Poetry International

Poetry International Festival is a renowned international poetry festival which takes place yearly in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. The first festival edition took place in 1970, and since then there have been more than 50 editions of this event, which features poets from all over the world as well as local performers. The festival embodies, celebrates and shows the power of poetry and consists of not only readings by poets, but also original poetic productions made in collaboration with performers from other artistic disciplines, panel discussions, workshops, masterclasses, open mics and much more.

Poetry International has welcomed a vast variety of poets to Rotterdam during the many editions of the festival: iconic names such as Pablo Neruda, Joseph Brodsky, Anne Carson, Seamus Heaney, Octavio Paz, Allen Ginsberg, Margaret Atwood and Zbigniew Herbert have all graced the stage. More recently remarkable poets such as Kwame Dawes, Sinéad Morrissey, Ishion Hutchinson, Carolyne Forché, Danez Smith, Safia Elhillo and Raúl Zurita made an indelible impression on the Dutch audience.

For three days each year, Rotterdam transforms into an international poetry hub.

During the festival, prizes such as the Buddingh’ Prize for best poetry debut and the Brockway Translation Prize are awarded to poets and translators, respectively.

Each year, the Poetry International foundation which organizes the festival, also welcomes a poet in residence who stays in Rotterdam for the weeks surrounding the festival, getting acquainted with the local cultural scene and those who inhabit it, and writing in an inspiring urban environment.

The Poetry International Festival is held yearly in June and takes great pride in showcasing a diverse range of poetic voices and genres in the temporary poetry universe that is the festival.