally uses the first Thursday in October, [3] but elsewhere a different October, or even sometimes a November date, is celebrated.
WorldPoetryDay UNESCO has it on the calendar because PEN International had officially proposed it upon Tarık Günersel's presentation at the '97 Congress in Edinburgh — as suggested by PEN Turkey and seconded by Melbourne PEN. (In '96 initiated by Tarık Günersel and Gülseli Inal et al. — Poetic Space Lab)
The 2021 World Poetry Day in the UNESCO headquarters in Paris was dedicated to the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the birth of the great Macedonian poet, writer, literary translator and linguistic scholar Blaže Koneski. [4] At the same time, the British poet Carol Ann Duffy was announced as the recipient of the Golden Wreath Award of the Struga Poetry Evenings for 2021. [5]
Dame Carol Ann Duffy is a Scottish poet and playwright. She is a professor of contemporary poetry at Manchester Metropolitan University, and was appointed Poet Laureate in May 2009, and her term expired in 2019. She was the first female poet, the first Scottish-born poet and the first openly lesbian poet to hold the Poet Laureate position.
Patience Agbabi FRSL is a British poet and performer who emphasizes the spoken word. Although her poetry hits hard in addressing contemporary themes, it often makes use of formal constraints, including traditional poetic forms. She has described herself as "bicultural" and bisexual. Issues of racial and gender identity feature in her poetry. She is celebrated "for paying equal homage to literature and performance" and for work that "moves fluidly and nimbly between cultures, dialects, voices; between page and stage." In 2017, she was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.
International Mother Language Day is a worldwide annual observance held on 21 February to promote awareness of linguistic and cultural diversity and to promote multilingualism. First announced by UNESCO on 17 November 1999, it was formally recognized by the United Nations General Assembly with the adoption of UN resolution 56/262 in 2002. Mother Language Day is part of a broader initiative "to promote the preservation and protection of all languages used by peoples of the world" as adopted by the UN General Assembly on 16 May 2007 in UN resolution 61/266, which also established 2008 as the International Year of Languages. The idea to celebrate International Mother Language Day was the initiative of Bangladesh. In Bangladesh, 21 February (1952) is the anniversary of the day when the Bengalis i.e. Pakistani Bengali Muslims of the Pakistani province of East Bengal fought for recognition of their Bengali language. It is also observed by the Indian Bengalis of the Indian states of West Bengal, Assam, Jharkhand and Tripura.
Makoto Ōoka was a Japanese poet and literary critic. He pioneered the collaborative poetic form renshi in the 1990s, in which he has collaborated with such well-known literary figures as Charles Tomlinson, James Lasdun, Joseph Stanton, Shuntarō Tanikawa and Mikirō Sasaki.
José Emilio Pacheco Berny was a Mexican poet, essayist, novelist and short story writer. He is regarded as one of the major Mexican poets of the second half of the 20th century. The Berlin International Literature Festival has praised him as "one of the most significant contemporary Latin American poets". In 2009 he was awarded the Cervantes Prize for his literary oeuvre.
World Book Day, also known as World Book and Copyright Day or International Day of the Book, is an annual event organized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to promote reading, publishing, and copyright. The first World Book Day was celebrated on 23 April in 1995, and continues to be recognized on that day. A related event in the United Kingdom and Ireland is observed in March. On the occasion of World Book and Copyright Day, UNESCO along with the advisory committee from the major sectors of the book industry, select the World Book Capital for one year. Each designated World Book Capital City carries out a program of activities to celebrate and promote books and reading.In 2023 Accra, the capital of Ghana was designated as the World Book Capital.
Adam Zagajewski was a Polish poet, novelist, translator, and essayist.
Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature.
The World's Wife is a collection of poetry by Carol Ann Duffy, originally published in the UK in 1999 by both Picador and Anvil Press Poetry and later published in the United States by Faber and Faber in 2000.
National Poetry Month, a celebration of poetry which takes place each April, was introduced in 1996 and is organized by the Academy of American Poets as a way to increase awareness and appreciation of poetry in the United States. The Academy of American Poets' website Poets.org serves as a hub for information about local poetry events during the month. The organization also provides free educational resources to teachers for classroom celebrations and activities, and commissions an annual festival poster. Since 1998, National Poetry Month has also been celebrated each April in Canada.
Struga Poetry Evenings (SPE) is an international poetry festival held annually in Struga, North Macedonia. During the several decades of its existence, the Festival has awarded its most prestigious award, the Golden Wreath, to some of the most notable international poets, including: Mahmoud Darwish, Sachchidananda Hirananda Vatsyayan Agyey, W. H. Auden, Joseph Brodsky, Allen Ginsberg, Bulat Okudzhava, Pablo Neruda, Eugenio Montale, Léopold Sédar Senghor, Artur Lundkvist, Hans Magnus Enzensberger, Nichita Stănescu, Ted Hughes, Ko Un, Adunis, Makoto Ooka, Miroslav Krleža, Yehuda Amichai, Seamus Heaney, Tomas Gösta Tranströmer, Bei Dao, Amir Or and domestic authors such as Blaže Koneski and Mateja Matevski.
Fatos Arapi was an Albanian poet, short story writer, translator and journalist. Arapi's publications have been highly praised by his readers and his peers and have been awarded various national and international poetry prizes. In 2008 Arapi became the first Albanian poet to win the Golden Wreath Award.
Abhay Kumar [Pen Name Abhay K.] is an Indian poet-diplomat, editor, translator and anthologist. and currently serves as the deputy director general of Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), New Delhi. He joined the Indian Foreign Service in 2003 after doing Masters in Geography at Jawaharlal Nehru University and Kirorimal College, Delhi University. He served as India's 21st ambassador to Madagascar and Comoros from 2019-2022 and as India's Deputy Ambassador to Brazil from 2016-2019. He earlier served as Spokesperson and First Secretary at the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu, Nepal from 2012-2016 and as Acting Consul General of India in St. Petersburg, and Third/Second Secretary at Indian Embassy, Moscow,Russia from 2005 t0 2010. He served as Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy at the Ministry of External Affairs from 2010-2012 and sent out the first tweet on its behalf in 2010 starting a new era of India's Digital Diplomacy.
Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature.
Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature.
Major poetry-related events that took place worldwide during 2018 are outlined below, in various different sections. This includes poetry books released during the year in different languages, major literary awards, poetry festivals and events, besides anniversaries and deaths of renowned poets, etc. Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature.
Major poetry related events taking place worldwide during 2021 are outlined below under different sections. This includes poetry books released during the year in different languages, major literary awards, poetry festivals and events, besides anniversaries and deaths of renowned poets etc. Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature.
Lynley Edmeades is a New Zealand poet, academic and editor. She has published two poetry collections and held a number of writers' residencies. As of 2021 she is the editor of the New Zealand literary journal Landfall.
Major poetry related events taking place worldwide during 2022 are outlined below under different sections. These include poetry books released during the year in different languages, major poetry awards, poetry festivals and events, besides anniversaries and deaths of renowned poets etc. Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature.