Poesiefestival Berlin 2004
26th June – 4th July 2004

A premiere every day, poetry for kids and teens, two world-premieres of our own production bringing a new stage expression and mode of performance to the long poem, the poetry film award ZEBRA assembling for the second time the world’s best examples of this new film genre, colloquia, discussion forums and workshops:

The Poesiefestival Berlin (Berlin Poetry Festival) presents from the 26th of June to the 4th of July 2004 contemporary poetry in its whole variety of forms and media; as pure word art and in combination with music, performance and film; as sound and visual poetry; as rap and hip-hop.

140 artists from 40 countries and from every continent are our guests in Berlin. A very warm welcome to them all!

We invite you on a fascinating journey through the aesthetic world of contemporary poetry, from the opening on the 26th of June with ‘Weltklang’ in Potsdamer Platz to the premiere of ‘Kain’ on the 4th of July in Hebbel am Ufer.

A Irish saying goes that one needs an army to establish a language. This year’s focal point, ‘Ireland and the Celtic Languages’ is intended to show what richness of culture can arise when, in the course of the European Union’s nascent expansion, the meaning of the regions and their languages develops. The task lay before all the poets who speak the old Celtic languages to augment the way in which they are spoken in Ireland, Wales, Scotland or Brittany, modernising them and making them accessible for the present day.

Poetry is an art of its own, and confronts us in its traditional form just as it does in media- and art-spanning activities, in real or virtual worlds. No matter where in the world and which language is spoken, the poem is comprehended as such; the artistic language of sound and rhythm is universally recognised.

Discover just how exciting poetry is.
(By the way, the poesiefestival berlin comes before the final match of the European Football Championships, which you will be able to watch in the Lyriklounge in the festival's centre in Hau 2!)

I would like to thank all of our sponsors and supports, as well as all the participating institutions and partners from here in Berlin and all over the world. Similarly, I also thank all of our colleagues in house, many of whom have worked with us solely for the preparation and realisation of this year's poesiefestival berlin.

Dr. Thomas Wohlfahrt
Director of the literaturWERKstatt berlin
Festival Director