Libraries, historical archives, and museums managed by the Ministry of Culture and Sports have organized around twenty activities for World Poetry Day, celebrated on March 21st. The program is focused on the younger audience, aiming to spark interest in this genre through its prominent authors.
The Minister of Culture and Sports, Patricia del Pozo, highlighted that «this program focuses on the Generation of ’27, as we approach a special anniversary and tributes will be held in various provinces to commemorate one of the most brilliant moments in 20th-century Spanish culture with recitals, workshops, and exhibitions.»
One of the institutions paying tribute to this literary group is the Provincial Library of Cádiz, inviting high school students to participate in a poetry reading where they will have to identify different authors through their verses. Additionally, they will host the exhibition ‘A front of free poetry. 60 years since the founding of El Bardo’, organized by the Andalusian Center of Letters to commemorate this collection, founded in Barcelona in 1964 by José Batlló and Amelia Romero.
As part of this exhibit, open to the public until April 7th, a conversation about the unpublished poetry of Rafael Ballesteros will take place, with the participation of the poet himself and Professor José Jurado. This second activity is carried out in collaboration with the Rafael Ballesteros Legacy Association and the ANLIT-C Andalucía Literary and Critical Association of the University of Malaga.
The Provincial Library of Granada has also organized a recital at the Val del Omar hall with poets from Granada or residing in the city who will read poems from the Generation of ’27. Among them are Rosa Berbel, Javier Gilabert, Ionana Gruia, Luis Melgarejo, Daniel Rodríguez Moya, and Erika Martínez, among others.
The Andalusian Library has proposed a talk on contemporary poetry by the Literature Didactics professor at the University of Granada, Remedios Sánchez, who is also an expert on Spanish female poets who were underrated in the 20th century. This institution will also offer a poetry reading by Diego Roel (Loewe Poetry Prize 2024) in conversation with Javier Gilabert, Fernando Jaén, and Gerardo Rodríguez Salas on March 18th, on the occasion of the publication of ‘The Lost Notebooks of Robert Walser’. This second activity is part of the Andalusian Center of Letters program to celebrate the event.
On the other hand, the Archaeological and Ethnological Museum of Granada will host a recital on rock as poetry. During the event, verses by Roberto Iniesta and Manolo Chinato will be read, in collaboration with the GranaDown Association. The Casa de los Tiros has organized the ‘Poetry in Granada’ workshop for children aged six and above, exploring the magic of poetry and introducing the voices and verses related to Granada.
The youngest ones will also be the protagonists of the activity planned by the Francisco Villaespesa Library in Almería. It is a ‘poetry restaurant’, aiming to introduce and develop children’s poetry through creative and literary dynamics. In this workshop, the menu will consist of poems, word searches, word games, and palindrome construction.
The Provincial Library of Córdoba joins the celebration on March 21st with a conference on Antonio Machado by poets Pablo García Casado and Antonio Luis Ginés on the 150th anniversary of the birth of this universal Andalusian. Additionally, the Library of Jaén will offer a poetry recital by the group ‘Oliversando’, composed of writers from Jaén.
Finally, the Provincial Library of Málaga has planned two actions to celebrate Poetry Day. The first is a reading accompanied by music, featuring authors like Pepe Saura, Presina Pereiro, Susana Mérida, Juan Jiménez Caballero, or Maripaz Redoli. The second is a children’s workshop titled ‘Alphabet of Poems and Other Games‘, aiming to introduce this genre through the witticisms of Ramón Gómez de la Serna and riddles. Alongside this offering, the literary and poetic anthology magazine ‘Amarilis’ will be presented, containing a monograph on Juan Ramón Jiménez and featuring Rocío Fernández Berrocal.
The Andalusian Institute of Historical Heritage will also contribute to this event by publishing information on the digital guide related to oral tradition poetry.
About Poetry Day
UNESCO declared March 21st, 1999, as World Poetry Day during its 30th General Conference in Paris in 1999, a day where tribute is paid to great poets worldwide, and their verses are shared and spread. This celebration is promoted as an opportunity to foster this literary genre, which continues to thrive and remain relevant. Additionally, it aims for the poetic language to be recognized as a vehicle for artistic communication among different communities.