Tirana Times
TIRANA, Oct. 6 – The Poeteka poetry and literature festival opened on Monday its sixth edition at the Metropol theatre in capital Tirana with a series of readings, poetic films, projections, music and art performances. Special tribute was also paid to Mother Teresa who had her 100th birth anniversary celebrated on August 26 and late poet Martin Camaj.
Tuesday’s events at the Metropol theatre continued with conversations with authors and a painting and poetry exhibition.
Wednesday and Thursday brought Balkan conversations on linguistic barriers after the fall of the Berlin Wall and an exhibition at the Kaceli art gallery.
Friday’s events will move to the Venetian Tower in Durres where international poets, translators and painters will participate in the “informal mind-free style zone” events which include poetic films, installations and music. The sixth and seven days, Oct. 9 and 10 will be held in Berat, a UNESCO World Heritage site. The full programme can also be accessed on the festival’s official website.
Francisco Ferrer Ler
Spain is participating with poet Francisco Ferrer Lerin the festival. The attendance of Mr. Ferrer Ler an excellent figure of the Spanish poetry born in Barcelona in 1942, will be an important contribution to this consolidated festival and will take place in the framework of the Spanish Cultural Autumn in Albania 2010: “Nostrum. The Mediterranean through five senses”, which in this edition dedicated to the sea that links both countries.
Tough competition
Dozens of international and Albanian are competing at the Poeteka poetry and literature festival scheduled to be held from 4 to October 10, organizers said on their website. The festival, whose main theme is “the Balkans observed in problems of contemporary art, communication, cultural integration,” will take place in three cities, Durres, Tirana and Berat bringing together poets, painters, musicians and guests.
Participants come from 20 different countries including Austria, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, France, Germany, Greece, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Israel, Italy, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Albania, Switzerland, Turkey and the U.S.
The participating poets will compete with their creations for four prizes, the Liburna Award, (awarded to an Albanian poet for his/her lifetime work and contribution to the poetry and literature), the Nositi Award (awarded to the best poetry translation of the year), the Kriterion Award (awarded to publication for its distinguished contribution to art and culture), and the Poeteka Ring Award (awarded to the most prominent figure of Poeteka Festival). The Berat Pen Prize will be awarded by Berat’s City Hall in co-operation with Poeteka Review for the second edition in a row.
For one week, the festival will present important and influential authors along with distinctive new writers, giving regional and local talents access to an internationally recognized platform to introduce their creations, and raising awareness of the variety and richness in writing from and about Balkan. The festival is also a celebration of ideas that challenge politics, sustainable business and the cultural environment people live in.
From panel discussions to literary evenings, university lectures to Poeteka Review, the Festival is an intellectual forum as well as an artistic platform.
The main topic in the multidimensional point of view of Poeteka VI will be Balkan looked in its current problems of art, communication, culture integration, music, atmosphere, promotion, exhibitions, master class, and art of culinary.
Poeteka will also introduce a special event called “Balkans Nights” organized in three special evenings. Every participating culture from the Balkans will be represented by one or two poets or a fiction writer. Each evening, there will be four participants representing their national cultural, artistic and literary realities. The program engages a special time dedicated to the public readings, conversations focused on the evening’s topic.
Participants in this edition include USA’s Brigit Kelly, Austria’s Christian Thanh嶳er, Jean-Pierre Balpe (France), Ali Podrimja (Kosovo), Uri Katzenstein (Israel), Mario Bellizi (Italy), Salajdin Salihi (Macedonia), Cosmin Manolache (Romania), Iosiff Ventura (Greece), Ali Aliu (Macedonia) etc. Albania participates with Arian Leka, the festival’s director, critics Virgjil Mu詬 Agron Tufa etc.
The Poeteka International Festival of Poetry and Literature is an annual gathering among writers, art critics, lecturers, essayists and performers from Europe and beyond. This festival that has already went through its initial stages was launched six years ago in Durres, the country’s second biggest city and one of the most important cultural sites.
For its contribution in its previous editions, Poeteka was awarded “The Best Cultural Event of the Year in Albania” prize by the Kult Academy Awards in 2009.
