“Although Xiamen is thousands of miles away from Russia, I still want to visit here.” More than a week ago, in “To Xiamen”, Russian poet Svetlana Grigorieva Soto expressed her expectations for Xiamen Kulangsu Island. From April 26 to May 2, the 11th Kulangsu Poetry Festival was successfully held, with a total of 26 activities such as poetry salons and concerts to connect Kulangsu Island with the world with poetry. According to statistics, by May 2, 1268 pieces of relevant information about this poetry meeting have been released on the whole network, with a total reading volume of more than 30 million.
Wang Meng, famous writer and “people’s artist”, Shu Ting, noted poet, as well as literary figures such as Wang Shan, Wang Bing, Mao Zi, Wang Jianzhao, Shen Qi, Lu Jian, Shan Sanya, Zhou Qingrong, Shu Cai, Liang Eryuan, Dong Qiang and Zang Di and representatives of poets from France, Italy, Russia, Spain, Colombia, Argentina and other countries gathered together.
At the opening concert, Wang Meng delivered, “Kulangsu is testifying for poetry, Kulangsu is testifying for the beauty of life, and poetry will always be with Kulangsu.” Italian poets Roberto Chimenti and Elena Monaldo took the stage to recite the poem “Starfish”, which brought the unique charm of Italian poetry.
In the art collection of poems, poets strolled the streets and lanes of Kulangsu, the western clock of Qing Dynasty in Kulangsu Foreign Cultural Relics Museum of the Forbidden City, and the ancient piano in Kulangsu Piano Museum all inspired them. Up to now, Chinese and foreign poets have left 35 poems in Kulangsu.
Poetry is the language of the world. With the help of all-media publicity, this Kulangsu Poetry event has gained a lot of attention. The charm of poetry has crossed mountains and seas, reached the hearts of the public, and let the world see Kulangsu’s profound cultural heritage. The video of French poet and translator Eric Sarner improvising poems for Kulangsu Island was widely reprinted.
The spread of this year’s poetry meeting covers both at home and abroad, which not only forms a hot topic locally, but also triggers a wide communication trend on overseas platforms. China Daily and other central media, as well as Fujian Daily, Xiamen Daily, Sun News and other provincial and municipal media reported nearly 500 times on various website platforms. In the overseas media matrix, the total reading volume of media platforms in America is more than 560,000 times, and the reading volume of media platforms in Europe is more than 140,000 times.
This event is jointly guided by the China Writers Association and Xiamen Municipal People’s Government, hosted by Administrative Committee of Xiamen Kulangsu-Wanshishan Scenic Area, Xiamen Federation of Literary and Art Circles, Shi Kan Magazine, and Chinese Poetry Society, and organized by Xiamen Daily.
