Organized by the Faculty of Arts of The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), International Poetry Nights in Hong Kong 2015 (IPNHK2015), a biennial gala in celebration of poetry and poets, will be held from Thursday to Saturday.

    Twenty renowned poets from all around the globe will participate in the event. It is the biggest international gathering of poets in the history of Hong Kong, and the activities will be extended into Guangzhou, Chengdu, Hangzhou and Shanghai.

    The theme of IPNHK2015 is “Poetry and Conflict,” which explores the multi-layered relationships between poetry and war. Poetry has been generally recognized as the highest form of language while war inflicts the most pains on the human history. IPNHK2015 has invited world-acclaimed poets from the United States (Anne Waldman, Peter Cole), Japan (Tawada Yoko, Mizuta Noriko), South Korea (Moon Chung-hee), Macedonia (Nikola Madzirov), Catalonia (Gemma Gorga), Portugal (Fernando Pinto do Amaral), Burma (Ko Ko Thett), Morroco (Mohammed Bennis), China (Chen Li, Lau Yee-ching, Wang Xiaoni), Israel (Agi Mishol) and Palestine (Ghassan Zaqtan, Najwan Darwish).

    These poets, who engage their works with “war” as a topic, are going to exchange views and explore the many layers where the equanimous poetry is able to play its role in the most violent events in the human history, and in so doing, encourage writers and readers of the war-free Hong Kong to reflect upon the local milieu in a global framework.

    Poetry lovers are welcome to attend the activities, with prior registration preferred. For more details, please visit www.ipnhk.com or Facebook page “International Poetry Nights in Hong Kong.”

    HK schedule:

    Panel discussions

    • Nov. 26, 1 p.m., 3 p.m., Middle East poetry

    Venue: C.K. Tse Room, Chung Chi Library, CUHK

    MTR: University Station

    • Nov. 27, 1 p.m. Nations, regions and identities in poetry

    Venue: C.K. Tse Room, Chung Chi Library, CUHK

    • Nov. 27, 3 p.m. East Asian poetry

    Venue: C.K. Tse Room, Chung Chi Library, CUHK

    Poetry recitations

    Nov. 26-29, 7:30 p.m.; Nov. 28-29 also at 3 p.m.

    Venue: Multimedia Theater of HKICC Lee Shau Kee School of Creativity, Kowloon

    MTR: Wong Tai Sin Station

    GZ schedule:

    • Dec. 1, 7:30 p.m. Panel discussion on poetry creation

    Venue: Fangsuo Book Store, B1/F, TaiKoo Hui, Tianhe Road, Guangzhou

    Metro: Shipaiqiao Station

    • Dec. 2, 4:10 p.m. Panel discussion on “Poetry and Conflict”

    Venue: New Page Cafe, Guangzhou Book Center, Tianhe Road, Guangzhou

    Metro: Tiyu Xilu Station

    (SD News)