Armenia Hosts an International Poetry Festival

Yerevan hosted its first International Poetry Festival. Over 50 notable foreign poets from 30 countries attended the festival, and an anthology of 50 poets was published in Armenian and English.

The Union of Writers invited each poet to plant a tree to make the Poetry Square. The union also marked the 500th anniversary of book-printing in Armenia.

As reported by the Armenian Diocese in New York City:

This week at Holy Etchmiadzin, His Holiness Karekin II, the Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, received the participants of the International Poetry Festival taking place in Armenia. His Holiness offered his pontifical blessings and best wishes to the visitors, and encouraged them to use their God-given talents to foster peace and love in the world.

The poetry festival, organized by Levon Ananyan, president of Armenia’s Writers Union, drew poets and writers from 30 countries for a week of readings and workshops. As part of the program, participants also planted acacia trees in a new poetry park in Yerevan.

The festival was organized in the spirit of last year’s celebration of Yerevan as the UNESCO World Book Capital.