MANILA, Philippines — Vietnamese Ambassador Hoang Huy Chung, multi-awarded poet and educator Prof. Dr. Jose “Butch” Y. Dalisay, Jr., award-winning poet and poetry therapy pioneer Prof. Vim Nadera and The Makatas trio of poets shall recite poems and speak at the annual celebration of “World Poetry Day” on March 21 Tuesday 10 am at 84-year-old Kamuning Bakery Café at Judge Jimenez Street corner K-1st Street, Barangay Kamuning, Quezon City, this was announced by owner and poet Wilson Lee Flores. Poetry lovers and the public are invited. Again on March 21, customers can bring original poem in any language to pay for a free cup of hot brewed Benguet Arabica coffee at Kamuning Bakery Café from 5:30 am to 9 pm.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) first adopted March 21 as World Poetry Day during its 30th General Conference in Paris in 1999 and annual celebration of World Poetry Day has been one of the unique civic projects of writer Wilson Lee Flores when he bought and revived the historic, iconic Kamuning Bakery Café because he writes poetry in English and Filipino.
Diplomat Hoang Huy Chung is ambassador of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, one of Asia’s fastest-growing economies. Vietnamese poetry originated in the form of folk poetry and proverbs. Vietnamese poetic structures include L?c bát, Song th?t l?c bát, and various styles shared with Classical Chinese poetry forms, such as those found in Tang Dynasty poetry. More recently there have been new poetry and free poetry. Vietnam’s revered revolutionary and leader Ho Chi Minh was also a writer, poet, and journalist who wrote books, articles and poems in Chinese, Vietnamese and French languages.
Professor Butch Dalisay is award-winning novelist, playwright, screenwriter and poet; winner of 16 Palanca literary awards and the Palanca Hall of Fame Award; former Vice-President of University of the Philippines (UP); book author; columnist of Philippine Star newspaper. Dalisay earned his B.A. English (Imaginative Writing) degree, cum laude from U.P., later received an M.F.A. from the University of Michigan in 1988 and a Ph. D. in English from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee.
Professor Vim Nadera is award-winning poet, pioneer of poetry therapy in the Philippines, former Director of the UP Institute of Creative Writing and former Director of Philippine High School for the Arts.
The Makata are three poets who will showcase the 99-year-old tradition of "Balagtasan", a Filipino form of debate done in verse which started in July 1924. Wilson Lee Flores said that next year 2024 is the centennial of the Balagtasan.
For inquiries on World Poetry Day at Kamuning Bakery Café, pls. text, Telegram or Viber 09178481818 or 09363095017 or email pandesalforum@gmail.com and willsoonflourish@gmail.com