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As every year, Krakow UNESCO City of Literature joins the international celebrations of World Poetry Day. This year we move to the online reality and celebrate not only at the weekend.
World Poetry Day is a holiday celebrated annually on March 21, established by UNESCO in 1999. Its aim is to support linguistic diversity through poetry and to promote the literature of small languages.
In Krakow, we will highlight poetry on Saturday, March 20. On the wall of the Potocki Palace, poems by poets from various UNESCO Cities of Literature will be displayed. Look out for a special edition of “Multipoetry”, a poetic multimedia project of the Poemat Foundation, on the wall of the tenement house at the corner of Bracka Street. The poems in Polish and English will be available to read until Sunday.
On March 21, we invite all poetry enthusiasts to the PLAY KRAKÓW platform. At 6.00 p.m. there will be a premiere of a virtual tour of Czesław Miłosz’s apartment. 6 Bogusławskiego Street in Krakow – this is the address where the poet lived after returning to Poland in 1993 and spent the last 11 years of his life. From here he would go to the Noworolski Cafe, visiting the office of Tygodnik Powszechny at Wiślna Street, to finally do some small shopping and chat with the owner of a small shop at Bogusławskiego 4.
Joanna Zach, the author of the book “Miłosz and the Poetics of Confession”, head of the Czesław Miłosz Center, and Andrzej Franaszek, author of the book “Miłosz: A Biography”, will talk about the home, work, loves, and sufferings of the Nobel Prize winner. “The space we are in is a kind of text that we can read and understand. Through the items gathered here, we can tell a story about the life of Czesław Miłosz, ”says Franaszek.
Also on Sunday, on our Facebook profile, you will find a video with Jakub Kornhauser, who selected and read three of his poems, especially for World Poetry Day.
Throughout the weekend, we also invite you to the profile of the Miłosz Festival, where we will soon present the idea of the jubilee, the tenth edition of the festival, and introduce the first guests.
On Tuesday, March 23 at At 6.00 p.m. on the Facebook profile of Krakow UNESCO City of Literature, we will meet Aaiún Nin – a poet, performer, and activist from Angola, who is just starting her two-year residency as part of the ICORN International Cities of Refuge Network. Her poetry draws from childhood and youth experiences in a traditional patriarchal community and is deeply rooted in the context of postcolonial African history. In her poems, the artist often refers to the situation in Angola, incl. addressing the issues of sexual violence against women, religious fundamentalism, social inequalities, and racism, as well as the experiences of LGBT + people. The meeting will be hosted by Aleksandra Lipczak.
