Hello Everyone:
James Ragan will be joining Yusef Komunyakaa and Joyce
Carol Oates at the reading at the UN. Bio below.
Also, below is the official press release. If you
would like us to contact newspapers and local media in
your city, please email us their information or please
use the press release for publicity. It will be
posted on the website tonight. There will be a press
conference in mid-January in New York City.
James Ragan is the author of five books of poetry
including In The Talking Hours, Womb-Weary, The World
Sholdering "I", The Hunger Wall and Lusions, from
Grove Press, as well as co-editor of Yevgeny
Yevtushenko's Collected Poems. Director of the
Graduate Professional Writing Program at the
University of Southern California, he is a former NEA
grant recipient and Fulbright Professor of Poetry. He
has read his poetry for four heads of state including
Mikhail Gorbachev and Vaclav Havel and is featured in
Rhino Records, In Thier Own Voices.
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Dialogue Among Civilizations Through Poetry
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
International Poetry Dialogue at the United Nations
and in 150 Cities
CONTACT: Ram Devineni, Program Coordinator
1-212-723-4125 or
[log in to unmask]
Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Yusef Komunyakaa will join
renowned poets Joyce Carol Oates and James Ragan for
an evening of "Dialogue Among Civilizations Through
Poetry" on Thursday, March 29, 2001 at the United
Nations Building in New York City.
In 1998, the United Nations General Assembly declared
2001 as the "United Nations Year of Dialogue Among
Civilizations" to foster tolerance, respect and
cooperation among peoples. To further this aim,
Rattapallax Press together with the United Nations
Society of Writers, will present a series of literary
programs around the world. A poetry evening at the
United Nations is one of over 200 poetry readings in
over 100 cities worldwide. Participants include Guild
Complex in Chicago, Chinese University of Hong Kong,
and the 14th Street Y in New York City. Individuals
living in the city where the events will be held will
coordinate each reading. Several special readings in
international territories include 2001 Mallory and
Irvine Research Expedition to Mt. Everest, Casey
Station in Antarctica, a scientific boat in the West
Philippine Sea and possibly, the International Space
Station.
These readings will coincide with an international
literary conference co-organized by Poetry
International--Rotterdam involving acclaimed
Australian poet John Kinsella, co-editor of Stand
magazine (U.K.), David H. Lynn, editor of the Kenyon
Review (USA) and editors from around the world. In
addition, satellite panel discussions are being
developed in Calcutta, Tokyo, New York City and Santa
Monica to discuss various topics. An anthology
featuring the poets and organizers will appear as an
eBook by Fictionpolis.com.
On September 5, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said, "
The United Nations, at its best, can be the true home
of the dialogue among civilizations, the forum where
such dialogue can flourish and bear fruit in every
field of human endeavor". His Personal Representative
for the United Nations Year of Dialogue among
Civilizations, Giandomenico Picco, added in his
provisional report annexed to the report of the
Secretary-General (document A/54/546): "The
establishment of the United Nations was intended to
provide a paradigm of international relations based on
inclusion rather than exclusion. It seems appropriate,
therefore, to speak, within the United Nations
context, of two sets of civilizations: those that
perceive diversity as a threat; and those that
perceive diversity as an integral component of growth.
The dialogue should be between these two civilizations
or set of civilizations".
For more information about the year, please visit
http://www.un.org/Dialogue or for information about
the program, please visit
http://www.dialoguepoetry.org
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Please send future emails to
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