Mongolian. French. English. Kurdish. Nepali.
These are just a few of the languages that people will hear this year at World Poetry Night, which takes place May 13 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the Knight Library Browsing Room. The event will feature poetry, some original and some not, in a variety of languages recited by University of Oregon students and community members.
This is the twelfth year that the Mills International Center will have hosted the event. It coincides with its mission to provide a place for international and domestic students to connect and learn about different cultures.
During a dinner, about 30 people will recite poetry that they have submitted. The microphone will then open for anyone to present during the last half-hour of the event.
World Poetry Night coordinator Alex Burgdorfer said that he hopes the event inspires people to continue learning about others and their cultural backgrounds and find an appreciation for the beauty of language.
“You can really get to know someone by how they speak,” Burgdorfer said.
Pooria Manoochehri, an international student from Iran, attended World Poetry Night last year and noticed how the poems help people understand and connect with each other.
“You hear different languages and you don’t necessarily understand them,” Manoochehri said, “but you totally understand [the poems] not because you know the language, but because you know the feeling- this cultural, global feeling that we all share.”
He said that after a stressful week filled with exams, listening to the performances of others helped him feel at home.
Manoochehri enjoyed this feeling so much, that he decided to sing a traditional Kurdish poem this year called Shirin Shirinam with two of his friends. This song is about a man missing his love when she is absent.
He said that although people may not understand the words that he is singing, they will be able to feel the vibe of the song. With any poem being performed, the audience should feel whether it’s heroic, romantic, sad and so on.
Atsan Senghor, an international student from Senegal, is also reading poetry at World Poetry Night. One of the poems she’s reading is called “Femme Noir,” in which the author depicts his admiration of African women and praises Senegal as if it’s a woman he loves.
The poem was written by the first president of Senegal, Léopold Sédar Senghor. He happens to be Atsan Senghor’s great uncle.
Senghor is also reading a poem written by an author who was born in France, but spent much of his time in Senegal. The poem, “Afrique” by David Diop, emphasizes how the people of Africa will rise through hardship.
Senghor enjoys reciting these poems, but she also values listening to the language and culture represented through the poems read by others.
“We really have people at UO from not well known parts of the world and through an event like World Poetry Night we can kind of travel virtually to those destinations,” Senghor said. “It’s just music to your ears when you go there and you hear all these different languages.”