Focus on Poetry - Frankfurt hosts festival congress on contemporary poetry
from FFM Aktuell

From 7. To 10. March becomes Frankfurt again the city of the poets and thinkers

(ffm) The poetry belongs to the most present art forms of our time. It is clever and diverse as it has not been for a long time. This is evident across all generations. Yet it seems to proceed apart from a wider public. The economic situation of many poets and poetry publishers is correspondingly precarious. The Fokus Lyrik festival congress from 7 to 10 March takes stock after ten years of the poetry boom and for the first time offers players a forum for exchange and networking.

126 contributors as well as numerous guests from all over the German-speaking world will take part. In 18 panels, questions of the production, promotion and reception of poetry will be discussed. In the discussions with poets and representatives from publishing houses, universities, media and funding bodies, ideas and concepts for the future will be developed. An artistic supporting programme will also offer top-class readings and performances. The programme is curated by two important representatives of German-language poetry, Monika Rinck and Tristan Marquardt. The organizers are the Cultural Office of the City of Frankfurt and the German Academy for Language and Poetry in Darmstadt. Fokus Lyrik is funded by the German Federal Cultural Foundation.

Comprehensive review of poetry

"In poetry, language condenses in a unique way that often borders on music. To experience this fusion allows the happiness of poetry in a small space, which is especially significant in such fast-paced times as these. The fact that impulses for a new understanding of the place and value of poetry in society are now emanating from Frankfurt, the city of bank towers and tough business talk, is a powerful signal," says Ina Hartwig, the city's head of culture.

Friederike Tappe-Hornbostel, Head of Communications at the Federal Cultural Foundation, adds: "Such a comprehensive review of the state of poetry is unparalleled. Contemporary poetry is one of the most remarkable, exciting and advanced that the arts have to offer in the German-speaking world. The festival congress, which receives substantial support from the German Federal Cultural Foundation, offers the lyric scene an opportunity to clearly articulate its justified claim that lyric poetry should no longer be treated as a poor or introverted relative of fiction. It is about an appreciation of the art form of poetry and its protagonists in culture, education and politics that is commensurate with its artistic significance."

Festival director Sonja Vandenrath underlines: "The perception of contemporary poetry oscillates between euphoria and crisis. The bonanza of German-language literature and the lowlands of the financial plane: these are the two narratives that determine poetry discourse. The Fokus Lyrik festival congress asks how this gap might be closed. During the day, panels and podiums will discuss central aspects of the poetry business, also in a European context. Every day, the public can also look forward to a high-calibre supporting programme that will occupy spaces from the MMK to the Mousonturm. Such a firework of ideas and events around the poem has not yet been seen in Frankfurt."

In addition to a festival pass for all days at a price of 30 euros, reduced 25 euros, day tickets can also be booked at <link http: www.frankfurtticket.de _blank>

www.frankfurtticket.de

www.fokuslyrik.de