To be continued ...
The Free Hanseatic City of Bremen has a long tradition of building ties between cultures and continents. It is a tradition which has established strong bonds and produced innovative ideas and initiatives. The annual poetry on the road festival is, without a doubt, one of the most beautiful of these ideas. Launched just nine years ago, poetry on the road was conceived as a festival of cultural diversity and a celebration of the universal strength and beauty of poetry. Over the years poetry on the road has evolved into a widely renowned event and a landmark in the cultural landscape. This year its organisers have once again succeeded in bringing a large number of well-regarded authors to the festival in Bremen. This year's week-long poetry on the road festival will see twenty-six artists from 15 different countries presenting their poetry to the people of Bremen.
I am impressed by the sheer diversity of this project: traditional forms of poetry join with more experimental forms; words join with music, video, film and dance. For the first time ever, this year's festival will also feature exhibitions of Visual and Experimental Poetry.
Poetry needs our support. And because poetry on the road presents poetry in such a congenial, cosmopolitan and popular manner, this year's festival has received a special grant from the Federal Government emphasising the importance of poetry on the road for our cultural landscape. Friends of good literature will take great pleasure in the days of poetry that Bremen has to offer this May. I hope that you will join me, with all your curiosity, patience and insight, in exploring this festival of the arts.
Bernd Neumann
Minister of State to the Federal Chancellor
Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and Media
