Preserving our literary heritage…
‘LITERATURE Without Borders’ would work appropriately as a subtitle to the event organised in Guyana to mark World Poetry Day 2010, where poetry from around the world was performed under one roof. On March 23, 2010, the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport in collaboration with Writers in Concert (WICK) staged World Poetry Day to a packed and appreciative audience at the Umana Yana in Kingston, Georgetown.  WICK is headed by yours truly.

This is the first time we in Guyana celebrated the occasion in March. Previously, we marked the occasion in October. The change in commemorative date came about in 1999 when UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) declared March 21 as World Poetry Day.

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.”

The theme for World Poetry Day 2010 was ‘The Words of Nature, the Nature of Words’. And that was how the programme started; with the words of nature and the nature of words. The opening overture was ‘Oh, Beautiful Guyana’ written by Walter McArthur Lawrence and recited by Ms. Devanie Etwaria. Following closely on the heels of that recitation was the pulsating rendition by the National Steel Orchestra of the same poem.

The chairman of the evening’s proceeding then invited the audience to take a walk from Guyana across the Takutu Bridge into Brazil. Here, Professor Miguel Neneve laid open that country with the rendering of three poems, namely, ‘Navio Negreiro (Slave Ship)’  by Castro Alves; ‘Soneto da Fidelidade (Sonnet of Fidelity)’ by  Vinicius de Moraes; and ‘Estatudos do Homem (Statutes of Man)’ by Thiago de Mello.

Using the same analogy of travelling, the chairman led the audience from Brazil through Central America into North America to Canada, where the audience was greeted by Ms. Carol Anne  Persaud, who treated the audience to ‘Variations On The Word Love’, written by Margaret Atwood.

Alphabetically, according to the printed programme, the next stop was China. To the rhetoric question, ‘How Do We Get To China’, interspersed by a dramatic pause, the chairman answered by way of its literature. At this point, Mr. Yu Wei performed ‘Tune, Prelude To Water Melody’, written by Su Shi.

Obviously, the journey would double back to the host country, Guyana, ever so often. ‘Place Name’, written by A.J. Seymour and performed by Mr. Jamal LaRose, took the audience to various parts of the country with interesting place names reflective of our ‘First Peoples’ and our colonial administrators.

The next item was the poem, ‘Da Likin (My Sweet One)’, which was read in Arawak by the Scotsman, Andrew Lindsay, author the novel, ‘Illustrious Exile’ from which the poem was taken.

The poem, ‘Cantata for Haiti’, by Khal Torabully was not performed as scheduled, but the space was filled by a representative of the CARICOM Secretariat, Ms. Konyo Addo, who performed ‘Love Letter’ by Louis Bennett.

Next stop in the outward journey was India. Here, Mr. K. S. Gusain performed  ‘Badal aur Pakshi (Clouds & Birds)’ and ‘Prakrati (The Nature)’, followed by Ms Indranie Mangra performing Tagore’s ‘Where The Mind Is Without Fear’. These two presenters were dressed in outfits indigenous to India.

H. E. Ambassador Sandoval performed ‘En  Paz (At Peace)’ by Amado Nervo and ‘Brotherhood – Homage to Claudius Ptolemy’ by Octavio Paz. Then it was back to Guyana, where the National Dance Company performed a movement titled, ‘Philosophy’, followed by yours truly performing ‘Cure-foh-aal’, in creolese, and Russel Lancaster reciting then singing, ‘There Runs A Dream’ by Seymour. The country’s presentation for that round was crowned with a pan solo by Desmond Long.

Moving to Russia, the audience were moved by electric presentations in Russian with English translations by three children of two poems, namely ‘The Sail’ by Michael Lermontov, and ‘Wait For Me’ by Konstantin Simonov. The children involved here were Master Yaroslav Deev, Ms. Milena Chibirova and Ms Elmira Persaud.

Ms. Karen Williams, representing the USA, presented Walt Whitman’s ‘Turn O Libertad’ and ‘Phenomenal Woman’ by Maya Angelou.

Back in Guyana, the little children, Miss Al’lure and Mas. J’Ade, performed ‘An Asset To My Nation’, while Grace Chapman did ‘A Night On The Seawall’.

Venezuela closed off the evening’s poetry with husband and wife combination of Ms. Edilia Bastardo and Mr. Kawall Persaud doing ‘Píntame Angelitos Negros’ by Andrés Eloy Blanco, and ‘I Love You, Childhood’ by Vicente Gerbasi.

The final item on the programme came from Guyana in the form of a dance by the National Dance Company performing extracts of Martin Carter’s poetry.

In toto, it was a night of edification and entertainment, a night of literature without borders – World Poetry Day 2010 in Guyana.

To respond to this author, either call him on (592) 226-0065 or send him an email: oraltradition2002@yahoo.com

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* Look out for World Book and Copyright Day in April.