The XXIV UNESCO World Poetry Day was celebrated in Moscow

On March 20, the celebration of the XXIV UNESCO World Poetry Day took place in the Rostov House in Moscow at the site of the Association of Unions of Writers and Publishers of Russia.

The organizers of the event are the Eurasian Peoples' Assembly, the World Organization of Writers (WOW) supported by the Commission of the Russian Federation for UNESCO.

The gala evening was opened by Her Excellency Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of UNESCO Goodwill, poet Alexandra Ochirova and President of the World Organization of Writers (WOW), Chairman of the Literary Council of Writers and Readers of the Eurasian Peoples' Assembly, poet Margarita Al.

Welcoming remarks were made by:

• His Excellency Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Executive Secretary of the Commission of the Russian Federation for UNESCO Grigory Ordzhonikidze;
• His Excellency Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Member of the Commission of the Russian Federation for UNESCO, First Secretary of the Moscow Writers' Union Yevgeny Sidorov;
• Deputy Secretary General of the Eurasian Peoples' Assembly, Professor Yulia Petrova on behalf of the Secretary General of the Eurasian Peoples' Assembly Andrey Belyaninov;
• Honored Poet of the Republic of Korea, laureate of the Manhae Prize Ko Un.

The reception began with a musical welcome. Chopin's Nocturne, Rachmaninov's Prelude were performed by Marina Vulson (Gnessin Academy), Frans Schubert, Impromptu in the form of variations in B Flat, Major - by Vasily Salnikov. MGIMO students took part in the concert: Egor Vasiliev, Roman Khairullin, Anatoly Panov.

The main event of the gala evening was traditionally the Poetry Concert. Poetry readings were opened by the UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador, Co-Chair of the General Council of the Eurasian Peoples' Assembly, poet Alexandra Ochirova and poet, Doctor of Philosophy, Professor of the Gorky Literary Institute, Manhae Prize winner, Nobel Prize nominee, initiator of UNESCO Poetry Day in Russia Konstantin Kedrov.

The following poets took part in the poetry reading: Alexandra Ochirova, Konstantin Kedrov, Margarita Al, Ko Un (Republic of Korea), Ashraf Abu Al-Yazid Dali (Egypt), Rati Saxena (India), Zhang Zhi (China), writer Walt Okediran (Nigeria), as well as young aspiring poets - members of the MGIMO poetry club.

For reference

The celebration of UNESCO World Poetry Day in Russia began with the initiative of the DOOS poetry group in 2000 on the stage of the Taganka Theater with the participation of Yuri Lyubimov, Andrei Voznesensky, Konstantin Kedrov, Elena Katsyuba, Valery Zolotukhin.

In 2004, Margarita Al joined the organization of the UNESCO World Poetry Day in Russia as a poet, and since 2015 - as the author and leader of the Eurasian Literary Movement "LIffT". The celebration of this day has already acquired a global level and since 2016 has continued in the large-scale Eurasian projects of Lifft.

Since 2016, six poets and writers of the world have become laureates of the LiffT Eurasian Prize, each of whom is a legend of their country. It was they who became the core of the World Organization of Writers (WOW).

The first Eurasian Prize "LIffT" was awarded to Konstantin Kedrov in 2016. Second Laureate is Olzhas Suleimenov. The Eurasian Prize "LIffT - 2018" was awarded to Varis Elchiev (Azerbaijan), fourth Prize - Turkish poet Tugrul Tanyol, the fifth - Ashraf Abu Al-Yazid Dali (Egypt).

The sixth Lifft Eurasian Prize was awarded to Wale Okediran from Nigeria just a few days ago, in Egypt at the closing of the VI Open Eurasian Literary Festival Lifft-2023. And the next VII LiffT festival will be held in 2024 in Nigeria.

The Big Silver Medal of the Eurasian LiffT-2023 was awarded to: poet Ruben Dario Flores Antila (Colombia), Korean poet Ko Un, Indian poetess Rati Saxena. Silver medals of the festival were awarded to: Malian poet Ismael Diadi Haidar, Chinese poet Zhang Zhi, Syrian poet Jaber Saba Shenker.

The award ceremony for laureates and diploma winners of the Eurasian literary festivals "LIffT 2016-2023" was attended by:

• His Excellency Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Colombia to the Russian Federation Mr. Hector Isidro Arenas Neira;
• Mr. Obinna Ogbonna, Consul of the Embassy of Nigeria in the Russian Federation;
• Mr. Musbahu B. Sadi, 2nd Secretary of the Embassy of Nigeria in the Russian Federation;
• Counselor of the Embassy of the Syrian Arab Republic in the Russian Federation, Mr. Abdelrazzak Ismail;
• Counselor of the Embassy of the Kingdom of Bahrain Salum Hossam Eddin.

The medal "Patron of World Literature" was awarded to:

• poet Alexandra Ochirova - "For contribution to the development of world literature";
• poet Konstantin Kedrov - "For contribution to the development of world literature."
• member of the Committee "Greater Eurasia - Africa" of the Eurasian Peoples' Assembly Yaser Allaham - "For serving the humanistic ideals of mankind."

The solemn part of the festive evening ended with the performance of the World Organization of Writers (WOW) anthem. The anthem was performed by the People's Artist of the Republic of Tatarstan Eduard Treskin.