Salernopoetry. International meetings

Salernopoesia Incontri Internazionali will take place on 5, 6 and 7 November 2004, in the conference room of the former Convent of San Lorenzo (via De Renzi, Canalone area). The event, promoted by the Province of Salerno and the Municipality of Salerno, is organized and curated by Multimedia Edizioni / House of Poetry, the Salerno structure that has earned a prominent place in the panorama of contemporary poetry by promoting some of the most important and eagerly awaited events on the international circuit. The Salernopoesia project was created to bring back to our city that network of relationships and knowledge that will allow us to propose a "showcase event" of absolute quality, in our territory, where activities, interests, research, passages and productions continue and develop over the course of the year. The event will see the participation of 15 poets from various parts of the world, among the major protagonists of the international poetic scene, and will take place in ways that have allowed the success of a winning formula developed by the organizers: pure reading, with the interaction of live musicians; little or no mediation between poetry, poets and the public; raising the spectacular level of the reading, without compromising the poetic quality. The reading of the poets will take place in the original language with simultaneous and electronic projection of the translations on a giant screen. The event aims, in the richness of its proposals, to be not only a very important cultural event, but also a moment of meeting and friendship between different peoples and cultures, for a real knowledge and exchange of experiences. Culture is therefore not considered as a subsidiary activity, but as a driving force for societies, a factor of creativity, vitality, dialogue and cohesion. The event which will be a compendium, a report and the sum of the experience of Casa della Poesia which is preparing to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the project in 2005. Once again, carried by the light wind that makes words fly, the migrants of the word will land on a Mediterranean night and the spell, at least for three days, will be able to renew itself: poetry will be able to return to life. He will whisper, or perhaps shout, to each of us, that "tenderness is revolutionary", that love is subversive, that diversity is richness, that change is possible, indeed essential to prevent the offense done to the world from turning against us all. For this magic of the encounter between reality and utopia to come true, we considered it essential to start from the primary element of the body of the poet who reads his text, thus reuniting with the orality of the genesis of the poem. So we have reduced to the bare minimum what stands between this event and the listener, allowing (also through the video projection of the translations) direct, almost physical contact, a sort of embrace from the public who recognizes its poet. The protagonists: Michael Horovitz (English and true star of international poetry), Etel Adnan (Lebanese/Californian, one of the greatest and most well-known writers of the Arab diaspora), the extraordinary Francisca Aguirre (world-famous Spanish poet), Yvon Le Men (among the most brilliant personalities of contemporary French poetry), Jack Hirschman (one of the greatest living American poets, very famous in Italy, among the first founders of the House of Poetry), Giancarlo Majorino (one of the great, extraordinary "old men" of Italian poetry), Tomaž Šalamun (the most well-known and original Slovenian poet, a comet in irresistible rise on the world scene), Agneta Falk (the Anglo-Swedish poet protagonist of memorable readings at the House of Poetry), the talented Canadian Susan McMaster (musical contaminations are fundamental in her work), her friend, collaborator and extraordinary Slavic intellectual, Sinan Gudzevic (tireless connection between Italy and the Balkans), Ada Salas (one of the most beautiful emerging female figures of the new Spanish poetry), Jochen Kelter (Swiss-German: an institution of European poetry and culture), Saadi Yousef (great voice of Iraqi dissent), among the most important Italian poets of the latest generations, the Neapolitan Mariano Bàino, the Salerno Giancarlo Cavallo (to continue the poetic tradition of our city). During the event, a tribute will be held to the unforgettable Izet Sarajlic, patriarch of the poetic family of Casa della Poesia, to the Salerno poet Alfonso Gatto and to the relationships between the two poets and their cities and a meeting of the poets with groups of students will be organised. Several musicians will participate in the initiative, among them: Renato Costarella (piano and keyboards), Maurizio Galdieri (keyboards and bass), Jerry Popolo (sax), Fabio Notari (guitar), Gaspare Di Lieto (piano), Ferdinando Gandolfi (wind instruments). We hope that Salernopoesia is not the place of separation, but the place of contamination, the happy Tower of Babel in which everyone brings their own identity, emerging richer in imagination and desire, in humanity and poetry.

Program

Friday 5 November 2004 at 6.00 pm Seminar and screening of the film-video Izet Sarajlic. Sarajevo March 1994 Speakers: Sinan Gudzevic, Sergio Iagulli, Raffaella Marzano 8.30 pm - Inauguration Speakers: Dr. Gaetano Arenare (Councillor for Culture, Province of Salerno) Dr. Ermanno Guerra (Councillor for Cultural Policies, Municipality of Salerno) 9.00 pm Reading Francisca Aguirre (Spain) Jack Hirschman (United States) United States) Giancarlo Majorino (Italy) Tomaž Šalamun (Slovenia) Saadi Yousef (Iraq) Saturday 6 November 2004 at 11.00 Meeting of poets with Salerno students “Can poetry save the world?” 6.00 pm – Alfonso Gatto-Izet Sarajlic / Salerno-Sarajevo Seminar Speakers: Sinan Gudzevic, Francesco Napoli, Giancarlo Cavallo 8.30 pm Reading Etel Adnan (Lebanon / United States) Giancarlo Cavallo (Italy) Agneta Falk (Sweden/Great Britain) Michael Horovitz (Great Britain) Ada Salas (Spain) Sunday 7 November, 2004 6.00 pm Rai documentaries dedicated to Alfonso Gatto 8.30 pm Reading Mariano Bàino (Italy) Sinan Gudzevic (Serbia/Croatia) Jochen Kelter (Switzerland) Yvon Le Men (France) Susan Mc Master (Canada) Musicians: Renato Costarella (piano), Gaspare Di Lieto (piano), Ferdinando Gandolfi (flutes), Gerry Popolo (sax), Fabio Notari (guitar), Maurizio Galdieri (keyboards and bass).

Information

Province of Salerno Municipality of Salerno Thanks to: Ministerio de Cultura de España. Directorate General of Books, Archives and Libraries The British Council, Naples Slovenski Center P.E.N. Pro Helvetia – Literatur und Geisteswissenschaften The Canadian Council for the Arts and Embassy of Canada in Italy