41st Poetry International Festival Rotterdam


From 11–18 June 2010, poets from across the world – from Afghanistan to the United States, from Brazil to South Korea, from Sudan to Russia – will gather to attend the 41st annual Poetry International Festival in the City Theatre of Rotterdam, The Netherlands. This year, the festival will explore the boundaries and relationships between prose and poetry, and we’ll also be putting the spotlight on contemporary poetry from the United States. In addition to showcasing guest poets from around the world, throughout this exciting week we’ll host special events about Wislawa Szymborska, Fernando Pessoa, Herman Gorter, the classic Persian love story of Layla and Madjnun, and much more. The festivities begin on Friday 11 June with America, America, an event celebrating the Holland America cruiseship line, featuring poets from Rotterdam. On Saturday 12 June the line-up of poets at the official festival opening will give a taste of the week ahead.

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Once again this year tickets for all festival events are payable after the performance – you decide, after watching the events, what to pay. From early May you’ll find all information about the festival events and guest poets on this website.

LIVE STREAM: FRIDAY 18 JUNE 20.00 hrs
The poets Michael Palmer (USA), Hiromi Ito (Japan) and Ron Winkler (Germany) read their poems. Presenter: Tsead Bruinja.

LIVE STREAM: FRIDAY 18 JUNE 21.30 hrs
Closing ceremony: The Golden Goose