On 25 and 26 February 2023, from 05.00 GMT, the WPM Asia Congress will be held to explore and celebrate poetry in Asia, to place Asian poetry in the context of world poetry, to unite the poetic forces of the continent and, through intercultural dialogue and the definition of poetic actions, to contribute to the preparation and development of the 1st WPM Congress, convened under the motto “Migration from death to life”.

The Asian continent is the cradle of the oldest manuscripts of humanity, dating back 3,000 to 5,000 years. One of these, the Upanishads present the same thought that guides the WPM congress in a poetic way: Lead me from evil to good and from darkness to knowledge. And from death to Life. For thousands of years, poetry from all continents has been leading us from death to life, and this continues to be the driving force of WPM in modern times.

The poetic and spiritual tradition of the Asian continent makes this gathering of 30 Asian poets at the WPM Virtual Congress very significant and raises expectations on the continent and in the World Poets’ Movement.

So far the continental coordinators have confirmed: Sue Zhu (China), Rati Saxena (India), Keshab Sigdel (Nepal), Vadim Terekhin (Russia); and the national coordinators: Nigar Hasan-Zadeh (Azerbaijan), Quamruzzaman Swapan (Bangladesh), Jidi Majia (China), Neşe Yaşın (Cyprus), Kamran Mir Hazar (Hazaristan), Nahid Kabiri (Iran), Abdul Hadi Sadoun (Iraq), Ali Al Ameri (Jordan), Ulugbek Esdauketov (Kazakhstan), Altynai Temirova (Kyrgyzstan), Antoine Boulad (Lebanon), Shivani Sivagurunathan (Malaysia), Imdad Aakash (Pakistan), Hanan Awwad (Palestine), Saleh Zamanan (Saudi Arabia), Shirani Rajapakse (Sri Lanka), Kosimov Abdukakhor Sattorovich (Tajikistan), Adel Khosam (United Arab Emirates), Khosyat Rustam (Uzbekistan), Mohammed Al-Lawzi (Yemen) and Huu Viet (Vietnam).

Some poets, members of the Movement’s coordinating committee and international observers will also attend the two-day Asian Congress.

Among the prominent observers accompanying the congress are coordinators from some of Russia’s regions:  Alexander Orlov – coordinator of the Central Federal District, director of the International Literary Slavic Forum “Golden Knight” (Moscow); Svetlana Makarova – coordinator of the Southern Federal District, chairperson of Krasnodar regional branch of the Union of Russian Writers; Valentina Erofeeva-Tverskaya – coordinator of the Siberian Federal Okrug, chairwoman of Omsk Oblast department of the Russian Writers’ Union; Natalia Kharlampieva, coordinator of the Far Eastern Federal District, chairwoman of the Yakutsk department of the Russian Writers’ Union, People’s Writer of Yakutia; Elena Mashukova – Central Federal District, member of the Board of the Orel regional branch of the Union of Writers of Russia.

On the first day, the continental and national coordinators will present reports from their countries, including the poetic actions carried out, future plans, programs and suggestions for promoting poetry, poetic actions and the presence of the movement in the continent.

The WPM Asia Virtual Congress will be hosted by the hospitality of the Venezuelan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which is lending its meeting room and interpreters for English, Russian and Spanish. This process is organized by the World Poetry Movement – WPM, the International Poetry Festival of Medellin and the Ministry of People’s Power for Communication and Information. It is supported by, among others, the Mayor’s Office of Medellín and the Ministry of Culture of Colombia.

                                                                     World Poetry Movement (WPM)

The World Poetry Movement is the global umbrella organisation for poets and related organisations, including more than 3,000 poets from 150 nations, international poetry festivals, educational projects and poetry publishers. The thematic axes on which the WPM works are, among others: Peace and reconstruction of the human spirit/ Entanglement and recovery of nature/ Unity of the human spirit and cultural diversity of the peoples/ Material poverty and spiritual wealth/ Actions for the mundialization of poetry.

                                                                                          Background

The WPM Asia Virtual Congress is the second of the continental congresses to be held in 2023, in preparation for the 1st WPM Congress, to be held in Medellin, during the 33rd Medellin International Poetry Festival, 13-15 July; and in Caracas, during the celebration of the 17th World Poetry Festival, 17-19 July.

On January 21 and 22, the virtual WPM Africa Congress was held with the participation of 25 delegates from Africa, who took the following decisions and drafted a final declaration: https://worldpoetrymovement.org/es/congreso-virtual-del-movimiento-poetico-mundial-en-africa/ 

The WPM Europe Congress will be held in March and the Americas Congress in April. Each continental congress will select 15 delegates for the Medellin and Caracas Congress, which will draft a strategic plan 2023-2028 and elect a coordinating committee.

COORDINATING COMMITTEE OF THE WORLD POETRY MOVEMENT
COORDINATING COMMITTEE WORLD POETRY MOVEMENT ASIA

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