Poets will read poems in their native tongues, though audiences will be provided with written translations. Some recitations will go beyond pure verbal communication, like that of Japanese poet Gozo Yoshimasu, whose wife, Marilya, dances in accompaniment to his reading.
Several non-Western poets will also read in English, including J. Niel C. Garcia, a poet and commentator on gay culture from the Philippines, Ramakanta Rath, head of the Sahitya Akademi, India's most prestigious literary institution, and Jaan Kaplinski, a multilingual Estonian poet who has published one of his volumes in English.
In addition to readings, the city has also organized several other activities. Through ads on the sides of public buses, poetry has quite literally been put in motion. There will also be free film screenings in front of the flagship Eslite bookstore on Tunhua South Road each night for the next two weekends at 9pm, beginning tonight. The festival's opening ceremony will take place tonight at Taipei City Hall from 5pm to 7pm with most of the major poets in attendance. An event Sunday night, from 7pm to 9pm, titled the Asian-Pacific Night of Poetry and featuring at least 12 poets from around the region will take place at the Peitou Hot Spring Museum, located at 2 Chungshan Rd., Peitou (
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