The Taipei Department of Cultural Affairs held a news conference for the upcoming annual Taipei Poetry Festival in the hopes that more people would attend and understand the beauty of poetry and songs.
The theme this year is “Eyes and Light” — to capture the spirit of the epoch through poets’ eyes and in that instant of creativity, to portray Taipei in all its glory, the hosts said.
The festival seeks to use Taiwanese literary history as a starting point to bring together poetry spanning Asia, the Americas and Africa.
The agency said it hopes that the nation’s multilingual literary culture would shine in the event.
The festival runs over 16 days, starting tomorrow and ending on Oct. 8, the agency said, adding that there are to be 19 events, including 13 workshops and four performances.
The festival is to open with a performance by Hakka singer Lo Sirong (羅思容) before international guests and domestic poets will be invited to recite their works in their own languages, the agency said.
Taiwanese-American Kelly Tsai (蔡仁儀) is to be the city’s resident poet, it added.
Tsai’s works have been featured in more than 700 venues, including the White House, HBO and other places in the US.
Tsai is also bringing the poetry show “Formosa,” which was initially a project born of curiosity about the history of manufacturing Barbie dolls in Taishan.
The show has turned into “a larger poetic meditation on Kelly’s experiences as an Asian-American woman growing up in the US and negotiating issues of culture, beauty, body image and sexism,” the agency said.
Meanwhile, department commissioner Chung Yung-feng (鍾永豐) said that he has been a fan of the festival ever since he first attended the event in 2000.
Chung said he considered the festival to be important, because it brings poetry into direct contact with society, modernity and an international audience, and offers a different vision and perspective.
It brings interdisciplinary communication and leads more Taipei residents into the realm of poetry, Chung said.
“Poetry is not an art form that affects the immediate sensory organs; it requires some time to settle. We encourage people to attend the festival, because once they come to understand what they have heard and can connect it to their surroundings and life, then poetry begins,” Chung said.
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