Saturday, March 21, 2015

World Poetry Day

World Poetry Day 
 Today March 21st is World Poetry Day and was sanctioned by the  United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization group back in 1999. The purpose of World Poetry Day is to promote the reading, writing, publishing and teaching of poetry throughout the world. Today recognizes Poetry's unique ability to capture the creative spirit of the human mind.

World Poetry day is also meant to pay tribute to and raise awareness of linguistic diversity and Endangered languages whilst giving them an opportunity to be heard and celebrated around the world. Today is also meant to create an enticing and attractive profile of Poetry as an Art form in hopes that it will encourage Poetry to gain popularity and regain it's reputation of a popular Art form in today's society. 

Mostly today is a day to celebrate all forms and types of Poetry as poetry deserves to have an internationally recognized Birthday of sorts as it is a language that has no boundaries. 

British Columbia has had a strong and diverse Poetic history and has continued to establish it's ties to Poetry through a strong online community. With the transition of the internet thus came the growth in popularity of self published writers and poets through mediums such as blogs. 
An example of British Columbia's modern contributions to Canadian Poetry is The Vancouver Poetry slam, which has been an annual event since 1996 and as such is the longest running Poetry Slam in all of Canada. 

Some famous Poets from BC include George Bowering Doug BeardsleyBill BissettRobert BringhurstSusan MusgraveRobin Skelton and Shane Koyczan Who was born in the North West Territories but grew up in Penticton, B.C.  

My favorite poem from a British Columbian Poet is We are more by Shane Koyczan. My favorite poem by a Non Canadian is When the Bough Breaks by Andrea Gibson  My favorite Historical poem is The Lady of Shalott by Lord Tennyson. Lastly my favorite Shakespearean Sonnet is Sonnet 116 Let us not to the marriage of True minds... 

Sources used
http://www.vancouverpoetryhouse.com/vancouver-poetry-slam/
http://www.un.org/en/events/poetryday/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Poetry_Day
http://www.shakespeare-online.com/sonnets/116.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUdi9EvY1jY
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/174626

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