World Poetry Day 2021 with Manchester City of Literature and Manchester Poetry Library

This film features specially commissioned poems from Manchester City of Literature and Manchester Poetry Library at Manchester Metropolitan University, plus sister UNESCO Creative Cities, Granada City of Literature in Spain and Slemani City of Literature in Iraq. In celebrating World Poetry Day, UNESCO recognises the unique ability of poetry to capture the creative spirit of the human mind. During the ongoing pandemic, many doors are closed to people but poetry can help open them in different ways and inspire anyone experiencing lockdown. Poems that speak about the power of the imagination were sought, giving hope in dark times and about the door as a gateway or as the start of a new journey as the phasing to come out of national lockdown begins. Poets in order of appearance: Dom Conlon Roma Havers Andrew Oldham Ali Al-Jamri Imtiaz Dharker Mahwi (A classical Kurdish poet, courtesy of Slemani City of Literature) Azucena G. Blanco (from Granada City of Literature) You can find more poetry from Cities of Lite