Mutabaruka poses with a copy of a book of his poems. - WINSTON SILL/FREELANCE PHOTOGRAPHER
JAMAICA MARKS the 2006 staging of World Poetry Day, today, with two major activities. World Poetry Day is designated by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and is celebrated worldwide.
Representatives of the Poetry Society of Jamaica will be visiting eight high schools in the Corporate Area during the day, in order to establish a Poetry Club in each. The objective, as stated by the Poetry Society, headed by Tommy Ricketts, is "to encourage students to write, read and discuss their own poems and poems by established authors. By learning effective ways to write, analyse and understand poetry, the Poetry Club will assist in preparing students for CSEC and CAPE English exams."
The other major Poetry Day activity takes place at Up On The Roof at 73 Knutsford Boulevard, New Kingston. The first performance is slated for 3:00 p.m., with Ku-Soonogo scheduled to do a half-hour performance. After music from Mutabaruka and Rass Rodd, Ku-Soongogo returns for another half-hour up to 6:00 p.m., before established, as well as emerging poets participate in four hours of performances up to 10:00 p.m.
THEME
The theme of that World Poetry Day showcase is "Participation of Communities in the safeguarding of their Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Caribbean."
Both events are supported by the Caribbean arm of UNESCO, with the Dub Traffickers and Bazba Theatrical Players also involved in the New Kingston event.
March 21 was declared World Poetry Day by UNESCO in 1999, during its 30th session held in Paris, France, with the first celebration being in 2000. Among the reasons given for celebrating the day were that "in this world there are unfulfilled aesthetic needs. Poetry can meet this need if its social role of interpersonal communication is recognised and it continues to be the means of arousing and expressing awareness."
And in his message for World Poetry Day 2006 posted on UNESCO's website, Koïchiro Matsuura, director-general of UNESCO, asks "Is there anything that captures simultaneously things in flux and things that do not change?"
Of course there is, and that is poetry. Our languages, of course, are different and the ways in which we place words, phrases and sentences may vary, as do the forms and metres of our poetries. But poetry, through its diverse shapes and rhythms, draws us back to the dialogue of change and permanence in life itself."
