Poetry Days

13th March 2009

World Poetry Day was on 21 March 2009

The purpose of the day is to promote the reading, writing, publishing and teaching of poetry throughout the world and, as the UNESCO session declaring the day says, to "give fresh recognition and impetus to national, regional and international poetry movements.”

World Poetry Day has existed in some form since at least 1505 according to the National Poetry Day Committee, which was based in Florida, USA, in the early 1990s. It was generally celebrated in October, sometimes on the 5th, but in the latter part of the 20th Century the world community celebrated it on 15 October the birthday of Virgil, the Roman epic poet and poet laureate under Augustus. The tradition to keep an October date for national or international poetry day celebrations still holds in many countries. 

National Poetry Day-Thursday 8th October 2009

Join us at our national poetry event to celebrate the history of poetry, to develop a national poem and to launch the Poetry and Creative Writing Competition 2009 at the Scottish Storytelling Centre, High Street, Edinburgh.

See all news in March 2009 or the whole of 2009.