Manchester Met celebrates World Poetry Day

Manchester Metropolitan University is celebrating UNESCO’s World Poetry Day

Manchester Metropolitan University is marking UNESCO’s World Poetry Day and celebrating one of humanity’s most treasured forms of cultural and linguistic expression.

World Poetry Day is held every year on March 21, and the University is marking the day with events and activities showcasing its strength in creative writing.

The University’s Manchester Poetry Library, the first public poetry library in the North West, opened its doors in 2021 and has seen over 18,000 visitors delving into its expansive collection of more than 12,000 books and enjoying its events programme.

Manchester Poetry Library will be celebrating World Poetry Day with various events and activities focussed on the theme of translation in poetry.

On March 20, Manchester Poetry Library will host a collaborative Translation Workshop with award winning Arabic language poet Najwan Darwish and translator Kareem James Abu-Zeid.

During the workshop, Abu-Zeid will provide a basic word-for-word translation of a new poem that has not been translated before. Participants will work in groups to translate the poem and from the different versions each group creates, they will collaboratively create a single translation.

Later in the week, Darwish and Abu-Zeid will return to Manchester Poetry Library for the inaugural Manchester Translation Series on March 23, from 6.30pm to 8pm.

The event will include a poetry reading, along with a discussion on topics relating to translation and multilingualism in poetry.

Becky Swain, Director of Manchester Poetry Library, said: “World Poetry Day is a moment to celebrate language across the globe in all of its complexity. We hope as many people as possible will join us this week for our events, which promise to be a celebration of poetry and translation.”

Elsewhere, the University’s Manchester Writing School, the largest writing school in the UK, led by former poet laureate Professor Carol Ann Duffy, will also celebrating the day.

Manchester Writing School is this year celebrating 25 years of teaching poetry, fiction, scriptwriting, non-fiction, and publishing, with many writers going on to win major literary prizes such as the Forward Prize for Poetry, Costa Book Award and T.S. Elliot.

Ahead of World Poetry Day, acclaimed poet Andrew McMillan, Professor of Contemporary Writing, spoke to MetCast, the podcast that digs into the research, knowledge, and expertise from across Manchester Met.

Prof McMillan discusses how beginners can get started in poetry (from 20:35), offering advice and tips on writing a poem for the first time, as well as exploring his inspirations and how his writing style has changed over time.

Meanwhile, poets and lecturers Malika Booker and Dr Brian Sneeden, will be in conversation on March 21 for a special alumni event talking about their poetry, as well as discussing diversity, translation and form.

UNESCO first adopted March 21 as World Poetry Day in 1999, with the aim of supporting linguistic diversity through poetic expression and increasing the opportunity for endangered languages to be heard.

Staff from Manchester Poetry Library and the Department of English will also be commemorating World Poetry Day by sharing their own poetry recommendations throughout the day on Manchester Poetry Library social media channels and with a blog on Manchester Poetry Library website.

Visitors can drop into Manchester Poetry Library on World Poetry Day and pick up a copy of The Welcome, a new poem by Imtiaz Dharker which was commissioned for Manchester Poetry Library for the official launch of the University’s Grosvenor East building earlier this month.