Poesikveld - Poetry nights Trondheim

Inclusion-through-poetry community initiative

I strongly believe in the healing and community-building power of poetry, and I know that the poetry room we needed in Trondheim had to be a place where residents and foreigners could share and listen to poetry in any language. As Jorge Luis Borges, Argentinian poet, said, it is the musicality of poetry, and not necessarily its words, that evokes in humans a profound sense of connectedness. Ultimately, it was the performances and the diversity of languages of Poesikveld – Poetry Nights that became a bridge for all of us. Absorbing poetry in languages we know and those we don’t has made us develop a sense of connection across the borders of our identities. We are much more than labels: tourist, student, Norwegian, foreigner, or refugee.

Since February 2016, the Poesikveld – Poetry Nights Trondheim community have been meeting monthly in different cafés and cultural venues in Trondheim. Everybody has been welcome to share poems in any language. Some participants read their own works or poems by other authors, others performed poetry accompanied by music, and still others attended Poesikveld – Poetry Nights just to listen. Soon, many established and novice Trondheim poets joined us to share and listen to poems in more than thirty different languages, among them Sanskrit, Portuguese, Gammelnorsk, Bokmål, Nynorsk, Italian, Russian, Persian, Urdu, Farsi, Arabic, Xhosa, French, German, Slovenian, Serbian, Polish, Lithuanian, Bulgarian, Swedish, English, Spanish, Dutch, Icelandic, Nepali, Greek, Czech, Afrikaans, and Estonian.

The program includes voluntary reading of poems from known authors as well as an open microphone where you can share your own creations (both if you spontaneously write them during the event or beforehand). Turns will be organized upon request. Do feel free to share poems in advance on the our facebook page as well!

Poetry conveys our sense of humanity. In these sessions, we seek to express our emotional world with freedom and cultivate the sense of appreciation of the poetic glimpses of life. The passion for poetry has no age and not even language, so even if we will manage the sessions in English, you are encouraged to read in your own language.

So, pick your books, notebooks, electronic devices and join us!

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