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 2025.
As a reminder, the 2023 and 2024 “Gift a Poem” campaigns were conducted as a joint ASPnet activity and were very well received and a great success. Last two years reports were sent from 26 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 in 2025.
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, neighbours 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 February 19th we 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 the webinar here: Gift a Poem / webinars
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.
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
In 2024:
“Gift a Poem” campaign| social campaign of the Zbigniew Herbert Foundation