A nation calls the world of poetry to the microphone.
A nation empowers poets across four generations calling us forth from five continents and twenty-six countries with the poets hailing from Venezuela, Argentina, the Bahamas, Bolivia, Germany, Chile, China, Colombia, South Korea, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Spain, the United States, France, Haiti, India, Italy, Morocco, Mexico, Palestine, Peru, Portugal, Puerto Rico, the West Sahara and Uruguay. And on the first night when we read, poet, or poet and poet translator each of us became one voice in a symphony of poetics, a jazz jam session of language and music which hummed Venezuela in strings and tones that carried not only Spain but the indigenous and Africa too, dance, hip hop, visual poetry in a full palate of languages,
It was quite extraordinary. Although the festival started in Caracas it was not an international festival celebrated in a city, as the others that I have been honored to be a part of. This was a festival for a nation. The many poets were sent to various community centers, libraries, museums and other cultural centers (One of my favorite events was held in Trujillo City in Trujillo state on a small stage in a community gathering center in a wonderful housing complex built for the poor during Chavez’s presidency.) At every place where we poets shared our poems there were local writers and sometimes children poets and sometimes seasoned elders and always musicians and singers, and often dancers on stage or in the audience who made the programs rich and full.
As we poets left the capital city to visit separate states in the nation, share our work and discuss issues which were or were not a part of our poetry I became more and more aware of what a broad vision the festival planners had.
Poetry of the world spreading across a nation for one week. Poets from Korea, Haiti, Equatorial Sudan, China, Palestine, and Spain, and Chile, and Ecuador and Mexico and Puerto Rico and coming together, our voices joining in harmonies to produce the most beautiful world symphony.
For a visual idea of the people who were a part of the festival go to the festival photo stream. For the program (In Spanish) which also has photos of the deceased poets who were honored as well as photos and bios of all the artists and lots of information please go to
And what makes it as alive for me now as it was then is the fact that the festival is happening again. Again poetry which at its best has the power to open minds, sooth spirits, invite laughter or demand tears, words that make us feel shared across the nation by emissaries from around the world sharing discourse with the incredible artists, poets and people of Venezuela. What would our world be if every nation did this?