In 1999, at the 30th session of the UNESCO General Conference, it was decided to annually celebrate World Poetry Day ( World Poetry Day ) on March 21. The first World Poetry Day was held in Paris, where UNESCO headquarters is located.
« Poetry, — says in the decision of UNESCO, — can be a response to the most acute and deep spiritual questions of modern man — but for this it is necessary to attract the widest possible public attention to it ».
Poetry unites countries, peoples, cultures and helps people understand each other. For centuries, thoughts and feelings clothed in a poetic form penetrate the hearts of people, recalling that we are all one big family and that we are so different, actually very similar to each other.
Celebrating World Poetry Day, UNESCO also draws our attention to the amazing ability of a poetic word to awaken his creative abilities in a person.
This Day, UNESCO believes, is designed to promote the development of poetry, a return to the oral tradition of poetic readings, the teaching of poetry, the restoration of dialogue between poetry and other forms of art, such as theater, dance, music, painting, as well as the promotion of publishing and the creation in the media of a positive image of poetry as a truly modern art, open to people.
It is believed that the oldest hymn verses were created in the 23rd century BC. The author of the poems — poetess-gritsa En-hedu-ana ( En-hedu-ana ), about which only is known that she was the daughter of the Akkadian king Sargon, who won Ur ( territory of Iran ). En-head-ana wrote about the lunar god Nanne and his daughter, the goddess of the morning star Inanna.
Currently, this Day around the world — in cultural, educational institutions, creative groups, etc. — undergo various poetry concerts, author's readings, conferences and seminars, dedicated to poets and their work, the presentation of new poetic literature, the presentation of literary prizes. So, in Russia, the presentation of National Literary Prizes « The Poet of the Year » and « Writer of the Year », established by the Russian Union of Writers, was timed to coincide with World Poetry Day.