International Istanbul Poetry Festival to be Held on 11-15th May. Ayten Mutlu* 
 

TURQUÍA-Istanbul: International Istanbul Poetry Festival was held on 11-15th May. The festival started with the opening ceremony and Zuhal Olcay Concert at the brand new Muhsin Ertugrul Hall on Tuesday 11th, and ended with Cem Adrian's music performance at Archeology Museum on Saturday 15th.
As the 'capital of poetry' for hundreds of years, İstanbul has completed an important missing point among the world cities with its first International Poetry Festival in 2008. The second International poetry Festival was organized by the IBB Kültür A.Ş. under the sponsorship of the Istanbul 2010 ECOC Agency and was held between May 12 and 16 in 2009. Its theme of “Romania with Contemporary Poetry” attracted great interest from poetry circles around the world.

With the Advisory Board including Doğan Hızlan, Nevzat Bayhan, Adnan Özer, Ahmet Kot, Ali Ural, Fatih Andı, Metin Celal and Ömer Erdem, the festival hosted 40 domestic and foreign poets recitinge their poems, attending meetings and workshops in venues such as the Sirkeci Train Station, the Archeological Museum, the Emirgan White Pavillion, the Malta Pavilion, the Kabataş Pier, and the Basilica Cistern.

II. The International Poetry Festival invited the following poets:
Ali Günvar, Anzhelina Polonskaya [Russia], Arif Ay, Astrid Lampe [Netherlands], Ataol Behramoğlu, Ayse Sevim Betül Tarıman, Breyten Breytenbach [South Africa], Celal Sentinel, Ioanid Doina [Romania], Egemen Berköz, Emilio Coco [Italy ], Eray Canberk, Fadhil Al-Azzawi [Iraq], Gabriel Chifu [Romania], Gülten Ali, Ibrahim Tinker, Ismail Kılıçarslan, Joachim Sartorius [Germany], Jordi Virallonga Eguren [Spain], Kamil Eşfak Berki, Kim Haeng-sook [ South Korea], Leopoldo Castilla [Argentina], Luis Garcia Montero [Spain], Mateja Matevski [Macedonia], Mel Kenn [USA], Mourid Barghouti [Palestine], Niels Hav [Denmark], Nilay Ozer, Osman Konuk, Oya Uysal, Philippe Beck [France], Sedat Umran, Ghergut Sorin [Romania], Honor Bilsel, Tal Nitzan [Israel], Turan Koç, Ülkü Tamer, Veysel Çolak, Zilhad Kljucanin [Bosnia Herzegovina].

The third festival was held between May 11 and 18, 2010 again by the Istanbul 2010 ECOC. The festival was continuing to gain an increasingly esteemed and indispensable place among world festivals.

The International Istanbul Poetry Festival [IIPF] officially took place between Tuesday, May 11 and Saturday, May 15, 2010 with the participation of 40 poets from 17 different countries. It was considered to be the biggest international literary event in Turkey.

Ayten Mutlu*, [Embajadora - Turquía] PPdM:
http://www.poetasdelmundo.com/verInfo_asia.asp?ID=5437

Publication: 21-05-2010