DSC_0274By paying tribute to the men and women whose only instrument is free speech, who imagine and act, UNESCO recognizes in poetry its val­ue as a symbol of the human spirit’s creativ­ity. By giving form and words to that which has none – such as the unfathomable beauty that surrounds us, the immense suffering and misery of the world – poetry contributes to the expansion of our common humanity, helping to increase its strength, solidarity and self-awareness.” Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNES­CO

Nia S. Amira
[email protected]

Acclaimed poet, writer and activist Maya Angelou records her poem, “A Brave and Startling Truth”, at UN Headquarters’ in 2011

Poetry reaffirms our common humanity by revealing to us that individuals, every­where in the world, share the same questions and feelings.

Poetry is the mainstay of oral tradition and, over centuries, can communicate the innermost values of diverse cultures.

In celebrating World Poetry Day, March 21, UNESCO recognizes the unique ability of poetry to capture the creative spirit of the hu­man mind.

A decision to proclaim 21 March as World Poetry Day was adopted during UNESCO’s 30th session held in Paris in 1999, bringing the following consideration that global so­ciety need to fulfill the aestthetic value and Poetry can meet this need when the social role of interpersonal communication is rec­ognized and continues to be the means of arousing and expressing awareness. Over the past 20 years, it has been a strong revival of interest in poetry, with a proliferation of poetic activities and an increase in the num­ber of poets throughout the world. Poetry is a social necessity which incites young peo­ple in particular to return to their roots, and a means whereby they can look into them­selves at a time when the outside world is ir­resistibly luring them away from themselves. As an individual, the poet is taking on a new role as the public becomes more and more appreciative of poetry evenings with read­ings by the poets themselves.

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One of the main objectives of the World Poetry Day is to support linguistic diversity through poetic expression and to offer en­dangered languages the opportunity to be heard within their communities.

This shift in society towards the recogni­tion of ancestral values also represents a re­turn to the oral tradition and an acceptance of speech as a means of socializing and structuring the individual. Action is com­pulsory to eliminate the tendency in media and in general public that refuse to the poet in particular. The society needs to give the appreciation and the right place for Poetry. 21 March is to be devoted day to eliminate racial discrimination, the same day when Poetry is flourishing could provide an oc­casion for activities and efforts of small publishers who are struggling to enter the book market by publishing more and more collections by young poets return to the oral tradition, or rather to live performance even in small community, since poetry recitals at­tract more and more people today; the col­laboration of dialogue between poetry and the other arts such as theatre, dance, music, or painting with topical themes like peace’s culture, nonviolence, tolerance, or intoler­ance.

The observance of World Poetry Day is also meant to encourage a return to the oral tradition of poetry recitals, to promote the teaching of poetry, to restore a dialogue between poetry and the other arts such as theatre, dance, music and painting, and to support small publishers and create an at­tractive image of poetry in the media, so that the art of poetry will no longer be considered an outdated form of art, but one which en­ables society as a whole to regain and assert its identity.

Each country is invited to celebrate 21 March in its own way, with the active par­ticipation of National Commissions, NGOs and the public and private institutions con­cerned (schools, municipalities, poetic com­munities, museums, associations, publishing houses, local authorities, etc.). UNESCO will endeavour to encourage and support nation­al initiatives designed, to the introduction of poetry as an important feature of arts educa­tion in school curricula; to raise awareness in schools so that World Poetry Day will be celebrated in the most interdisciplinary way possible by and in schools; to encourage the award of poetry prizes; to mobilize munici­pal authorities so that they will contribute actively to the preparation and celebration of World Poetry Day; to promote the creation of a net­work of prizes in each Member State and associ­ate members, to elaborate an electronic r e p e r ­toire of p o e t i c institu­t i o n s a n d / or asso­c i a t i o n s in different Me m b e r States and associated Members.

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A c ­c o r d i n g to Prof. Arief Rahman (74), Execu­tive Chairman of UNESCO in Jakarta, in stated Poetry is the thinking of high litera­ture in conjunction with the launching of the World Poetry Day on March 21 by UNESCO. Professor at the University of Jakarta who was contacted via telephone, Monday, March 21, 2016, adding that the observance of this World Poetry Day is expected that the world, in particular the society can love Poetry as a way to express their passion, feelings with delicate and intrepreting cultural values by words which will be developed by the society itself.

Toshpulat Ahmad (73) – the Honored Worker of Culture of the Republic of Uzbeki­stan who wrote more than 30 prose and po­etry books, poet was crying when hearing the poetry read by an Indonesian female poet in Bukhara last 22 November, 2015. It was the first time for him to listen poetry reading even in French.

Let us going back to the oral tradition, Let us absorbing the feeling of nature and its surroundings, Let us making Poetry as it is for showing the beauty of life by expres­sion….

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