Inkwell Shenzhen Hosts a Poetry Night

A great new beginning for Inkwell and for poetry in Shenzhen with the first Shenzhen Poetry Talk!

Last saturday evening a new and varied group of poets and curious gathered at Dacameron Coffe, just out of Futian metro station Exit 1. The event that was supposed to start as an informal chat among poetry aficionados ended up as a greatly inspired experience for many.

What characterised this first meeting and hopefully will continue the same is that the group was composed at least of four or five different cultural identities, and Chinese poets were also present to give their integrated contribution. Simon Chiatante, the organizer, was even asked to read one of his poems in Italian. Definitely a multicultural gathering, very representative of the city of Shenzhen.

The conversation then focused on a couple of focal points for modern poets. First the most universal question on “Why do you write poetry?” was asked to everyone. After reading a couple of Chinese poems by some of the participants and of nonsense poems by Daniel Fuller, the association brough up the concept of semantics in poetry: how ancient Chinese poetry (especially Tang poetry) and nonsense poetry both express meaning implicitly, without exposing their contents clearly and rationally.

An inspiring talk that will definitely lead to deeper reflections and displayed the literary reality of this colourful metropolis. Looking forward to the next one and many more!