Poetry International

T1269991513
The world's leading poets read live on the South Bank. Southbank Centre's biennial Poetry International festival was founded by Ted Hughes in 1967.

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Archive :: production:T1269991513, poetry:S01378212742, venue:V423

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Production details

It returns this year from Thursday 23 to Sunday 26 July with talks, readings and innovative live performances. The packed line-up features music, translation, new commissions and free events. Poets meet, debate and offer their perspectives on a changing world. During the first Poetry International the Cold War loomed large as inspiration. Nearly half a century on, the conflicts and shifting geo-political fault lines that impact on all our lives today provide one of the central themes of the festival. It includes a special focus on poets and poetry from the Middle East; including Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Kurdistan, Iran, the Palestinian Territories and Syria - powerfully demonstrating poetry's enduring ability to anticipate and envision change and transcend barriers of censorship, prejudice and conflict.