Writing workshops for children, the launch of the second edition of the Storni award that recognizes an unpublished book of poetry, shared readings, a fair with publishers specializing in poetry, self-managed fanzines and graphic novels and comics, and the screening of video poems are part of the proposal that fills the Kirchner Cultural Center (CCK) this weekend with the Poetry Festival Ya!, an opportunity to discover and revisit works and authors that make up the contemporary poetic plot.
Inaugurated on Thursday with an evening of readings to a full room in which Diana Bellessi shared 50 years of her workto which artists such as Isol, Teresa Parodi and Francisco Garamona joined with poems set to music, the Festival continues until this Sunday in the halls, the entrance and the CCK networks.
The proposals are diverse and can be consulted on ete linkbut when entering the building at Calle Sarmiento 151, the first thing visitors see are the stalls of the publishing and fanzine fair that brings together books of stamps such as Nulú Bonsai, Under the Moon, Milena Caserola, Hekhet, Del Dock, Decolonized, The Square Navel, Disruptive Element, Indie Writing, City Fish, Pípala, Poetry and Childhood, Deep, Ellipsis, Rapallo, Jump the fish, Santos Locos, Federal Selection, Serapis, Founding Partners, Tanta Ceniza and Viciosa among many others.
Although the place planned for the fair was the esplanade of the CCK, on Friday the rain, but especially the wind, forced the transfer of the materials to the entrance hall. There are until this Sunday the books of Bellesi, Mirta Rosenberg, Claudia Masin, María Rosa di Giorgio, Mary Oliver and Marisa Wagner, among some of the most consulted in the first hours of the festival.
The exhibitors tell Télam that in general a public that already knows the catalogs and that goes in search of known materials prevails, but on Thursday, being located on the esplanade, in the open air, it also summoned curious people who stopped by while doing paperwork or they were going to take buses or subways through the area.
Azurduy Forum
The fair is accompanied by the Foro Azurduy, a meeting space with talks and debates on editorial issues which was attended by Fernanda Laguna, Dani Rodi and Susana Pampín to pay homage to Rosario Blefari and her art and poetry, as well as Pat Pietrafesa, editor of Alcohol y fotocopias, to talk about the history of the fanzine in Argentina.
Workshops for all ages
The floor dedicated to children is one of the busiest spaces at the festival, with poetry workshops for boys and girls up to five years old or poetic invention for those between eight and 12.
The poet Florence Codagnone is part of those who give these workshops, his was called “Poetic-fantastic recipe book. Poems to achieve the impossible” and there boys and girls gathered with their parents, especially mothers, who chose a recipe, read it and began to project ideas, for example, about the ingredients of a spring preserve. In room 307 and with colorful chef hats, workshop attendees were encouraged to suggest that this preserve would have flowers, hummingbirds, allergies and many colors.
Another of the workshops that are part of the Poesía Ya! it was “Disco writing”, by Alan Robinsonwho proposed to those present to identify their own difficulties based on the following instructions: create a short story that had to contain between six and 60 words with their voice (they could record them on their cell phones) or with paper and pencil but using their unskilled hand, if they used to use the right, do it with the left and vice versa.
In this way, the attendees of the Federal Hall workshop took minutes to record their micro-stories or to write them down, becoming aware of what it is like to feel out of our comfort zone, while Robinson’s guide was also communicated in sign language by an assistant .
The workshops also take shape on YouTube, as was the case of the one led by Pablo Martín Iglesias from Neuquén, who traced a journey through the work of two referents of poetry from the Patagonian province such as Macky Corbalán and Raúl Mansilla, based on the poem that death in Mansilla generated by Macky, “The Girl with a Gardener and the Hero of the Liquid”, which gave the exhibition its name.
Master Encounters
From its first day, the Festival proposed the “Master Encounters” in the Sala Argentina, where there are readings, conversations and projection of video poems. The hosts were “Las Storni” and Alejandro Crotto with a proposal called “Poetry: inspiration and technique”; María del Carmen Colombo with “Carnival, Gauchesca and Orientalism” and Alberto Muñoz with “Obras Sanitarias”. This Sunday, by way of closing, will be Fabiana Cantilo and Fernando Noy.
Storni Award
Within the framework of the festival, the second edition of the Storni Poetry Prize, whose registration will begin as soon as this meeting is over, on Monday 14 and will run until March 25. With a jury made up of Elena Annibali, Susana Villalba and Mario Ortiz, the contest seeks to encourage Argentine poetic production throughout the country and revalue the art of poetry by bringing it closer to more readers.
It is a contest that already had a first edition in 2021, received 2,600 books and those who were winners, Silvia Mellado, María Belén Zavallo and Daniela Aguinsky, as well as those who received special mentions, Sebastián Néstor Martín and Emilio Jurado Naón, read some of his poems in the presentation by the director of the festival, Gabriela Borrelli Azara, and the Minister of Culture of the Nation, Tristán Bauer.
Poetry jam at the Dome
Another venue for the festival is the Dome of the CCK where every day at 8 pm there is a renowned Poetry Jam “Ya(m)!” and where Gabriela Bejerman and Fernando Bogado passed, accompanied by the illustration of Mechi Ruggiero. This Saturday is the turn of Marta Dillon and Gabby De Cicco, who will have Noelia Albrecht’s illustration nearby. The two days in charge of music are “Las pibas vinileras”. The call has been exceeding the expectations of organizers and organizers.
Closing of the festival
The activity that puts an end to the varied and packed agenda of the festival will be “Loves like ours”, a concert of romantic classics starring Carlos Casella and Emme, which will take place in the monumental National Auditorium.
Meanwhile, the festival can be experienced at the CCK facilities with proposals that do not require ticket reservations, admission is on a first-come, first-served basis until the capacity of each room is filled, and for institution’s YouTube channels and the Ministry of Culture and also through the public media that this Saturday and Sunday from 5 p.m. broadcast a special program hosted by Eugenia Zicavo, Emiliana Merino and Pedro Patzer, with live interviews with guest poets and special moments dedicated to Literature.
