HAPPY WORLD POETRY DAY!
Held every year on 21st March, World Poetry Day celebrates one of humanity’s most treasured forms of cultural and linguistic expression and identity - poetry! Founded in 1999 by UNESCO, World Poetry Day champions linguistic diversity through poetry, celebrates endangered languages and hopes to bring people together across continents.
We're spoilt for choice when it comes to global poetry collections, but here we've gathered three favourites from recent years to share with you.
We were thrilled to see My Dearest Friend longlisted for the Jhalak Poetry Prize this week. Published by Verve Press, My Dearest Friend is a bilingual collection written by Lady Red Ego and translated by her mother, Xiaoyu Luo. It documents the relationship between mother and poet as they both come to terms with the mother's terminal illness.
Order My Dearest Friend here, with 25% off for PBS Members.
Notwithstanding his spare output, with only two volumes of poetry to his name, Iranian poet Hasan Alizadeh has left a poetic signature on modern Persian poetry, distinguished by lyricism and colloquialism. With an informative introduction placing the poet’s work in context, this evocative translation brings Alizadeh’s two collections into English for the first time.
Order House Arrest here, with 25% off for PBS Members.
In Mexico, Coral Bracho is a formidable presence and influence, one of the most significant writers since Octavio Paz. "Her diction spills out along ceaselessly shifting beds of sound," says her translator, Forrest Gander. It Must Be a Misunderstanding is her most personal collection of poems, concerned with her mother’s Alzheimer’s and death.
Order It Must Be a Misunderstanding here, with 25% off for PBS Members.
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Want to discover the best new collections from international poets? Travel the world of poetry with our World Poetry Membership here.