Invitation to participate in the “Gift a Poem” campaign on World Poetry Day March 21st
The Polish National Commission for UNESCO, ASPnet Poland and the Zbigniew Herbert Foundation, in cooperation with the ASPnet International Coordination Unit are inviting member schools around the world to organize “Gift a Poem” campaign as a form of commemoration of World Poetry Day on 21 March 2026.
As a reminder, in the 2023, 2024 and 2025 “Gift a Poem” campaigns, conducted as a joint ASPnet activity, were very well received and a great success. Last three years reports were sent from 32 countries on four continents and are available at www.giftapoem.pl. Many countries have already expressed interest in holding the Gift a Poem campaign again this year.
We believe that the act of offering someone words of poetry is a thoroughly human one: a form of friendly co-presence, spiritual support, of consolation as well as a means of sustaining hope and build peace. That is why we wish to encourage students participating in this initiative to find someone and gift that person a poem. Not only to people in their closest circle (family, friends, neighbors and acquaintances), but also in places where a good word is so often needed – in nursing homes, retirement homes, orphanages, community centers, homeless shelters and hospitals.
On March 5th we will held a webinar for all ASPnet National Coordinators, during which the organizers of the campaign discussed the idea, organizational details and previous experiences of the “Gift a Poem” campaign. You are welcome to view our webinars here: Gift a Poem / webinars
Małgorzata Herbich
ASPnet National Coordinator in Poland
Polish National Commission for UNESCO
e-mail: m.herbich@unesco.pl
Maria Dzieduszycka
President/Executive Director
The Zbigniew Herbert Foundation
REPORTS
Teachers coordinating “Gift a Poem” campaign in their schools are encourage to prepare a short photo or video presentation as well as a written description of the event, which should be sent to the ASPnet National Coordinator, who will prepare summary of the reports according to our guidelines and send it us (see submit a report page-link). We will post reports from National Coordinators on the Gift a Poem website to share the results with all the ASPnet world community.
In 2024:
Poster for the “Gift a Poem” campaign. Click to open in a new tab.
“Gift a Poem” campaign| social campaign of the Zbigniew Herbert Foundation