30th Medellin International Poetry Festival

-August 1st to October 10th, 2020-

With the participation of 180 poets and invited from more than 103 countries, 125 activities will be held in virtual media, including poetry readings, workshops, conferences, conversations and panels.

Up to this moment, the guests who have confirmed their attendance are: Hamid Larbi (Algeria), Mpaulu Poeta Sol (Angola), Hugo Mujica, Elena Annibali -30th International Poetry Festival of Medellín Prize-, Nicolás Antonioli, Sabrina Usach, María Chapp, Lilia Parisi, Jona Burghardt (Argentina), Lola Koundakjian (Armenia), Quito Nicolaas (Aruba), Les Wicks (Australia), Ramiz Rovshan, Aliyev Agshin Boyugaka, Nigar Hasan-Zadeh, Nigar Arif (Azerbaijan), Ali Al Jallawi (Bahrain), Quamruzzaman Swapan, Aminur Rahman (Bangladesh), Winston Farrell (Barbados), Sylvie Marie (Belgium), Valeria Sandi, Gabriel Chávez Casazola, Alex Aillón (Bolivia); T.J. Dema (Botswana), Claudio Willer (Brasil), Marcel Kemadjou Njanke (Cameroon), Oscar Saavedra, Julieta Marchant, Rosabetty Muñoz, Clemente Riedemann, singer-songwriter Chinoy (Chile), Jidi Majia, Li Shaojun, Li Yun, Mei Er, Cao Shui (Popular Republic of China), Neshe Yashin (Cyprus), Rómulo Bustos, Jotamario Arbeláez, Carlos Vásquez, Javier Naranjo, Fernando Rendón, Gabriel Jaime Franco, Álvaro Marin, Jairo Guzmán, Felipe García Quintero, John Freddy Galindo -30th International Poetry Festival of Medellín Prize-, Lucía Estrada, Ela Cuavas, Fernando Linero, Annabell Manjarres, Ángela García, Yirama Castaño, Saúl Gómez, Yenny León, Marisol Bohorquez, Hanna Escobar, Paula Andrea Pérez, León Vallejo, Ashanti Dinah Orozco, Ángela Acero, Jonatan Echeverri, Valentina Rojas, Laura Bastet Kali, Johanna Carvajal, Karla Jazmín Arango, Alejo Morales (Colombia); Julien Kilanga Musinde (Democratic Republic of the Congo), Arabella Salaverry (Costa Rica), Bronislava Volková (Czech Republic), Rogelio Martínez Furé, Nancy Morejón, Luis Lorente -Premio La Gaceta-Prometeo, Alpidio Alonso, Antonio Herrada -30th International Poetry Festival of Medellín Prize-, Victor Casaus, Martha Luisa Hernández, Karel Leyva, Giselle Lucía Navarro (Cuba), Claus Ankersen (Denmark), Chiqui Vicioso, Martha Rivera, Tais Espaillat (Dominican Repúblic), Sandra de la Torre, Siomara España, Támara Mejía, Augusto Rodríguez (Ecuador), Ahmad Al Shahawi (Egipto), Josué Andrés Moz (El Salvador), Richard Berengarten (England), Alemu Tebeje (Ethiopia), Francis Combes (France), Alhaji Papa Susso (Gambia), Kwame Dawes (Ghana-Jamaica), Tobias Burghard (Germany), Christos Koukis (Greece), Vania Vargas, Marvin García, Julio Serrano (Guatemala); Salvador Madrid (Honduras), Sándor Halmozi (Hungary), Sigurbjörg Þrastardóttir (Iceland), K. Satchidanandan, Rati Saxena, Reshma Ramesh, Debasish Parashar (India), Abdulhadi Sadoun (Iraq), Pat Boran (Ireland), Lali Tsipi Michaeli (Israel), Stefano Strazzabosco (Italy), Christopher Okemwa (Kenya), Fahredin Shehu (Kosovo), Patricia Jabbeh Wesley (Liberia), Rethabile Masilo (Lesotho), Jean Portante (Luxembourg), Natasa Sardzoska (Macedonia), Antoine Cassar (Malta), Nicole Cage-Florentiny (Martinique), Khaleel Torabully (Mauritius), Rocío Cerón (Mexico), Khalid Raissouni (Morocco), Hadaa Sendoo (Mongolia), Sreten Vujovic (Montenegro), Tulasi Diwala, Keshab Sigdel (Nepal), Marije Langelaar (Netherlands), David Eggleton (nation of Aotearoa New Zealand/Fiji Islands), Ayo Ayoola-Amale (Nigeria),  Paul Muldoon (North Ireland), Imdad Aakash (Pakistan), Ghassan Zaqtan (Palestine), Giovanna Benedetti (Panama), Susy Delgado, Mónica Laneri (Paraguay), Tatiana Berger, Enrique Sánchez Hernani, Luis La Hoz (Peru), Simeon Dumdum Jr., Ma Milagros T. Dumdum (Philippines), Adam Zagajewski, Krystyna Dabrowska, Marta Eloy Cichocka (Poland), Luis Filipe Sarmento (Portugal), Alex Maldonado (Puerto Rico), Tudor Cretu, Gelu Vlasin (Rumania), Margarita Al, Vadim Terekhin, dancer Valentin Tzin (Russia), Lasana Sekou (Saint Martin), Milena Ercolani (San Marino), Ahmed-Al-Mulla, Ali Al Hazmi (Saudi Arabia), Charles Simic (Serbia - United States),  Mina Gligoric (Serbia), Oumar Farouk Sesay (Sierra Leone), Ramya Jirasinghe (Sri Lanka), Gerry Loose (Scotland), Gcina Mhlophe, Zolani Mkiva, Katleho Kano Shoro (South Africa), Sungrye Han (South Korea), Chantal Maillard, Antonio Colinas, Raquel Lanseros, Ana Merino (Spain), Tarek Eltayeb (Sudan), Malak Mustafá (Syria), Agneta Falk (Sweden), Heike Fiedler, Markus Hediger (Switzerland), Abdukakhor Kosimov (Tajikistan), Koulsy Lamko (Tchad), Chiranan Pitpreecha, Pojjanat Pojjanapitak (Thailand), Khédija Gadhoum, Sabri Rahmouni (Tunisia), Ataol Behramoglu (Turkey), Nurduran Duman (Turkey), Sainkho Namtchylak (Tuva), Khulood Almualla (United Arab Emirates), Jack Hirschman, Bruce Weigl (United States), Liudmyla Diadchenko (Ukraine), Roberto Bianchi (Uruguay), Aazam Abidov (Uzbekistan), Juan Calzadilla, Ernesto Román, Freddy Ñañez, William Osuna, musician Cristóbal Jiménez (Venezuela), Nguyen Quang Thieu (Vietnam), Tran Hung (Vietnam), Mohammed Al-Lawzi (Yemen), Mbizo Chirasha (Zimbabwe). Also they will participat the classical philologist, essayist, and university professor Carl Ruck (United States); the philosopher Jordi Piguem (Spain); the human rights defender, Goldman Prize 2018, Francia Márquez (Colombia); the sociologist Boaventura de Sousa Santos (Portugal). 

We will celebrate with great joy the community of Medellin, essential for this project, due to its massive commitment, the vocation of life and freedom, and for its resilience in the face of war pressure, as well as for its determination to move forward participating in a cultural transformation in order to overcome the damages that our fratricidal war has caused to our human existence, to culture and language. This cultural transformation also requires that the population acquires awareness and manifests itself before the threats of the global climate crisis and the deterioration of the environment that affects the city of Medellin, which is the ninth city in Latin America with the highest degree of pollution.

The thematic axes of the 30th Medellin International Poetry Festival will be:

      • Peace and Democracy.
      • Preservation and Care for the Planet.
      • Culture and education, forces of change.

These topics will be the basis of the contents that will be disseminated among the audience and the local and global public reached by the communication process of the project.

The community lacks wide access to alternative training activities in order to improve the creative aspect of language. The Festival offers workshops and multiple pedagogical activities to correct this situation.

We need a genuine wish for peace in the collective consciousness and a democratic sense of community participation, but the challenge is to find a way to turn it into enhanced concrete actions so that symbolic practices and acts for peace and reconciliation be actually materialized.

The essence of the Festival establish close links with the community, in order to move forward together for the construction of a new culture, for humanity freed from the threat of violence, so that lasting peace could be possible, democratic participation, cultural rights, while respecting their free expression, respect for life and caring for the planet.

Amongst the scheduled activities of the Festival, these include those programs related to the 24th International Poetry School of Medellin as its pedagogical component.

The Festival will also feature the presence and participation of representatives of the World Poetry Movement, a global network that integrates poetry festivals, poetic projects, and poets from the five continents, joined for a common cause through campaigns and actions contributing to world peace, the defense of life on the planet, for the sustainable development in a new world, for the restoration of beauty, dignity, and truth, as part of a continuous assessing process for strengthening the presence of Poetry in our contemporary society. Its coordinating committee that is led by the Medellin International Poetry Festival is made up of poets and directors of international poetry festivals from India, Nepal, Turkey, China, Kuwait, France, Sweden, South Africa, Morocco, Ghana, Kenya, Colombia, Chile, Panama and the United States of America.

Published on 20.01.2020