March 21 World Poetry Day
21 March, Wednesday: World Poetry Day / Journée mondiale de la poésie / Día Internacional de la Poesía & International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
“First-ever World Poetry Day…”
On March 21, 2000, the National Library of Canada, the Canadian Commission for UNESCO and the Canada Council for the Arts called on Canadians to celebrate the first-ever World Poetry Day by writing a poem, reading a poem, or borrowing or buying a book of Canadian poetry.
March 21 was proclaimed World Poetry Day by the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) during its 30th session in Paris in October-November 1999. The purpose of the day is to promote the reading, writing, publishing and teaching of poetry throughout the world and “give fresh recognition and impetus to national, regional and international poetry movements”.
In celebration of Canadian poets and poetry, the National Library of Canada has created the Canadian Poetry Archive, which features some 1 500 poems, dating from 1826 to 1925, by more than 100 early English- and French-language Canadian poets. The database also includes biographies of some of the period’s most prominent poets, including E. Pauline Johnson, Archibald Lampman, Susanna Moodie, Émile Nelligan, Charles G.D. Roberts, Octave Crémazie and Duncan Campbell Scott. The Canadian Poetry Archive can be found on the Internet at .
“The richness and diversity of the poetry represented in our Canadian Poetry Archive remind us that Canada has a long and distinguished literary tradition,” said National Librarian Roch Carrier. “I am delighted that the National Library of Canada, the guardian of that tradition, can help to bring these works to new generations of readers and students across Canada and throughout the world.”
For more information on Canadian poets and poetry, please contact
Canadian Literature Research Service
National Library of Canada
395 Wellington Street
Ottawa, ON K1A 0N4
CANADA
Telephone: 613-947-0827
Fax: 613-995-1969
E-mail: reference@lac-bac.gc.ca
Adapted from the Canada Council’s March 20, 2000, news release.
