POETEKA began as a cultural initiative in Durres on Sept. 2004 under the symbol of a Liburnæ (Illyrian boat) decorated with sails full of written poems and mosaics, as a mark of the potential of Albania to export cultural values. Our approach aimed to promote the new perception of authorial’ reading of poetry instead of the routine actors’ declamation.
This valuable tradition has paved the way towards the first International Poetry Festival – (POETEKA- A home for Poetry, April, 2005) based not only in the successful impact and support it had into the cultural circles of the region and beyond, but also as a call for a larger approach into the cultural and artistic life and the values it transmits, values which are admitted to bring an colourful variety within the human dimensions. Till now, three editions of Poeteka Festival have been successfully held, with the presence of more than 200 distinguished poets and writers from further than 20 European and wide world countries.

In the following we would like to present at you a resume of the main activities into which we would kindly like to bring at your attention as the most representative ones of the spirit, goals and objectives of this year Festival.

The Fifth Edition of POETEKA International Festival of Poetry, (www.poeteka.org), winner of 2009 Cult Academy Award as “The Best Cultural Event of The Year”, this year welcomes poets from 20 different countries. The numerous activities that will take place in this year’s edition, beside focusing on authors and personalities of poetic art from the region and beyond, will offer a wider space to the guest poets for beside Durrës, Berat and Tiranë, that already are common places of Festival’s poetic peregrination, this year’s Poeteka will be present also in the city of Elbasan.
The participating poets will compete with their works for the four Awards that POETEKA awards each year:
I. LIBURNA Award (awarded to an Albanian poet for his/her lifetime work and contribution in the fields of poetry and literature.)
II. NOSITI Award (awarded to the best poetical translation of the year).
III. KRITERION Award (awarded to a literary edition for its distinguished contribute in the interests of art and culture).
IV. POETEKA RING Award (awarded to the most prominent figure of POETEKA Festival).
V. PEN of Berat Prize (Literary Prize that is awarded for the first time by Berat’s City Hall in co-operation with POETEKA Review).

Except for its well known program activities such as authorial readings, interviews, conversations with invited guests and poets, poetical performances, book presentations, concertos, art exhibitions and poetic book fair, this year’s Festival shall also include:
Three special evenings, with the main theme: BALCONY - BALKAN
These evenings are conceived to be events that combine readings in the native language by 12 different Balkan authors that are invited to the Festival and conversations with the public regarding three principal themes:
 Balkan… – Europe’s Peter Pan…?
 How to cry and sing ‘for the neighbor’…!
 Balkan’s Future: through cemeteries to beaches…?
The regional music, traditional elements of art and ethnography along with the interesting panel moderations by prominent figures of art and media, will be the elements that will accompany these evenings.

Some of the very distinguished names who participate in the realization of these evenings include: Ales Debeljak (Slovenia), Fatos Lubonja (Albania), Tomislav Bilosniç (Croatia), Edi Shukriu (Kosova), Jovan Nikolaidis (Montenegro), Kim Mehmeti and Bogumil Gjyzel (Macedonia), Onur Caymaz (Turkey), Cvetanka Elenkova (Bulgaria), and many others.

New elements in the format of this edition of POETEKA Festival would be the two innovatory performances, the sound poetry and visual poetry. At this point, POETEKA organizes two Master Classes in order to introduce these new elements of poetic performance, quite absent in Albania, and encourage their presence in the poetical environments. The Master Classes will be introduced for the Albanian audience by Demosthenes Agrafiotis (visual poetry, Greece) and Americo Rodrigues (sound poetry, Portugal).
Other important activities that will take place at the Festival include:
1. The SPIRITUS - AD HONOREM Session, dedicated to the great Polish Poet Ceszlaw Milosz, Nobel Prize Winner, in his 5th obit. Promotion of the book “No Name City” will be presented by Jaroslaw Mikolajewski, Poland.
2. Book promotion –“Amber Bears” – relationships among neighbors, by Jovan Nikolaidis.
3. A special attention at the Festival is dedicated to the session entitled “An American at the court of King Monun” - coffee, reading and interview with the American poet, Tom Sleigh.
2. Rock&read – literary evening with the distinguished Lebanese poetess, Joumana Haddad.
Also, the program of Poeteka Festival involves two exhibitions:
1. Manuscripts – by D. Agrafiotis;
2. Masks and Faces - T. Bilosniç;
3. Concertos, autograph sessions, tourist itinerary at Onufri’s Church in Shelcan and City Castle in Elbasan, visits in the Onufri Museum and in the Great Masjid of Berat, visit in the Ethnographic Museum, Amphitheater and Venetian Tower in Durrës, etc…

POETEKA RING AWARD
Winners through years:

Sibila Petlevski (Croatia, 2005)
Maria Luisa Spaziani (Italy, 2006)
Jevrem Brkoviq (Montenegro, 2007)
Casimiro De Brito (Portugal -2008)

For more information, please call our phone numbers or write in our mail address.
You can also visit our web page www.poeteka.org