Versopolis Brave New Literature

By Dunedin UNESCO City of Literature | Posted:

(20 February – 1 March 2022)

Dunedin UNESCO City of Literature recently took part in the Versopolis Brave New Literature festival. Versopolis is a well-known and respected European poetry platform with a mission to create new opportunities for emerging poets throughout Europe. It is supported by the European Commission Creative Europe Programme.

Festival organisers were thrilled to include a Possibilities Project video from Ōtepoti in this literary celebration. Showcasing artists from all over the world, Versopolis acknowledges the power of words and poetry as a tool for connecting continents and cultures.

In 2019 Liz Breslin was awarded a two-month Cities of Literature residency in Kraków, Poland. Liz not only produced her own work but had the opportunity to explore many forms of Polish literature. Wisława Szymborska’s poem ‘Possibilities’ provided the inspiration for the Possibilities Project when Liz returned home. This Dunedin UNESCO City of Literature project was extremely popular during Aotearoa’s 2020 lockdown. Seizing the opportunity to share part of this wonderful portfolio of poetry to a new global audience, Ōtepoti contributed a specially edited film. Ten local poets, Liz Breslin, Michelle Elvy, Anna Hoek-Sims, Kirstie McKinnon, Emma Neale, Jilly O’Brien, Jenny Powell, Laura Williamson, Annabel Wilson and Iona Winter, offer words of hope, observation and encouragement for us all.

https://www.versopolis.com/multimedia/video/1172/the-possibilities-project