PRESS RELEASE
5h “Patras World Poetry Festival”
“From Hippocrates to poetry therapy”
1 – 4/09/2022 PATRAS – ANCIENT OLYMPIA
Along with many other important international participations and a rich event programme, this year, the 5th “Patras World Poetry Festival” is going to be held between the 1 and 4 of September, in different cultural locations of Patras and not only.
After two years of online realization of the Festival, Patras is again glad to receive in person 65 important poets from 13 different countries, 20 among them, being poets from abroad. This year’s programme has in store many surprises for the participants and for the audience, with visits and poetry recitations in particular places and in alternative ways.
The subject area of PWPF2022 concerns the healing properties of art and especially of poetry and it is entitled “From Hippocrates to poetry therapy”, so the complete action programme was planned with the purpose of creating a back – to - back interaction of arts, poetry and psychology.
The events are going to take place in the mornings and in the evenings in different locations of Patras every time, such as the Epikentro Theatre, the Foundation of Hellenic Diaspora, Achaia Clauss Winery and the Villa of Kolla, while the last recitation is going to take place in Ancient Olympia through an all – day excursion of experiential character. The programme includes further guided tours, food and wine tasting and activities of cultural tourism, in order for the visitors to obtain the best possible experience from our land!
Ιmportant guests participate at the events, among them ambassadors of collaborating countries, internationally renowned academics, belletrists and representatives of entities.
Special moments of the Festival are the tribute to the poet Titos Patrikios, the Round Table with the subject “Healing through Poetry”, the visit at the “Foundation of Hellenic Diaspora” with its art exhibitions from important emigrant Greek artists and the set to music poetry event, entitled “Like a Shiver...”, which is going to take place at the Honorable Evening of the Festival.
All the events are open for the audience with FREE entrance.
At the same time. The Festival converses with visual arts and hosts two visual and one photographical project.
In passing of the collaboration of the contemporary art gallery “Cube Gallery” and Liana Zoza as a curator, with Patras World Poetry Festival, the art platform “Lagrange Points” was created.
The idea came up simultaneously with the proposition for the presentation of the two on going art projects “Open Studio” and “Invisible cities”, during the Festival and under the common title “L3 point”, at the same time with the desire for the continuation of the creative meetings of all forms of art.
Even if the term is a loan from the mechanics of celestial bodies, which discusses the rules of equilibrium and affinity of their relationship and coexistence, it also works with the same equilibrium at the coexistence of different art forms.
During the Festival, the photographer Peny Delta is going to create the portraits of the participant at the Festival poets and poetesses, which are going to be used at the archive of the Poetry Office and in the related publishing of the Festival.
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The World Patras Poetry Festival is organized by the “Poetry Office” of Patras and the CultureBook (Culturebook.gr), with the support of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Region of Western Greece, the Regional Union of Municipalities of Western Greece, the the University of Patras, the University of Western Macedonia, the Hellenic Open University, the Poetry Festival of Larnaka, the Embassy of Hungary, the Embassy of Czech Republic and the Athens Czech Center, the Embassy of Poland, the Greek Library of London, the World Poetry Movement, the Epikentro Theatre, the Cube Gallery and other entities. It is under the evaluation of Ministry of Culture and Ministry of Tourism.
Patras World Poetry Festival forms one of the greatest literature institutions in Greece, the greatest of the Region, and has already stood out amongst the most estimable Festivals all over the world. Each year it receives important names of world literature and it offers an abundant programme of events, including poetry readings, presentations, meetings and cultural galas. Its vision is to promote the Greek literary creation globally and to popularize the capital of West Greece as a European literature center. Through its actions, it communicates with Chairs of Hellenic studies all over the world and it catalogues the recent poetry production.
*The organising of the Festival has a non-profitable character in every aspect and the participation of the people is costless.
CONCERT IDENTITY
POETRY SET TO MUSIC
“Like a Shiver...”
Like the way a note touches the word,
And oxygen life.
Music fights against verse, in a fight for love, man, society, existence, love, hate, passion and nature.
Participants:
Yorgos Georgiadis, Mandolin (evikoon melos)
Sani Peta, Mandolin (evikoon melos)
Yannis Anagnostopoulos, Guitar
Thomas Pallas, Guitar
Andreas Zafiropoulos, Piano
Themis Martekas, Percussion
Interpretation:
Hristos Konstantopoulos
Dora Mpeleri
Artistic curation
Yannis Anagnostopoulos
Orchestrations
Yannis Anagnostopoulos
Yorgos Georgiadis
PROGRAMME
5th PATRAS WORLD POETRY FESTIVAL
THURSDAY 1 SEPTEMBER 2022
20.00 // Theatre Epikentro+
Welcome Drink
1st Cycle of Poetic Readings
Presentation L3 point: on going art projects “Open Studio” & amp “Invisible Cities”
Dinner for the participants
FRIDAY 2 SEPTEMBER 2022
11.00 // Theatre Epikentro
2nd Cycle of Poetic Readings
Round Table on the subject “The Healing Properties of Poetry”
Free Programme – Knowing the City
19.00 // Winery Achaia Clauss
Guided tour at the Winecastle
3rd Cycle of Poetic Readings
Dinner for the participants
SATURDAY 3 SEPTEMBER 2022
11.00 // Foundation Greek Diaspora, Kastritsi
Guided Tour at the Exhibition of Greek artists of Diaspora
4th Cycle of Poetic Readings
Lunch for the participants
20.00 // Villa Kolla
Formal Ceremony
Greetings – speeches
5th Cycle of Poetic Readings
Honorable Evening for Titos Patrikios
Concert with Poetry set to Music “Like a Shiver...”
Official Reception at Achaia Clauss
SUNDAY 4 SEPTEMBER 2022
09.00-20.00 // Ancient Olympia
Excursion to Ancient Olympia
Guided Tour at the archaeological site
Visit of the Digital Museum 1821 – Krestena
15.00 // Lunch for the Participants
17.30 // 6th Cycle of Poetic Readings
The programme also includes:
- Tribute “meet the poets” from Culturebook.gr: presentation of the participants and diffusion in social networks
- Anthology of the Festival. Offspring of the organization and a literature consignment constitutes the collective trilingual Edition (and e- book) with the poems of the participants, in each one’s language, in Greek and in English.
- Art Platform | Lagrange Points / simultaneously with the presentation of the participants at the Culturebook.gr the art platform Lagrange Points is created
- Peny Delta poet portaits / During the Festival, the photographer Peny Delta is going to create the portraits of the participant poets and poetesses, which are also going to be used at the relevant publication of the Festival
PARTICIPANTS
ALBANIA Alma Braja
BULGARY Roman Kissiov, Nadya Radulova
ITALY Matthias Tarantino
CZECH REPUBLIC Josef Hrdlička, Jan Škrob, Tim Postovit
CROATIAN Marija Dejanović
CYPRUS Eleni Artemiou-Fotiadou
HUNGARY Weiner Sennyei Tibor, Izsó Zita, Bek Timur
NORTH MACEDONIA Michailo Svidersky, Andrej Al Asadi, Gjoko Zdraveski
POLAND Anna Adamowicz, Antonina Tosiek
SERBIA Ana Marija Grbić
SLOVENIA Petra Kolmancic
USA Don Schofield
GREECE
Kyriaki-Koula Adaloglou, Giannis Alexandropoulos, Popi Aroniada, Anna Afentoulidou, Spyros L. Vrettos, Thanos Gogos, Yiannis Doukas, Lena Kallergi,, Dimitris Kalokiris , Kostas Kanavouris, Menelaos Karalis, Christos Katroutsos, Nikos Katsalidas, Giorgos Kozias,, Alexandros Kordas, Elsa Korneti, Dimitris Kosmopoulos, Giorgos Koutouvelas, Chloe Koutsoumpeli, Kostas A. Kremmydas, Triantafyllos H. Kotopoulos, Vasilis Ladas, Konstantinos Ch. Loukopoulos, Alexandra Bakonika, Theocharis Bikiropoulos, Konstantinos Bouras, Vasilis Pandis, Theofanis Papageorgiou, Sotirios Pastakas, Titos Patrikios, Aggeliki Pechlivani, Eleni Sigalou, Angeliki Sidira Papakosta, Antonis D. Skiathas, Yannis Stefanakis, Manos Stefanidis, Vangelis Tasiopoulos, John Tolias, Lina Fitili, Thanassis Hatzopoulos
Statement of Antonis Skiathas (President of the Poetry Office)
The Patras World Poetry Festival has created an international institution of literature that honors Greek letters, promotes Greek poetry and brings in contact Greek poets and poetesses with related poets and poetesses from all over the world.
Along its way, poets and poetesses from fifty countries have conversed at the Patras World Poetry Festival.
It is extremely important for all of us at the Poetry Office that the Festival is a matter of the whole town, as panhellenic, regional, local, institutions, businesses, citizens stand for the organising by every means.
The Ministry of Culture, the Region of Western Greece and the University of Patras are some of the institutions that support it.
The publishing that is been organized and the events at emblematic locations of the wider area like Achaia Clauss, the museum Diaspora, form the Festival’s identity.
At the same time, the synergism with cultural institutions and the connection of Poetry with other arts like music, visual arts, photography create all things that make the Festival unique.
ĐẤT MỞ
Cuộn chảy
trong tiếng gào những dải phù du
đáy sông quặn thắt chưa hết sáng
hoàng hôn ngậm chặt ánh ngày
lửa co giật
sụ̣c sôi mầm nụ
đỉnh cây ngùn ngụt bốc cao
Căng ngang trời cánh chim
cho ngữ nghĩa trị vì mặt đất
nơi mặt gió gặp đỉnh đồi cúi gục
hang tối phà bí ẩn với sương mai
ao chuôm tìm hướng lên trời
dòng sông vừa chảy
vừa sinh nở
Vòng tay sóng khỏa rộng
nô đùa bồng bột trẻ thơ
mặt nước bỗng thành phế tích
Em dựng lại mặt trời đã vỡ
Trôi ...
Trôi qua vô cớ lặng im
ngọn bấc cạn
muội dầu trăng trối
thoảng nghe thang thuốc phân trần...
Bông hoa mở
bùng vỡ những khoảng đất rộng.
THE OPENING GROUND
Gushing
between the screams of ephemeral belts of land
the riverbed writhes in waning light
dusk holds day tight in its mouth
fire convulses
fiercely ascending the tree tops
scorching the buds
A flight of birds spreads across the sky
so thoughts can reign on earth
where the wind's face meets a bowed hill top
a deep cavern exhales myths to morning dew
ponds and puddles find a heavenly direction
the river gives birth while flowing
An open embrace of waves
playing in childish ebullience
the water surface turns to ruins
You set up an already broken sun
Drifting...
An unknown silence is drifting by
the lamp wick shortens
as kerosene soot says its last words
I vaguely hear the boiling batch of herb saying its apology
Erupting...
A flower opens vast expanses of land.
(Translated by Nhat Lang-le. Edited by Susan Blanshard)
BÀI HÁT MÙA MÀNG
Lan nhanh, choáng ngợp đất hoang vừa mở
Em đổ từng trận lũ dại cuồng
Cuốn xiết anh khỏi ngôi nhà có khu vườn bé nhỏ
Con chim cắt không gian rộng để lại đường bay bất tận
Cội rễ anh vươn mắt em nhìn tươi tốt
Từng hạt mầm phun hơi ấm lòng đất ướt
từ hơi thở làm bầu trời đổi khác
từ khoảng không được quyền kiến tạo đám mây
Mắt rạ rơm đốt thiêu mùa cũ
Đổi thay cách nhìn và khoảng trống chân trời
đất nhận cả những gì còn cháy dở
mùa mới về tự tin, nghiền nát và xóa hết
Nụ hôn nín thinh, tỏa nhiệt, khoan vào lòng đất
chạm những mạch ngầm ứ căng huyền bí thuở xưa
Đất mỡ màu quyện rạng đông dâng lên khuôn mặt
dâng lên cỏ cây phồn thực bời bời
Những mùa tái sinh trổ đòng chín rục
Sấm nổ vang trong lòng tay mầm hạt
Vòng phù sa tươi ròng ấp ôm thớ đất
Em cúi xuống và dòng sông ùa đến bất ngờ.
THE SONG OF HARVEST
Spreading quickly, overwhelming reclaimed virgin land
You drop one burst of wild flower after another
to whirl me up from the house with its small garden
The birds cut up immense space and leave lines of endless flight
My roots reach up to your verdant eyes
Every sprout sprays warmth to wet the bosom of earth
from the breathing that transforms the sky
from the empty sky that builds clouds up
The thatch eyes burn up the old crop
To change our vision and the vacant horizon
The earth accepts all burning cinders
The new season comes with self-confidence, grinding and wiping out all
The kiss is silent, radiating heat and boring into entrails of earth
touching underground veins swollen with old mysteries
The fertile earth fused with dawn offers up a face
with exuberant plants and trees in profusion
The seasons of resurrection are pregnant with ripe ears of paddy
The thunder bursts out in the palm seeds
The cycle of fresh alluvium embraces fibres of earth
You bow down and all of a sudden, the river rushes in.
(Translated byv Nhat-Lang Le. Edited by Susan Blanshard)
The Poet
Mai Văn Phấn was born 1955 in Ninh Bình, Red River Delta in North Vietnam. He has published 16 poetry books and 1 book "Critiques - Essays" in Vietnam. 29 poetry books of his are published and released in foreign countries. His poems translated into more than 40 languages. Mai Văn Phấn has won a number of Vietnamese and international literary awards, including: The Vietnam Writers' Association Award in 2010; The Cikada Literary Prize of Sweden in 2017; The Award of Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts in 2019; Four times won the Golden Pen Literature Award of Russian Federation in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022; The Award Aco Karamanov of North Macedonia in 2020; The Award of the International Slavic Literary Forum "Golden Knight" 2022; The Poetry Collection of Year Award of Boao International Poetry Award (China) in 2022 (for the Poetry Collection "Улетел на рассвете"); The Award of the International Poetry Competition "My heart in the Mountains" named writer William Saroyan (Armenia) in 2022; The Frederick Turner prize of Mundus Artium Press (USA) for Poetry in 2023; The Award of the International Literary Online Competition "To you, Nesvizh, I dedicate ..." (Belarus) in 2023.