World Poetry Day 21 March

Poetry “designs the contours of possible forms of dialogue among cultures, histories and memories,” declares Koïchiro Matsuura, Director-General of UNESCO, in his message on the occasion of World Poetry Day. He adds, “Ensuring the promotion and safeguarding of these forms of exchange and transfer – such could be the focus of this world day which, placed at the service of our creative diversity, can I hope nurture and renew the ability of each and everyone of us to understand the cultural plurality of the world.”

Among the various events organized at UNESCO Headquarters on this occasion: an evening, organized on the intiative of the Permanent Delegation of The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, devoted to Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwich , 2007 laureate of the Struga Poetry Evenings international festival (21 March, Fontenoy cinema, 6.30 p.m.). This leading figure of contemporary poetry joins the circle of “Golden Crown” winners of the Struga Poetry Evenings. Other past winners include Rafael Alberti (Spain), Yehuda Amichai (Israel), W.H. Auden (United Kingdom – United States), Pablo Neruda (Chile), Makoto Ooka (Japan), Leopold Sedar Senghor (Senegal), Andrei Voznesenski (Russian Federation) and other major poets of our era. The documentary “Mahmoud Darwich, et la terre comme la langue”, produced by France 3 in 1997, will be screened during the evening.

On the same occasion, the Association Confluences Poétiques, which brings together poets of different nationalities living in Paris, will launch its Anthologie de l’ailleurs & de l’ici (Editions PHI), with poets who contributed to the anthology attending. The volume contains poems by French and international poets such as Tahar Ben Jelloun, Michel Butor, Henri Meschonnic, Jean Métellus, Jean Portante, Lionel Ray, André Velter and Kenneth White. The launch will take place on 20 March at 6 p.m. in Room XI.



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1. The Director-General’s message for World Poetry Day is available at www.unesco.org/dg

2. Among Darwich’s works in English: “Memory for Forgetfulness: August, Beirut, 1982”; “Victims of a Map: A Bilingual Anthology of Arabic Poetry”; and “Unfortunately, It Was Paradise: Selected Poems”.

3. Founded in 1961 in the small town of Struga, (The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia), the Struga Poetry Evenings international festival has brought together since its creation more than 4000 poets,

• Author(s):Press Release No. 2007 – 26
• Source:UNESCOPRESS
• 21-03-2007