World Poetry Day: Poetry in Many Languages

Tue. Mar. 12, 2019

Di Brandt, Winnipeg's inaugural Poet Laureate and a professor in Canadian Literature and Creative Writing in the Department of English at the University of Winnipeg, is hosting another annual multi-language poetry event this spring, together with the Winnipeg Arts Council:

 

World Poetry Day:  Poetry in Many Languages

Tuesday, March 19,  7:00 pm    

McNally Robinson Bookstore at Grant Park Shopping Centre

 

World Poetry Day was initiated by UNESCO in 1999 to honour heritage languages and poetries around the world.  The poem chosen by UNESCO to inaugurate World Poetry Day at the turn of the millennium was Canadian poet P.K. Page's "Planet Earth."  The poem has been broadcast around the world (and is easy to find on the internet).  

The City of Winnipeg is delighted to support World Poetry Day in presenting poetry from more than a dozen countries and languages, spoken by Winnipeggers of diverse ages and walks of life.  This is a community-friendly event, so bring your families and friends! There will be music and refreshments, and poetry spoken in Tamil, Ukrainian, French, Japanese, German, Russian, Arabic, Polish, Yoruba, and other languages, and an original story told in Cree by the University of Winnipeg's Elder In Residence Margaret Osborne.

Please come out to support the rich multicultural diversity of Winnipeg, and to enjoy hearing great world poetry spoken in its original languages (with brief English translations provided).