Opened with the subject of ‘Poets, Dreaming of Another World’
30 Poets from around the world including Michel Deguy, Ryu Jai Poo, Go-Eun, and Shin Kyung-Rim joined the event
“Cultural imagination plays an important role in transforming this era, as the topic ‘Poets, Dreaming of Another World’ implies. This ‘New World’ and ‘New Civilized Society’ cannot be built without a bold change in imagination. Suwon City and Dankook University opened this conference in the face of countless challenges because they believe in the power of cultural imagination. Suwon City values scholarly work in the humanities, and Dankook has been searching for the spirit of humanities by delving deep into the research of Eastern Studies. I hope you all enjoy this four day event held in both Cheonan and Suwon to widen your imaginations. Please feel free to converse with others openly, to listen to the poetry readings and to communicate with young Korean poets.” (Excerpt from the Opening Speech of President Chang Ho-Sung)
2013.10.1 Tuesday. 2013 World Writers’ Festival Opens
The World Writers’ Festival started with a party celebrating its eve in Suwon Ramada Plaza Hotel. The festival was held until Oct 4 at Dankook University’s Cheonan Campus and Hwaseong Fortress of Suwon City providing a place where famous poets around the world can share their cultural perspectives with others.
Major poets including famous French poet Michel Deguy, who received a Legion d’Honneur Chevalier, which is one of the best awards in France, and Ryu Jai Poo, a representative literature critic of China and professor of the University of Science and Technology in Hong Kong, Australian poets Barry Hill and Dan Disney, American poet Jane Hirshfield and Christopher Meril, English poet David Harsent, Indian poet Navkirat Sodhi, and Korean poets Shin Kyeong-Rim, Shin Dal-Ja, Kim Seung-Hee, Do Jong-Hwan, Kim Sa-In, Ahn Do-Hyeon, Na Hee-Duk and young poets Jin Eun-Young, Ahn Hyun-Mi, Kim Joong-Il, and Lee Geun-Hwa participated in this event celebrating literature on a cool autumn night.
This joint event hosted by Dankook University and Suwon City was the second such event since 2010, and the International Creative Writing Center planned and executed the overall event. The festival started with an evening ceremony on Oct 1 (Ramada Plaza Suwon), and featured various activities like Poetry Reading (Oct 2, Cheonan Campus), ‘Night with Poets and Music’ (Oct 3, Suwon Outdoor Music Hall 1), and ‘Communicating Night’ (Oct 4, Suwon Hwaseong Haenggung Palace Naknamhun).
“This event is not just another boring symposium but a venue that provides opportunities for writers to build relationships with others through poetry reading, communicating and sharing their dreams for the world’s future,” said Director Lee Si-Young of the International Creative Writing Center, who managed the festival.