Every year on March 21 we celebrate World Poetry Day. World Poetry Day was initiated in 1999 by UNESCO with the aim of promoting the reading, writing and publishing of poetry and highlighting linguistic diversity through poetic expression. There is also special attention for endangered languages.
Poetry contributes to creative diversity, our way of perception and understanding of the world. World Poetry Day is a day to reflect on the power of language and the development of everyone’s creative abilities.
Picture Poems
Leeuwarden City of Literature would like to share the following videos of Picture Poems with you on World Poetry Day. Picture Poems makes (Frisian) poetry in English translation accessible to a wider audience.
In 2019, Johan van Oijen from Metafoor Media, together with Syds Wiersma from poet collective RIXT and Bert Looper from Tresoar, started a project in which video clips are made for Frisian poetry: Picture Poems. The videos were broadcast on FryslânDOK on NPO 2 and can be viewed on YouTube. The number of videos is being expanded. At the request of Leeuwarden City of Literature, some films have been provided with English subtitles / voice-over.
