World Poetry Day 2023: the history and traditions of the holiday
The poet’s talent is the ability to express his thoughts figuratively and gracefully. We admire the skill of famous poets, enjoy their creativity. There is also a memorable date – Poetry Day. Let’s talk about its traditions and history in 2023

“Of all the arts, poetry holds the first place,” wrote Kant. Poetry is timeless and territorial, it penetrates the hearts of people and touches the most sensitive strings, it appeals to our emotions. “Poetry is a testament to the universality of the human being beyond the myriad means used to describe it,” wrote Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO.

When is World Poetry Day celebrated?

The date of the World Poetry Day is fixed: annually festive events in his honor are held March 21.

history of the holiday

In 1938, Tessa Sweezy Webb, an American poet, took the initiative to establish Poetry Day. It was originally celebrated in the state of Ohio, and the date fell on October 15, the birthday of Virgil, the ancient Roman poet. By 1951, it had become National Poetry Day, recognized by the 38 states of the United States and Mexico, and subsequently became worldwide.

The issue of the celebration was considered by UNESCO. Much attention has been paid to the role of poetry in maintaining linguistic diversity, preserving endangered languages, and bringing people of different cultures together. The new date, approved in 1999 at the 30th General Conference of UNESCO in Paris, was 21 March.

Holiday traditions

On this day, libraries, literary museums, poetic associations, theaters open their doors and hold various events. They organize poetry concerts where modern writers perform, festivals, competitions, forums, marathons where everyone can read poems by famous poets. Often, presentations of poetry collections are timed to coincide with this date.

Interesting facts about poetry

  • If you recalculate the fee of A.S. Pushkin, which he received for all his works, for modern rubles, it will amount to 23 million rubles.
  • Thomas Lermont (Thomas the Rhymer) is a bard who lived in Scotland in the 1613th century. He is also the ancestor of two famous poets: George Byron and M.Yu. Lermontov. An ancestor of the first, Gordon Byron QC, who lived in the XNUMXth century, was married to Margaret Learmonth. In XNUMX, the captive lieutenant of the Polish service Georg (George) Lermont converted to Orthodoxy, entered the service of the Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich and became, under the name of Yuri Andreevich, the ancestor of the noble family of Lermontov.
  • The famous poem by A.S. Pushkin “I remember a wonderful moment …” is dedicated to Anna Kern. Subsequently, the composer Glinka set it to music and dedicated the romance to her daughter, Ekaterina Kern.
  • G. Derzhavin is the author of the poem with the longest title: “Wish for the winter of his grace to a demoted retired sergeant, a copyist of the noble duma, an archivist without an archive, a steward without an estate and a poet without taste.”
  • The most ancient poems were written in the XNUMXrd century BC by the priestess and princess En-hedu-ana, the daughter of Sargon, the founder of the Akkadian kingdom.

Films about poets

If you love poetry and you are interested in biopics, check out our selection.

  • Sing a song, poet…, 1971 (a film about the poet S. Yesenin).
  • The Last Road, 1986 (a film about the last duel of A.S. Pushkin).
  • Love and Truth by Fyodor Tyutchev, 2003.
  • Golden head on the chopping block, 2004 (film dedicated to S. Yesenin).
  • Yesenin, 2005 (TV series).
  • Pushkin. Last duel, 2006.
  • One love of my soul, 2007 (a series dedicated to the relationship between A.S. Pushkin and M.N. Raevskaya (Volkonskaya)).
  • Moon at its zenith, 2007 (TV series about the life of Anna Akhmatova).
  • One and a half rooms, or a Sentimental Journey to the Motherland, 2008 (film about I. Brodsky).
  • Vysotsky. Thank you for being alive, 2011.
  • Mirrors, 2013 (film about Marina Tsvetaeva).
  • Mayakovsky. Two days, 2013 (TV series).
  • Lermontov, 2014.
  • Mysterious Passion, 2016, (a series about sixties writers, including poets Robert Rozhdestvensky, Evgeny Yevtushenko, Andrey Voznesensky, Bulat Okudzhava, Bella Akhmadulina, Vladimir Vysotsky).
  • Tom and Viv, 1994, (a film about the life of the American poet Thomas Stearns Eliot and his first wife, Vivienne Hay-Wood).
  • Total Eclipse, 1995 (film about French poets Arthur Rimbaud and Paul Verlaine).
  • Forbidden Love, 2008 (film about Welsh poet Dylan Thomas).
  • Bright Star, 2009 (film about the life of the poet John Keats).
  • Howl, 2010 (a film about the life of the poet Allen Ginsberg).
  • The Color of Time, 2012 (film about Charles Kenneth Williams).

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