In its 33rd edition, Medellin International Poetry Festival promises multiple international events

MEDELLIN: The Medellin International Poetry Festival will be launched with a virtual program (July 1-7, 2023).

On Saturday July 1, 7:00 p.m. Valerio Magrelli (Italy), Sunday July 2, 7:00 p.m. Nuno Júdice (Portugal), Monday July 3, 7:00 p.m. Etenat Awol (Ethiopia), Paul Liam (Nigeria), Tuesday July 4, 7:00 p.m. Horacio Benavides (Colombia), Liu Xunfu (People’s Republic of China), Wednesday July 5, 7:00 p.m. Luz Mary Giraldo (Colombia), Rom Freschi (Argentina), Thursday July 6, 7:00 p.m.  Luz Helena Cordero (Colombia), Edwin Madrid (Ecuador), and Friday July 7, 7:00 p.m. María Casiraghi (Argentina) with Mario Meléndez (Chile).

Face to face

Face to face program (July 8 to 15) starts on Saturday July 8 at 4:30 p.m. , Nutibara Hill, Carlos Vieco theatre with the Inauguration of the 33 Medellin International Poetry Festival.

Participants are Ángela Mavisoy (Kamentsa Nation, Colombia), Siphiwe Nzima (Lesotho), Ashraf Fayadh (Palestine), Ana María Oviedo (Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela), Carolyn Forché (USA), Luis Luna (Spain), Afua Cooper (Jamaica/Canada), Mei Er (People’s Republic of China). Concert by Mauricio Redolés (Chile), accompanied by Takuri Ignacio Tricot Reyes (Chile).

On Sunday July 9, at Pablo Tobon Uribe theatre. Café, listening to Venezuelan poets. Leonardo Ruiz, Vielsi Arias andPedro Ruiz. At Corporation for Victims and Survivors of the Armed Conflict, listening to Claus Ankersen (Denmark), Liliana Marentes (Colombia), Felipe López (Colombia) and Shirani Rajapakse (Sri Lanka).

At the Municipality of Caldas. House of Culture, there will be a poetry workshop with Carlos Satizábal (Colombia) on Emotional moments of life lived and the observation of nature.

At the Municipality of El Carmen de Viboral. Teatro Tespys, there will be another poetry workshop with Mónica Lucía Suárez (Colombia) on Expanded poetry. Poetic writing as a world. The third poetry workshop will be held at Municipality of Cisneros. House of Culture, with Pedro Arturo Estrada (Colombia) on Poetry and artificial intelligence. Poetic creation and new technologies.

At Small square of the Pablo Tobon Uribe Theater, poetry readings by Ali Almaazmi (United Arab Emirates), Sonja Manojlović (Croatia), Imdad Aakash (Pakistan) and Zahir Al-Ghafri (Sultanate of Oman).

The Museum of Modern Art will host Carolina Cárdenas (Colombia), Altynai Temirova (Kyrgyzstan), Shivani Sivagurunathan (Malaysia) and Nurduran Duman (Turkey). While Village of San Antonio de Prado at José Horacio Betancur Library Park will host Tallulah Flores (Colombia), Hubert Matiúwaà (Me’phaa Nation, Mexico), Mohammed Achaari (Morocco), Alexis Bernaut (France).

Poetry Readings, Workshops and Conversation    

Municipality of Envigado. Otraparte House Museum, readings by Bárbara Lins (Colombia), Christos Koukis (Greece), Anna Lombardo (Italy) and Ahmed Zaabar (Tunisia). Municipality of Caldas. House of Culture will host readigs of Carlos Satizábal (Colombia), Sylvie Marie (Belgium), Sotirios Pastakas (Greece) and Sanja Baković (Croatia). Municipality of El Carmen de Viboral hosts the readings of Mónica Lucía Suárez (Colombia), Mpesse Géraldin (Cameroon), Karel Leyva (Cuba) and Luís Filipe Sarmento (Portugal). Municipality of Cisneros. House of Culture will host readings of Pedro Arturo Estrada (Colombia), Mónica Laneri (Paraguay), Sándor Halmosi (Hungary) and Janette Ayachi (United Kingdom).

The day will be concluded at Pablo Tobon Uribe Theatre with Arab poets. Khalid Raissouni (Morocco), Saleh Zamanan (Saudi Arabia), Tarek Eltayeb (Sudan/Austria) and Chawki Abdelamir (Iraq).

Readings in Universities, on theatres and at municipalities

On Monday July 10, Fine Arts University Foundation starts with a poetry workshop with Vielsi Arias (Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela), session 1 onTheoretical foundations for poetic and literary expressiveness.

Municipality of Fredonia. House of Culture will have another poetry workshop with Diego Andrés Martínez (Colombia): Poetry and everyday objects. The third poetry workshop will be at Municipality of Guatape. Our Lady of Pilar Educational Institution with Jorge Torres (Colombia) on The word exhales.

Fine Arts University Foundation will have a conference by Melissa Merlo (Honduras) on Poetry, universal language of peace, while Medellin Chamber of Commerce. Auditorium -central headquarters will host European poets. Sanja Baković (Croatia), Luís Filipe Sarmento (Portugal), Sylvie Marie (Belgium), Sotirios Pastakas (Greece) and Janette Ayachi (United Kingdom).

Auditorium of the University of Antioquia  will have a conference by Mpesse Géraldin (Cameroon) onPoetry in the traditional universe of the Eton people. Poetry and community cohesion.

Municipality of Fredonia. House of Culture will host Diego Andrés Martínez (Colombia), Khalid Raissouni (Morocco), Ana María Oviedo (Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela) and Tarek Eltayeb (Sudan/Austria). Municipality of Guatape hosts Jorge Torres (Colombia), Shivani Sivagurunathan (Malaysia), Ahmed Zaabar (Tunisia) and Sonja Manojlović (Croatia). Municipality of La Ceja. Comfama Auditorium hosts. Jotamario Arbeláez (Colombia), Yvonne Weekes (Montserrat), Nigar Hasan Zadeh (Azerbaijan), Ali Al Ameri (Jordan/Palestine) and Mei Er (People’s Republic of China).  Pilot Public Library. Memory Tower hosts  African poets. Boubé Saley (Niger), Mohammed Achaari (Morocco), Ismaël Diadié Haïdara (Mali) and Siphiwe Nzima (Lesotho). The day is concluded at House of Culture of Pedregal with Karla Jazmín Arango (Colombia), Alexandra Cretté (French Guyana), Anna Lombardo (Italy) and Christos Koukis (Greece).

Museums welcome poetry readings

On Tuesday July 11, House of Memory Museum. Auditorium hosts a poetry Workshop with Ismaël Diadié Haïdara (Mali), session 1 on Between war and peace, testimony poetry.

Poetry of the victims and the survivors

Fine Arts University Foundation  hosts another poetry Workshop with Vielsi Arias (Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela), session 2 on The master text: exercises in poetic expressiveness.

Another poetry Workshop with Viviana Restrepo (Colombia) on The Own Saying will be held at Municipality of Tamesis. Literature room of the Agricultural Technical Institute.

At Avila Library, next to the San Martín Educational Institution, there will be readings by Katherine Wiedemann (Colombia), Leonardo Ruiz (Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela), Mónica Laneri (Paraguay) and Saleh Zamanan (Saudi Arabia). At Comfama Otraparte Library  there poetry Workshop with Tallulah Flores (Colombia), session 1 on The Harlem Renaissance. Langston Hughes and the jazz poets. At Antioquia Museum a conference by Luis Luna (España) on  Poetry, the primordial language of beings will be held.

At EAFIT University. Building 38 there will be readings by  Yvonne Weekes (Montserrat), Siphiwe Nzima (Lesotho), Shirani Rajapakse (Sri Lanka), Nigar Hasan Zadeh (Azerbaijan) and Carolyn Forché (USA).

At La Floresta Public Library there will be readings by Liliana Marentes (Colombia), Pedro Ruiz (Bolivarian republic of Venezuela), Altynai Temirova (Kyrgyzstan) and Ahmed Zaabar (Tunisia). At Municipality of Tamesis there will be readings by Viviana Restrepo (Colombia), Nurduran Duman (Turkey), Melissa Merlo (Honduras) and Claus Ankersen (Denmark). At TallerarTe, there will be readings by Carolina Cárdenas (Colombia), Chawki Abdelamir (Iraq), Ana María Oviedo (Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela) and Ali Al Ameri (Jordan/Palestine).

At French alliance. El Poblado Headquarters, there will be readings by  Jorge Torres (Colombia), Mpesse Géraldin (Cameroon), and Alexis Bernaut (France), followed by a  conversation.

National Open and Distance University will host the readings of  Damaris Román (Colombia), Ali Almaazmi (United Arab Emirates), Janette Ayachi (United Kingdom) and Mohammed Achaari (Morocco) while House of Culture of Barrio Antioquia hosts the readings of Carlos Satizábal (Colombia), Boubé Saley (Niger), Sonja Manojlović (Croatia) and Zahir Al-Ghafri (Sultanate of Oman). The day will be concluded at Municipality of Envigado. With a conference by Khalid Raissouni (Morocco) on The vision of war and peace in contemporary Arabic poetry.

Wednesday July 12, 10:00 a.m, the program starts at House of Memory Museum with  a poetry Workshop by Ismael Diadie Haidara (Mali), session 2 on Decolonizing poetry: Poetry and epistemicide.

Antioquia Museum. Council room hosts a poetry workshop with Hubert Matiúwaà (Nación Mè’phàà, México), session 1 on Original philosophies. Writing on the skin: Other ways to remember.

Poetry readings at Municipality of Itagui. Felipe de Restrepo Educational Institution, will be performed by  Ángela Mavisoy (Kamentsa Nation, Colombia) and Vielsi Arias (Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela) for Gulliver Project.

Altavista Village Library will have a poetic appreciation workshop with Carolina Cárdenas (Colombia) on Everything leads us to the poetic. Municipality of Itagui. Comfama Library will host a poetry workshop with Tallulah Flores (Colombia), session 2 on The power of magazines and other media, in the Harlem Renaissance.

San Javier Library Park will host poetry readings performed by Felipe López (Colombia), Sylvie Marie (Belgium), Imdad Aakash (Pakistan) and Carolyn Forché (USA). Municipality of Caldas hosts readings by  Andrés Uribe (Colombia), Pedro Ruiz (Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela), Janette Ayachi (United Kingdom) andTarek Eltayeb (Sudan/Austria).

House of Culture and Cooperation of CONFIAR hosts readings of Bárbara Lins (Colombia), Karel Leyva (Cuba), Sue Zhu (People’s Republic of China) and Christos Koukis (Greece). Pablo Tobon Uribe Theatre hosts reading of poems in homage to freedom by Ashraf Fayadh (Palestine), Mei Er (People’s Republic of China), Ali Al Ameri (Jordan/Palestine), Khalid Raissouni (Morocco), Francis Combes (France) and Fernando Rendón (Colombia). It will be followed by a concert by Mauricio Redolés (Chile), accompanied by Takuri Ignacio Tricot Reyes (Chile).

Municipality of Envigado hosts the readings of Mónica Lucía Suárez (Colombia), Zahir Al-Ghafri (Sultanate of Oman), Nigar Hasan Zadeh (Azerbaijan), Chawki Abdelamir (Iraq), andNimrod (Chad). Presentation of the documentary: Blanca Varela, beyond words. Dialogue with the director Anne Diestro, about Blanca Varela, with the participation of Enrique Sánchez Hernani (Peru). The day is concluded at Canchimalos Cultural Corporation with  poems by Sebastián Tobón (Colombia), Ali Almaazmi (United Arab Emirates), Afua Cooper (Jamaica/Canada) and Ahmed Zaabar (Tunisia).

The Congress of the World Poetry Movement (WPM)

On Thursday July 13, there will be the opening of the Congress of the World Poetry Movement (WPM). At Antioquia Museum. Council room, there will be a poetry workshop with Hubert Matiúwaà (Me’phaa Nation, Mexico), session 2 on original philosophies. Poets and poetics Me’phaa.

The Annunciation School, of the Gonzalo Restrepo Jaramillo Educational Institution hosts  Mónica Lucía Suárez (Colombia), and Sylvie Marie (Belgium) for Gulliver Project.

Municipality of San Pedro de los Milagros. House of Culture holds a poetry workshop with Ángela Mavisoy (Kamentsa Nation, Colombia) on Botaman Biya. Resist from the word. Municipality of Santa Rosa de Osos. Marco Tobon Mejía Educational Institution hosts another poetry workshop with Pedro Ruiz (Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela) on Poetry and Memory. MOVA.

Teacher Innovation Center will introduce Colombian poets. Diego Andrés Martínez, Johana Casanova, Sebastián Tobón, Viviana Restrepo, and Pedro Arturo Estrada. Club Comfenalco La Playa. Hector Gonzalez Mejia Library introduces the poets Jotamario Arbeláez (Colombia), Hubert Matiúwaà (Me’phaa Nation, Mexico), Janette Ayachi (United Kingdom), Mohammed Achaari (Morocco), and Afua Cooper (Jamaica/Canada).

Municipality of San Pedro de los Milagros. House of Culture hosts poets Ángela Mavisoy (Nación Kamëntsa, Colombia), Ali Almaazmi (United Arab Emirates), Christos Koukis (Greece), and Zahir Al-Ghafri (Oman). Municipality of Santa Rosa de Osos. Cultural Centre Marco Tobon Mejía hosts Andrés Uribe (Colombia), Vielsi Arias (Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela), Pedro Ruiz (Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela), and Sanja Baković (Croatia). Medellin Chamber of Commerce hosts African poets. Achour Fenni (Algeria), Ayo Ayoola-Amale (Ghana), Oumar Farouk Sesay (Sierra Leone), and Nimrod (Chad). Comfama Auditorium of Aranjuez hosts Damaris Román (Colombia), Keshab Sigdel (Nepal), Oscar Saavedra (Chile), Alex Pausides (Cuba), and Vadim Terekhin (Russia).

House of Memory Museum. Audience. Bicentennial Park will host poets Francis Combes (France), Carolyn Forché (USA) and Ashraf Fayadh (Palestine) on Reading of poems and conversation: Freedom of expression in poetry. Medellin Chamber of Commerce. Auditorium -central headquarters- hosts the readings of Freddy Ñáñez (Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela), Neşe Yaşın (Cyprus), Sándor Halmosi (Hungary), Hanan Awwad (Palestine) and Ashraf Aboul-Yazid (Egypt).

House of Music. Terrace. Park of the Wishes  hosts Rati Saxena (India), Rosa Chávez (Maya Nation, Guatemala), Maribel Mora Curriao (Mapuche Nation, Chile), Sue Zhu (People’s Republic of China), and Nicole Cage (Martinique). Museum of Modern Art. Event room hosts Barbara Pogačnik (Slovenia), Saleh Zamanan (Saudi Arabia), Chawki Abdelamir (Iraq) and Ataol Behramoğlu (Turkey). Harlequin Theater and the minstrels will present Jorge Torres (Colombia), Agneta Falk (Sweden), Shivani Sivagurunathan (Malaysia), and Gerry Loose (Scotland). The day will be concluded by poetry reading and conversation at Central Office of Dreams by Bárbara Lins (Colombia) and Nicolás Antonioli (Argentina).

On Friday July 14, 9:30 a.m. Congress of the World Poetry Movement. Second session.. At 10:00 a.m,  Carlos Villa School, readings by   Carolina Cárdenas (Colombia) and Hubert Matiúwaà (Me’phaa Nation, Mexico) for Gulliver Project. At Central Western Comfenalco Library.  There will be readigs by Carlos Satizábal (Colombia), Sanja Baković (Croatia), Diego Andrés Martínez (Colombia) and Chawki Abdelamir (Iraq). At French alliance, Center Headquarters,  there will be poetry reading and conversation by Alexandra Cretté (French Guyana), Francis Combes (France) and Nicole Cage (Martinique).  At House of Culture of El Poblado there will be poetry readings by  Achour Fenni (Algeria), Luís Filipe Sarmento (Portugal), Ashraf Aboul-Yazid (Egypt), Luis Luna (Spain) and Alexis Bernaut (France).

At Comfama Cloister of San Ignacio. Deck, conversation: War and peace by Maribel Mora Curriao (Mapuche Nation, Chile), Ayo Ayoola-Amale (Ghana), Gerry Loose (Scotland), and Oumar Farouk Sesay (Sierra Leone). At CONFIAR Financial Cooperative, readings by Katherine Wiedemann (Colombia), Keshab Sigdel (Nepal), Agneta Falk (Sweden), Oscar Saavedra (Chile) and Rati Saxena (India).

At Pilot Public Library, Memory Tower, there will be readings by Barbara Pogačnik (Slovenia), Pedro Arturo Estrada (Colombia), Neşe Yaşın (Cyprus), Enrique Sánchez Hernani (Peru), and Sue Zhu (People’s Republic of China). Auditorium of the University of Antioquia will host readings by Mónica Lucía Suárez (Colombia), Vadim Terekhin (Russia), Afua Cooper (Jamaica/Canada) and Ashraf Fayadh (Palestine). The day will be concluded at La Pascasia Cultural Center with poets Nicolás Antonioli (Argentina), Johana Casanova (Colombia), Christos Koukis (Greece) and Hanan Awwad (Palestine).

55 poets on one stage

The final day of the 33 Medellin International Poetry Festival, Saturday July 15, will start at Children’s Reading House of Comfenalco, with  Gulliver Project children’s reading. At San German House of Literature there will be readings by  Karla Jazmín Arango (Colombia), Zahir Al-Ghafri (Sultanate of Oman), Leonardo Ruiz (Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela) and Mohammed Achaari (Morocco). At Public Library of the Village of Santa Elena there will be readings by  Viviana Restrepo (Colombia), Sanja Baković (Croatia), Janette Ayachi (United Kingdom), Afua Cooper (Jamaica/Canada) and Ángela Mavisoy (Kamentsa Nation, Colombia). At Public Library of the Village of San Sebastián de Palmitas there will be the poetry readings by  Andrés Uribe (Colombia), Ali Almaazmi (United Arab Emirates), Vielsi Arias (Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela) and Ahmed Zaabar (Tunisia).

The grand poetic performance will be hosted at  Nutibara Hill. Carlos Vieco Theatre. Closing of the 33rd Medellin International Poetry Festival and the first stage of the First Congress of the World Poetry Movement.

Poetry readings will be recited by Freddy Ñáñez (Bolivariana Republic of Venezuela), Melissa Merlo (Honduras), Nicolás Antonioli (Argentina), Mónica Laneri (Paraguay), Alex Pausides (Cuba) // Nigar Hasan Zadeh (Azerbaijan), Vadim Terekhin (Russia), Barbara Pogačnik (Slovenia), Claus Ankersen (Denmark), Anna Lombardo (Italy) // Rosa Chávez (Maya Nation, Guatemala), Oscar Saavedra (Chile), Maribel Mora Curriao (Mapuche Nation, Chile), Enrique Sánchez Hernani (Peru), Nicole Cage (Martinique) // Sándor Halmosi (Hungary), Agneta Falk (Sweden), Sotirios Pastakas (Greece), Sonja Manojlović (Croatia), Luís Filipe Sarmento (Portugal) // Yvonne Weekes (Montserrat), Karel Leyva (Cuba),  Alexandra Cretté (French Guyana), Francis Combes (France), Neşe Yaşın (Cyprus) // Gerry Loose (Scotland),  Nurduran Duman (Turkey), Alexis Bernaut (France), Altynai Temirova (Kyrgyzstan), Ataol Behramoğlu (Turkey) // Rati Saxena (India), Keshab Sigdel (Nepal), Shivani Sivagurunathan (Malaysia), Saleh Zamanan (Saudi Arabia), Shirani Rajapakse (Sri Lanka) // Mpesse Géraldin (Cameroon), Ayo Ayoola-Amale (Ghana), Boubé Saley (Niger), Siphiwe Nzima (Lesotho), Ismaël Diadié Haïdara (Mali) // Hanan Awwad (Palestine), Khalid Raissouni (Morocco), Sue Zhu (People’s Republic of China), Imdad Aakash (Pakistan) // Achour Fenni (Algeria), Ashraf Aboul-Yazid (Egypt), Oumar Farouk Sesay (Sierra Leone), Tarek Eltayeb (Sudan/Austria) // Mei Er (People’s Republic of China), Ali Al Ameri (Jordan/Palestine), Nimrod (Tchad), Ashraf Fayadh (Palestine) and Mauricio Redolés (Chile), accompanied by Takuri Ignacio Tricot Reyes (Chile).