April 25, 2012
Artists from 40 countries are expected to gather on May 21-24 for the 16th International Poetry Festival of Havana, dedicated to Afro-Caribbean poets and to the 100th birthday anniversary of Cuban playwright Virgilio Pinera (1912-1979.)
The largest delegations will be from Venezuela, Mexico, Colombia, Argentina and Canada, the organizing committee informed in a press conference at the headquarters of the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC).
Relevant prizes Rafael Alberti, Wonsan-Cuba Poesia and Cultural Merit will be awarded to Cuban and foreign poets, they said.
Main activities of the event include the World Meeting of Poets, considered a response to great challenges of our time, such as nuclear war.
The program of the gathering will also include the 5th Congress of the Cultural Project South, a promising effort to promote an alternative circuit for creation and circulation of an art expression committed to humanist values.
Local and foreign poets, painters, musicians, moviemakers, folklore experts and art promoters from Cuba will also hold the seminar on Caribbean Poetry, focused on the way the Caribbean spirit determines a way of being and living in the world, according to organizers.
There will be readings, exhibitions, book launch, meetings of writers and concerts in different Havana municipalities, and the community project Cuba Travelling Poetry will be extended to eight provinces.
In Case You Missed It
In the capital, the venues for the 16th International Poetry Festival will be the Ruben Martinez Villena Hall at UNEAC, the Dulce Maria Loinaz Cultural Center, the Solidarity Room of the Habana Libre Hotel and the Jose Marti Cultural Society.
Also in Havana, the festival will run at ALBA Cultural House in El Vedado, the Minor Basilica of Saint Francisco of Assisi, the Ruben Martinez Villena Library, the Yoruba Union of Cuba and Classrooms-Museums of the Office of the Historian of Havana, among other institutions.
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