Poetry prize won at the 21st Curtea de Arges International Poetry Festival, 2017
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| Right to left, poets from Austria-England, Aruba-Nederlands, Argentia (from), Bulgaria (back) Cyprus(back) Egypt (back) next to Egypt, Antigua and Barbuda (me), front Tunisia (two women) Colombia, behind Romania, Croatia, Bolivia, El Salvador, Spain , front right, Hungary-Israel, Romania (between) Bulgaria, Venezuela and Portugal. |
This photo story will start at the end— the last night at the 21st. Curtea de Arges International Poetry Festival which took place from July 12th-18th in Curtea de Arges, Romania. It represents the highlight of a week of celebrations, poetry readings, and sight-seeing. From there, I will go back to day one (going full circle), July 12th when Poetry Nights in Curtea de Arges began.
Curtea de Argeș (Romanian pronunciation: [ˌkurte̯a de ˈard͡ʒeʃ]) is a city in Romania on the right bank of the Argeş River, where it flows through a valley of the lower Carpathians (the Făgăraș Mountains), on the railway from Pitești to the Turnu Roșu Pass. It is part of Argeș County. The city also administers one village, Noapteș. On July 7, 1947, the total rainfall in Curtea de Argeș was 205.7 mm (8.10 in.) in 20 minutes, which is a world record.[1] It is a two to three-hour drive from Bucharest to Curtea de Arges. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curtea_de_Arges)
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| Hotel Posada, poets' residence in Curtea des Arges |
On Monday, July 17th, 2017, a week of book launchings, readings, and sightseeings ended with the appointment to a new member of the board ( Editura Acameiei Internationale Orient-Occident) and the announcement of the awarding of poetry prizes. Thirty-four poets from around the world waited in anticipation at the Bassarab’s Hall of Municipal Museum of Curtea de Arges. The poets had come from Canada, Brazil, Argentina, USA, Bolivia, Venezuela, El Salvador, Puerto Rico, Peru, Colombia, Aruba, Ecuador, India, Tunisia, Israel. Egypt, Hungry, Serbia, Croatia, Bulgaria, Albania, Cyprus, Finland. Spain, Portugal, Austria, England. Scotland, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Antigua, and Barbuda (represented by myself), Turkey, Spain, Croatia, Portugal and Romania.
There were four categories of prizes, three for poetry and one for literature. The poetry prizes were divided into International, European and Arts and Sciences. Three people were nominated for each prize but there could be only one winner. The winner of the International Prize was Ali Al Hazmi, Saudi Arabia; the winner of the European Prize was Eli Videva, Bulgaria and the winner of the Arts and Science prize was won by me, Althea Romeo-Mark. The winner of the literature prize was an academic, essayist and publisher from Romania.
Each presentation of prizes was followed by a reading of one of the winning poems and its translation.
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| Wining poets from Bulgaria, Saudi Arabia and Carolina Llica ( Festival organizer), Romanian prize winner for Literature and winning poet, Althea Romeo-Mark |
New York poet, James Cherry had earlier, (during our afternoon visit to the Basilea (Cathedral) been appointed a board member.
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| Winning poets from Bulgaria, Saudi Arabia and Carolina Llica ( Festival organizer), Romanian prize winner for Literature and winning poet, Althea Romeo-Mark. Newly inducted board member, James Sherry (N.Y), Dumitru M. Ion (festival organizer) and Romanian publisher |
I was very elated to come so far, representing the Caribbean, and to be awarded a prize.
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That morning had started out with a third book launching (anthologies of poems by poets present and published by Editura Acamediei Internationale Orient-Occident, an arm of Academia International Orient-occident that organizes the annual international poetry festival.
The main organizers are well known Romanian poets, Dumitru M. Ion and his Carolina Ilica. This year’s poetry festival coincided with Dumitru M. Ion’s 70th birthday.
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| Reading the poem "Like Mami Water in Hiding, next to our interpreter and Carolina Llica and husband, Dumitru M Ion. |
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| Berta Lucia Estrada, poet, Colombia |
This event was followed by our second reading from the anthology of the week. It took place at the Culture and Arts Center, George Topirceanu, Curtea de Arges. We had had three reading sessions until now, the first readings beginning on Wednesday, 13 July, 2017.
One of my poems featured in Poesys 21: Anthologia Festivalului International, 2017 is
“Rope.”
Rope
The tug-of-war,
the pulling of knotted rope,
the stretching ends,
the fraying ends,
fingers red and burning
from holding on,
from waiting to see
who is first to cave.
Who will lose their grip?
Mother or daughter?
It is not a matter
of winning or losing.
It is the Mother who must let go,
reject the temptation to throw a lasso.
The falling daughter
will rise into her own.
She will carry her mother’s cautions
in memory like a suitcase
filled with clothes,
and take them out to wear,
one by one,
to see how well they fit.
Beneath them all—
her own long cord,
the secret binding,
the thickened string,
the rope she, too, will pull
when the tug-of-war comes.
© Althea Romeo-Mark, 2015
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| Nicolass Quito, Aruba/Netherland |
After the readings we had a tour of the Princeley Monastery, (16th century). We toured the grounds and in the Monastery, a priest gave us a lecture on the history of the 16th century structure.
The Cathedral of Curtea de Argeș (early 16th century) is a Romanian Orthodox cathedral in Curtea de Argeș, Romania. It is located on the grounds of the Curtea de Argeș Monastery, and is dedicated to Saint Nicholas. The building is the seat of the Archdiocese of Argeș and Muscel.
The cathedral is faced with pale grey limestone, which was easily chiselled then hardened on exposure. The interior is of brick, plastered and decorated with frescoes. Nearby on the grounds stands a large Moorish-style royal palace. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curtea_de_Arges_Cathedral)
The lecture, a story of a legend connected to the building of the Monastery and tour, conducted by the priest, was followed by the induction of James Sherry, New York poet, onto the board. After that there was a reception—delicious cakes, coffee, wine and water.
The day was followed by a late dinner (9:30-22:30) most nights. After dinner, as the Turkish poets sang traditional songs in the lobby, most of us went to our rooms where we pondered on our extraordinary experiences as we packed. We had an early start next morning and a long drive ahead to Bucharest where we would all depart to our various homelands or began extended European holidays.
Next installment. Day one, Wednesday, 12, July 2017-The beginning of the Curtea de Arges International Poetry Festival—Meeting at the airport in Bucharest.
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| A local newspaper that featured many of our poems. |
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