Poetry is a form of art and literature that brings out a beautiful amalgamation of culture, history, and study. World Poetry Day is celebrated every year on March 21 in order to honour the poets to continue to instill the tradition in newer generations. The day celebrates poetry, recitals, music, and other forms of cultural entertainment including theatre, dance, painting, and writing.
History of World Poetry Day
World Poetry Day was adopted by UNESCO (United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization) during the 30th General Conference in Paris in the year 1999. UNESCO’s aim behind celebrating the day is to support linguistic diversity through poetry. Poetic expressions allow us to promote and spread teachings from different languages. The approach is to preserve endangered languages and make more people aware of treasured forms of cultural and linguistic poetic expressions.
Some countries also celebrate World Poetry Day on October 15 to mark the birthday of Virgil, a Roman poet who is famous for his epic Aeneid.
Significance of World Poetry Day
Poetry is a form of language that is understood by all, even if one doesn’t speak the language. Many famous poets are known to teach people the way to see the world around them. It is an art form which inspires any individual to change his perception towards life. What a person might not understand from a simple sentence, poetry allows to do that.
Schools, colleges, organizations, publishers, and poets from all over the world celebrate this day.
Many poets come together and organise small gatherings to read poetry, teach the art of writing poems, and spread awareness of poetry to the public in general. While schools, colleges, and other educational institutes hold poetry competitions for their students.
If you want to celebrate World Poetry Day, all you can do is either read poems of well-known poets or simply attempt to write one.
