The European Poet of Freedom Festival in Gdansk was to take place as usual, as in the previous editions, in the second half of March, as close to the World Poetry Day as possible. The Festival couldn't take place as planned but nevertheless we made the poetry visible and audible at that time by organizing Poetry At Home - an online event where people would read a poem of their choice. Poets invited to the festival, including the Versopolis authors, also participated in the event reading poetry from their homes: Jan Wagner, Jean Portante, Inga Gaile, Sinéad Morrissey, Samantha Barendson, Agnė Žagrakalytė, Federico Italiano, Helen Ivory, Gonca Özmen, Zviad Ratiani, Maarten Inghels.
If you like to join us, choose your favourite poem and read it for us out loud. Post it on you Instagram stories or Facebook and use the hashtag #poetryathome #versopolis #festivalofhope.
Note: Some of the readings are not conducted in English.
Author
Instytut Kultury Miejskiej - The European Poet of Freedom
The European Poet of Freedom Literary Festival, organised by Instytut Kultury Miejskiej, is a poetry feast for the residents of Gdańsk consisting of a few days of events open to a variety of recipients, both young and old. There are debates, film screenings, concerts, happenings, location-based games, workshops and Q&A sessions with poets and translators. The festival precedes the announcement of the winner of the European Poet of Freedom Literary Award, established by the city of Gdańsk in 2008 and granted every two years. Its aim is to single out artistically exceptional poetic talent dealing with one of our day’s most crucial subjects – the subject of freedom, while at the same time boasting outstanding artistic values.
