On 21 March, the first day of spring, many countries around the globe celebrated World Poetry Day, established by UNESCO during its 30th General Conference in Paris in 1999. The purpose of the Day is to underscore the privileged role poetry plays in promoting intercultural dialogue and understanding, linguistic and cultural diversity, communication and peace.
The Day also represents “a meeting between different forms of creativity and expression,” as the Italian National Commission for UNESCO specifies. “In fact,” the statement continues, “every human society looks at the ancient statute of poetic art as a fundamental place of memory–the foundation of all other forms of literary and artistic creativity.”
Numerous events were organized for the occasion in every part of the world, where cultural diversities blended with the universality of emotions to present the messages and challenges of poetry today.