Bucharest becomes the world capital of poetry

The capital hosts the 15th edition of the Bucharest International Poetry Festival (FIPB), between September 15 and 21, which opens at the Central University Library "Carol I". The event brings together almost 200 poets from over 30 countries, from four continents, promising the public a large-scale multicultural experience. The program includes public readings, exhibitions, conferences, performances and musical moments, all under the sign of poetry as a living memory and active presence in the life of the city.

• Poetry - between lucidity and shared emotion

"Poetry is not a luxury, but a discreet necessity. In an era when meanings are easily dissipated, it remains an exercise in lucidity, inner resistance and, at the same time, an essential form of reflection and shared emotion,” says Ioan Cristescu, director of the National Museum of Romanian Literature, the festival's organizer. Cristescu emphasizes that FIPB has become, over time, the most important poetic event in Romania and an authentic meeting place, where words rebuild bridges, awaken memories and open paths to dialogue.

• Over 60 events and important names from all over the world

The architecture of the seven-day festival was prepared for six months by the team of the National Museum of Romanian Literature, in collaboration with international and local partners. The public will be able to participate in the exhibitions of artists Neluş Oană, David Greenslade and Andrei Pandea, as well as in thematic evenings dedicated to great writers: Andrei Bodiu - 60, Gheorghe Crăciun - 75, Virgil Tănase - 80, D. R. Popescu - 90. The program also includes Georgian poetry, performance and slam poetry, erotic poetry and "Poetry of Subcultures”.

Public readings will bring poets from Europe, Latin America, Africa, Asia and the Middle East to Bucharest, along with book launches, international anthologies and various concerts - from fado and jazz to classical and experimental music. Among the invited artists are Mircea Tiberian, Nadia Trohin, Adrian Naidin, Cătălina Beţa, Albert Tajti, Jezebel, Axia Marinescu, Mircea Florian and Mircea Rusu Band.

A special event is the cherry tree planting ceremony in the "Tudor Arghezi Poetry Garden”, part of the international movement Bosques de la Poesia.

• A resonant opening

The official opening takes place on September 15, at 6:00 PM, in the Hall of the "Carol I” Central University Library. The ceremony will bring together important Romanian and international poets and will be marked by a musical moment supported by the "Madrigal - Marin Constantin” National Chamber Choir.

• Poets from four continents

The list of participants includes authors from: Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Chile, China, Colombia, Cuba, Denmark, Switzerland, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Honduras, Kenya, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Great Britain, Mexico, Republic of Moldova, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, USA, Sweden, Hungary, Uruguay, as well as leading Romanian poets.

The FIPB 2025 events will take place in some of the most important cultural spaces in Bucharest: the Central University Library "Carol I", the two headquarters of the National Museum of Romanian Literature, the "Tudor Arghezi" Memorial House, Cărtureşti Modul, ARCUB, Londohome, Kyralina Bookstore, the French Institute, the Cervantes Institute, the KOG7 Gallery, as well as in high schools in the Capital.

For a week, Bucharest transforms into a living map of world poetry, where every street and every reading room becomes a meeting place between cultures, sensibilities and worldviews.