4th “Patras World Poetry Festival 2021
13th - 19th of December
LIVE & ON LINE EVENTS
This year, the 4th “Patras World Poetry Festival” boasts a variety of original literary events taking place between the 13th and 19th of December 2021, hosting a total of 70 poets from 20 different countries.
The occasion of a calendar year combining on one hand the memory of the Greek people’s fight for freedom, and on the other hand the contemporary experience of confinement, led us to this year’s thematic center: “CONFINEMENT-FREEDOM-HUMAN REVOLUTIONS”. We bring novel aims and ideas, along with a greater and more essential need for expression, synergy and communication.
For 2021, the festival’s programme will be extended from 4 days to 7, hosting a multitude of events for audiences and participants both Greek and foreign, raising the bar and aiming to establish a tradition of cultural celebration.
This year too, for its most part, the Festival will be held online, a blended programme combining physical and online activities as adjusted to Covid-19 regulations, in a shifting terrain of cultural events during the pandemic.
The events of the week’s programme will take place in three (3) different places in Patras, each one of them a space for hosting cultural events. The events will be broadcasted ONLINE on the website www.culturebook.gr including both main and side events:
Main Events:
Five (5) Online Poetry Meetings including Readings and Roundtables: There will be lecterns where the guest poets will be presented; their works will be read (in 2 languages). The guest poets will also participate in the roundtables and discuss topics revolving around poetry and criticism.
Online Award Ceremony for the Greek “Jean Moréas” Poetry Award for 2021: The annual ceremony for the “Jean Moréas” Awards for Greek poetic art and production in its entire spectrum.
Newcomer Poet Marathon: A night of presentations and readings of new poets, combining physical and online presence.
Parallel Events: (11th -19th of December 2021)
- Festival Anthology: Limited trilingual book edition plus eBook.
- Online shows:
- #meet_the_poets: tributes and interviews online at the culturebook.gr channel.
- #videopoetry: presentation of video-poetry online.
- Poetry Set to Singing: music radio tributes to poetry set to singing.
- Exhibitions:
- Poetry exhibition: presenting the works of poetry
- Book exhibition of Newcomer Poets: presenting poetry collection books from new poets; participation from established poets and publishing houses.
- Art Exhibition: “CONFINEMENT-FREEDOM-HUMAN REVOLUTIONS”
- Poetry Alley: Presentation of poets and poems (the ones participating in the festival) on a central pedestrian precinct of Patras.
During both the physical and the online events, there will be participation from internationally acclaimed academics, novelists, critics, and representatives of institutions.
The Patras World Poetry Festival 2021 is organized by the “Grafeion Poiiseos” Poetry Foundation, the literary website Culture Book (culturebook.gr), while it is annually held under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Tourism*. The festival’s events are supported by the Greek Library of London, the University of Western Macedonia, the Hellenic Open University and many other esteemed institutions, since the festival takes place under the aegis of the Hellenic Republic’s President.
The Patras World Poetry Festival is one of the largest literary institutions in Greece, certainly the largest of its whole region, and it has already drawn attention amongst esteemed festivals internationally. Every year, the city of Patras hosts important figures of world literature and offers a richness of events, including poetry readings, seminars and cultural activities. The festival’s vision is to promote Greek literary expression worldwide and turn this capital of Western Greece into a European center for literary studies. Through its actions, the festival communicates with various departments of Greek literary studies all over the world and it chronicles contemporary poetic expression.
A detailed programme will soon be posted on the festival’s website www.culturebook.gr.
Sincerely,
On behalf of the Scholarly Representatives
Kotopoulos H. Triantafyllos
Chair of the “Patras World Poetry Festival”
Skiathas D. Antonis
Chair of the “Grafeion Poiiseos” Poetry Fountation
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EVENT MANAGER
Maria Alaniadi
Communication:
poetryfestival@culturebook.gr
grafeion.poihseos@culturebook.gr
Archival content available on www.culturebook.gr
