The Interinstitutional Master’s Program in Creative Writing at the University of Western Macedonia, in collaboration with EPOPSIS Non-Profit Cultural Organization, co-organized Greece’s first International Performance Poetry Symposium-Festival (PerPoSF – www.perposf.com). The Symposium-Festival was held under the auspices and with the support of the University of Western Macedonia, its Culture Committee, the Ministry of Culture, and the Municipality of Thessaloniki. The event took place with great success at Warehouse D, Thessaloniki Port, from December 6 to December 8, 2024.
More than 100 poets, academics, and artists from France, Spain, Denmark, the United States, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, and Greece participated in the Symposium-Festival. The event featured live performances, talks, lectures, poetry workshops, masterclasses, and special events. Among the invited performance poets were Philip Meersman, Claus Ankersen, Julien Blaine, Dimosthenis Agrafiotis, Makis Moulos, Marios Chatziprokopiou, Maro Galani, Georgia Velivasaki, Ioanna Lioutsia, Ioanna Skantzeli, as well as members of the global movement “Slam Poetry for Peace” in Greece. All of them delivered live lessons on performance poetry and poetry beyond the page, offering unique moments of artistic elevation, participation, and creativity.
The Symposium’s opening session was led by Triantafyllos H. Kotopoulos, Director of the Master’s Program in Creative Writing at the University of Western Macedonia and President of PerPoSF. Greetings were delivered by:
- Konstantinos Gioulekas, Minister of Macedonia-Thrace
- Konstantinos Athyridis, President of EPOPSIS Non-Profit Cultural Organization
- Georgia Velivasaki, PhD Candidate (University of Western Macedonia) and Artistic Director of PerPoSF
- Gina Kalogirou, Professor of Literature at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
- Dimitra Mitta, President of the Thessaloniki Literary Society
Key Discussions and Outcomes
During the Symposium-Festival, a fruitful dialogue emerged on the convergence of poetry and performance, culminating in three-dimensional, participatory, and multisensory poetic works. The discussions also focused on integrating performance poetry as a dynamic pedagogical tool in education. Attendees had the opportunity to explore diverse poetic voices and performance styles, learn about trends, developments, and challenges in the field of Performance Poetry from renowned experts, including Yiannis Mitrou, Panos Sdoulos, and Nikolaos Graikos, and participate in Performance & Spoken Word poetry workshops. Additionally, they witnessed compelling, improvisational, and interactive performance poetry acts that redefined performance poetry as both an artistic practice and a ritualistic experience.
Evaluation – Key Findings
- The first International Performance Poetry Symposium-Festival in Greece played a pivotal role in the informal establishment of a community of poets, artists, and academics, forming a forum for scholarly research and contemporary poetic creation beyond the page.
- The event initiated a constructive discourse on the fusion of poetic expression and performance, clarifying the distinct characteristics of performance poetry and the various ways poetic speech can be unfolded as a live, intermedial, interdisciplinary, participatory, and three-dimensional poetic experience.
- Young poets and students of the Interinstitutional Master’s Program in Creative Writing had the opportunity to actively participate, experiment, and gain hands-on experience in a supportive and collaborative environment.
- The integration of performance poetry into educational settings was explored as a crucial pedagogical tool that has the potential to counteract the declining interest among young audiences in traditional printed poetry. This dynamic approach enhances engagement by incorporating voice, body movement, diverse artistic media, and modern technology.
Proposals
- It was proposed and decided that the Symposium-Festival will be held biennially in Thessaloniki, co-organized by the University of Western Macedonia and EPOPSIS Non-Profit Cultural Organization.
- It was proposed and decided that in the intervening years between the Symposium-Festival, Performance Poetry Conferences will be organized by the University of Western Macedonia and EPOPSIS, each time in a different city.
- The proposal by Minister Konstantinos Gioulekas was recorded, suggesting the organization of performance poetry events in various cities across Northern Greece, in collaboration with the relevant Ministry of Macedonia-Thrace.
The International Performance Poetry Symposium-Festival in Greece marked a milestone in the evolution of contemporary poetic expression, fostering new artistic dialogues, research, and innovative approaches to poetry beyond the page.