Welcome to this transatlantic zoom gathering!
The event was organized by the three pillars of foreign languages in Bitola, American Corner for English, Alliance Française for French and Pelagonia Association for the Greek language.
Our scope was initially to mark the beginning of the new school year, hear in North Macedonia, that is officially tomorrow and present, mainly to students, but also to everyone else interested, the meaning of poetry in challenging times.
Of course, times are always challenging and people are always being challenged. That is why we refer to poetry for help. We, humans, always have.
But, not only humans. We hear birds singing, bears yawning, bees buzzing and all of that with order- the most perfect order possible!
The most perfect order possible- for the human voice is poetry. It is the primordial complex of feelings expressed through the mouth, guided by the heart.
Just as the word for it. It starts with a “P”, a voiceless bilabial stop which means that you use both of your lips to block your mouth. It reminds of the seal of a volcano, where the eruption follows: ΠΟΙΗΣΗ, POETRY, POESIE, ПОЕЗИЈА.
It is the eruption of emotions: fears, worries, love, lust, nostalgy, passion…. and hope – for the best possible outcome.
We, the people of this world, challenged by the well-known pandemic situation, had to reinvent humanity in many ways. We had two choices: to dwell in a golden cage we could create for ourselves, or in a neighborhood of dreams and hope. I prefer the second one! The world has never been so close- in such a distance.
On September the 30th, here, in North Macedonia, among the Orthodox people the holiday of the Holy Wisdom, Faith, Love and Hope is being celebrated. We could not choose a better day to engage with poetry!
Initiated by: Pelagonia Association
Supported and co-organised by: American Corner of Bitola and Alliance Française
Special thanks to American Corner of Bitola for the promotion, technical support and zoom-covering of the event
