The Days of Poetry and Wine, which have been bringing together the poetic word and wine for 28 years, are bringing Ptuj and several other places to life these days. In addition to guests of honour Pia Tafdrup and Valžina Mort, and poet Jack Dehnel, this year's author of Open Letter to Europe, 18 other poets from Slovenia and abroad will be present. A new feature is a literary residency.
Festival with an exceptional European dimension
It is a festival with a strong local focus and a very European dimension. Over the years, it has become one of Europe's leading poetry festivals.
This year, the Days of Poetry and Wine, are curated by Ukrainian-American poet and university professor Ilya Kaminsky, who, according to the festival's programme director Kristina Kočan, has selected a rich selection of poets from all over the world, most of them united by the experience of the duality of being.
"The selected poets, despite certain affinities, are very different from each other, generationally, culturally, politically, socially, and their poetics also differ from each other, for example in style, in the way they approach writing and so on," she explained.
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By reading the Open Letter to Europe, the organisers of the festival have been highlighting pressing issues for the last few years. This time, the Polish poet Dehnel, raised the issue of artificial intelligence in the field of literature. Photo: Andreja Seršen Dobaj/STA
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The focus will be on South Korean poetry, including a translation workshop. Guests include South Korean poet and performance artist Kim Kyung Ju and South Korean poets and novelists Choi Young-mi and Kim Yi-deum. Photo: Andreja Seršen Dobaj/STA
Open letter to Europe
The Open Letter to Europe, which has been with the festival since 2017 and is written each year by a different poet or poetess, was written this year by Jacek Dehnel, a Polish poet living in Germany. In it, he addresses the issue of artificial intelligence, which also interferes with the creative process.
"A festival like the Days of Poetry and Wine is a great platform for a broader social debate. We feel it is essential to give poets the opportunity not only to present their poetry, but also to speak out more broadly, to offer us their views on certain pressing issues and challenges of our time."
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Without a doubt, the audience is in for a lot of poetic delights, great poetry guests from all over the world and of course the best Slovenian wine. Photo: Andreja Seršen Dobaj/STA
Events take place in 19 different locations, including Austria and Croatia. In addition to poetry readings and wine tastings, walks, film screenings, concerts, exhibitions, talks and spatial interventions have been organised. The main venue in Ptuj's Vraz Square is the installation Poems by the costume designer and artist Stanka Vauda Benčevič.
Date: 22. August 2024
Time to read: 3 min
