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Special Event: "Hear Our Poetry: A Multilingual Reading"

Between Lines and Stanzas: Ways of Being Human with Poetry

Readers share poetry in any global language, with an English translation, at this multilingual poetry event. Both readers and listeners are welcome.

Registration is requested, but not required, for this event. To apply to be a reader, visit the Application to Read.

This program is a multilingual poetry reading in which readers are invited to read a poem in any language of their choosing followed by an English translation of that poem—done by them or by another writer. This multilingual poetry reading will help bring together a vast network of non-native English speakers across the Princeton area and invite them to share in their own languages. Sharing poetry in one’s own language allows reading participants to invite other community members into their experiences and their ways of moving through the world in another language.

In addition, the program invites audience members to engage with poetry in a number of different ways—sometimes through linguistic comprehension, but at other moments by allowing themselves to be immersed in a language and sounds that are unfamiliar to them.

Listening to poetry for comprehension is one way of engaging with poetry, but being exposed to a poetry reading where comprehension is not always possible, audience members might be more able to hear the other formal methods of poetry—rhythm, alliteration, pauses, silences, and beats.

By moving between languages, "Hear Our Poetry," allows reading participants to share about their languages more deeply, and allows audience participants to engage with poetry in a new way.

For more poetry programming, see the digital brochure for "Verse and Voice: A Festival of Poetry" taking place from April 18-May 4 at the library. 

In partnership with humanists and humanities organizations across the country, the National Humanities Center is supporting numerous public events across the U.S. These community-focused events, organized and presented by local artists, scholars, and educators, highlight the incredible breadth of the humanities and demonstrate how they add depth and meaning to our lives, help us understand ourselves and one another, and provide context for the complex world around us. The American edition of the Being Human Festival, begun in 2024, is the latest international expansion of the Being Human effort, launched in the United Kingdom in 2014.

Newsroom Accessibility

• Wheelchair accessible
• Not currently available in this space: Assistive listening system compatible with personal T-coil-enabled devices (compatible  headphones also available for use during programs)
• English-language subtitles for films (when available)
• If there is an accommodation that you need or would like so that you can fully enjoy library programs, please visit our Accommodations Request Form.

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