Napolipoetry. 1999

We like to imagine Napolipoesia more than a festival as a party, the place where poetry, which some priests would like to confine in tabernacles and niches enclosed in crypts accessible only to adepts, celebrates its own vitality, escapes classification but not contamination, comes out of the pages of books and becomes a voice, and there is singing and music and dance and action and even videos or graphic signs or whatever else is needed to be able to express the inexpressible, the more radical contradiction, the one which in this dying century has seen the shining flames of Artaud and Majakowskij, of Silvia Plath and Meridel Le Sueur, of Dino Campana and Pasolini, of Jack Kerouac and Roque Dalton, and of many other poets and bandits in the literal sense of the term. Therefore a celebration in a place where history fades into myth, where the encounter between peoples and races has very ancient roots and very current problems, where the sea challenges the land and the fire of the volcano threatens the sky, to remind us that everything that is alive is in perpetual movement, that history is by no means over, but rather is enriched with ever new and unexpected variations. A dynamic vision therefore inspires Napolipoesia, a possibility of meeting between poets of different tendencies and continents, but also between poets and musicians, and of everyone with everyone, beyond the roles that have always been too narrow for us. There will be time for checks, because the project extends well beyond the three days of celebration, imagining new and different meeting opportunities; but what reassures us about the outcome of our bet is the certainty of the quality that guided our choices, allowing us to proudly include among the friends who participate in this first edition of the event and those who are not present only for contingent reasons, voices of the highest order in the international panorama of poetry. Multimedia Edizioni / House of Poetry ___________________ Someone said that even food can be taken away from human beings, as long as they are not deprived of poetry, which nourishes their soul, feelings and passions. Obviously, we do not pretend to take the authoritative warning at its word, but, to avoid worse trouble, we want our fellow citizens to not lack a space to listen, speak and experience poetry. And it had to be a magical space, one of a kind, such as the one recently returned to the city, the incomparable Urban Archaeological Park of Pausilypon, thanks to the initiative and collaboration of the Superintendency and the Municipality of Naples. Here for a few days we will have concerts of voices, images, verses, evocations, in an experience that promises to be one of a kind, and which it certainly is for Naples. Of course, this must only be the beginning; we need to make an effort and look for the right ways for poetry to have a home in our city, a stable home I mean. It must and can accompany our steps, give a voice to those who don't have one, allow everyone to identify with it, clothe the actions of our lives, the movements of our hearts with words. Furthermore, poetry certainly also has a civil, educational and social function, which the entire community can and must resort to, to grow, to strengthen itself, to live better with itself and with others. With these wishes, NAPOLIPOESIA '99 was born, with the support of the Administration and the Identity Department of the initiative curated by Multimedia Edizioni, which deserves full applause and best wishes for success. Guido D'Agostino Councilor for Identity, Culture and Image Promotion _______________________ Convinced as we are that politics is not only the ability to govern the present but also the need to imagine the future, we cannot limit ourselves to exploiting the considerable cultural and landscape riches of our territory, but we must create the most favorable conditions for the growth of a quality offer. The Tourism Department of the Campania Region supported Napolipoesia '99 by identifying a model of initiative that combines the valorisation of existing resources (the Pausilypon Archaeological Park, the universally known landscape of the Gulf of Naples) with the international cultural proposal which, in addition to the immediate attraction of the meeting of cultures from various continents, also acts as an amplifier of our resources towards those countries and continents. The presence of the poets, who with their voices and their different languages will create a moment not only of great charm, but also of cultural and civil testimony, reminding us with their verses of those conflicts and lacerations that still dominate everyday news on the eve of the third millennium, this significant presence allows us to imagine for our Region a future as a protagonist in the development of encounters and dialogue between peoples, which today imposes itself with even greater vigor as the only path to follow in an attempt to resolve the complex problems that loom over the future of humanity. It is therefore desirable not only for the success of this event, which we hope will be full and unconditional, but also for the taking root of this type of initiative which contributes significantly to the growth of the culture and image of our reality. Andrea De Simone Councilor for Tourism of the Campania Region

Program

Pausilypon archaeological park, Seiano Cave, Coroglio, Naples 10-11-12 September 1999 10 September 7.30 pm Paroleinlibertà 8.30 pm Reading Ledo Ivo (Brazil) Izet Sarajlić (Bosnia) Luois-Philippe Dalembert (Haiti) Jack Hirschman (United States) Yolanda Pantin (Venezuela) Serge Pey (France) Ken Smith (England) Gabriele Frasca (Italy) 11 September 7.30pm Paroleinlibertà 8.30pm Reading Carlos Bousoño (Spain) Ana Hatherly (Portugal) Tone Pavček (Slovenia) Giancarlo Cavallo (Italy) Agneta Falk (England) Nedim Gürsel (Turkey) Tedi López Mills (Mexico) Alberto Masala with Fabiola Ledda and Antonio Are (Sardinia) 12 September at 7.30pm Paroleinlibertà at 8.30pm Reading Martin Matz (United States) Martha Canfield (Uruguay/Italy) Israël Eliraz (Israel) Carter Revard (United States) Saúl Yurkievich (Argentina) Samīḥ al-Qāsim (Palestine) Matthew Sweeney (Ireland) Sinan Gudžević (Croatia/Serbia) Bruno Coppola (Italy) Musicians: Maurizio Carbone (percussion), Marco Cinque (flutes), Marzia Del Giudice (singing), Gaspare Di Lieto (piano), Nando Gandolfi (traditional wind instruments), Marzouk Mejri (Arabic percussion), Massimo Mollo (guitars and plectrums), Viouchaib Moumou (oud).

Information

Municipality of Naples Department of Identity, Culture and Image Promotion Campania Region Department of Tourism Archaeological Superintendence of the Provinces of Naples and Caserta With the patronage: Ministry for Foreign Affairs Ministry for Cultural and Environmental Heritage Acknowledgments: British Council, Rome - British Council, Naples - PEN Club Slovenia - Cultural Office of the Embassy of Israel - Ministerio de Educacion y Cultura. Direccion General del Libro, Archivio y Libraries, Madrid - Istituto Cervantes, Naples - Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Brazil - Consulate General of Brazil in Milan - IBRIT, Milan - Istituto Portugueseo do Libro e das Libraries, Lisboa - Istituto Mexicano de Cooperacion International CONACULTA-BNBA - Embassy of Mexico, Rome - Archives, RAI Archives - Washington Square Film, New York - Prix Italia -