Our Aims
The central aims of Global Poetry are to cultivate:
CREATIVITY. Creativity is inherent in life. It can be diabolical or nonviolent. By combining creativity with hope, wisdom and the inherent human power to overcome conflicts – intrapsychic, interpsychic, social and international – poetry can nurture us.
HUMAN DIGNITY. All life, human or other, is fundamentally dignified. It has the right to exist, unfold and express itself. If we awaken to our own dignity, we can identify the same in others and begin to view them differently.
DIALOGUE. Recognising human dignity in the self and others can be used as a starting point for a dialogue to understand each other’s conflicting as well as overlapping positions. By writing poetry of conflict – from a wounded, empathic or dialogical perspective – nonviolent solutions to problems can be mutually discovered. Further, dialogue can also be sustained by writing poetry of reconciliation or mutual respect.
GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP. When we can explore all of the above – creativity, human dignity and dialogue – in our poetry, we can begin to see people at a human or individual dimension. This is the starting point of Global Citizenship, where our world view ceases to be directed by the dichotomy of ‘us and them’. To celebrate global citizenship is to celebrate the world’s diversity in all its forms, which is increasingly under threat from forces of globalisation, neo-colonialism, violence and killing.
We will achieve the above by acting as a global umbrella movement of poetry by publishing the works of poetry, recitation videos, news articles, commentaries, and book reviews etc. on our website. We also aim to:
COLLABORATE.
Collaborate with Non-governmental Organisations (NGOs) worldwide working towards the same goal. We aim to achieve this by publishing their articles, engaging in a dialogue with them and by networking.
Collaborate with the other art forms to cultivate poetry as an increasingly accessible art that can be enjoyed by a greater number of people.
CULTIVATE A CULTURE OF NONVIOLENCE.
Poetry that celebrates the capacity of the human spirit to overcome obstacles and find creative, nonviolent solutions to conflicts will cultivate the human capacity to choose dialogue and not weapons to kill or to cause psychological harm.
By cultivating nonviolent thought through poetry, we aim to support the United Nations, an unparalleled yet embattled organisation in modern world history to achieve its goals of diversity, human rights, human security and nonviolent co-existence amongst the world’s cultures.
History
Global Poetry was founded in the year 2000 when Sumeet Grover wrote about his vision to the then Director General of UNESCO and received an appreciative response. Grover currently serves as the director of this project.
Geography
Global Poetry is supported by volunteers from around the world and we are an independent body, currently run by funding from our director. We are headquartered in London, United Kingdom.
