Chinese Poets Cao Shui And Cao Bo Attended The 34th Medellin International Poetry Festiv

From July 12th to 20th, the 34th Medellin International Poetry Festival, the largest in the world, was held in Medellin, the second largest city in Colombia. Poets Cao Shui and Cao Bo represented Chinese poets and each participated in seven recitations. They also attended the opening forum, the International Youth Poets Conference, the Night of Chinese Poets, the Colombia premiere ceremony of "The Song of the Dream Land", and the closing recitation. They delivered keynote speeches at important conferences, showcasing the charm of the new generation of Chinese poets. During the poetry festival, poets from various countries affectionately referred to them as "China Cao".

On July 13th local time, the 34th Medellin International Poetry Festival kicked off in Medellin, Colombia. In the morning, the opening forum was held in the conference room of the Gran Hotel, with over 80 poets from more than 40 countries attending. Cao Shui gave a keynote speech titled "The Tower of Heaven or the Ideal Country: We Walk Out of Here, We Will Eventually Return", and Cao Bo also introduced the current development status of modernist poetry in China. People's Daily sent journalist Shi Yuanhao for a five-day exclusive interview. Chinese poet Cao Shui said in an interview with Colombian television, "Medellin is a holy land of poetry in the world.

In the afternoon of that day, at the Carlos Vieco Open Air Theater, 80 famous poets from 40 countries gathered together, and nearly a thousand citizens watched the opening ceremony live. The theme of this poetry festival is "Planet Love Song". Fernando Rendon, the president of the Medellin International Poetry Festival, stated in his speech that poetry had turned Medellin, which was once plagued by drug trafficking and chaos, into the "City of Poetry". People use poetry as a shield against violence, and through contact with poetry and personal poetry experiences, make life better. He hoped everyone can build a beautiful home with love and unity through eternal and immortal poetry. Adriana Martinez, the director of the National Library of Colombia and an official of the Ministry of Culture, stated in her speech that poetry had the power of regeneration, constantly creating new meanings and reminding people of the importance of sustainability, respect for nature, and humanity itself. She hoped poetry could continue to be the protagonist of change in Colombia's pursuit of peace and beauty. At the opening ceremony, seven poets from different countries recited their respective works on site. Chinese singer Su Yang performed Chinese songs such as "Water, Ice, Grass" live, and South African poet MoAfrika also joined Su Yang on stage during the performance, creating a climax in the atmosphere. That evening, a grand Latin dance party was held, welcoming poets from all over the world with the enthusiasm of Latin America. Poets from all over the world danced gracefully, as if entering their own planet.

Chinese poets Cao Shui and Cao Bo, as well as Chinese New Zealander poet Chris Peiying Chen, attended the opening ceremony. They told People's Daily reporters that the visibility of Chinese poets and literary works in the world is constantly increasing, and they are actively promoting the exchange and communication of literary works among countries through translation and other means. In the coming days, they will recite their works with other poets and communicate with the audience.

During the Poetry Festival, Chinese poets Cao Shui and Cao Bo participated in 14 recitations at various venues such as the Marquez Library, Pablo Theater, La Ceja City Hall, Caldas Library, Open and Distance University, Medellin Chamber of Commerce, and Museum of Modern Art, showcasing over 20 of their works. The size of the venue varies, but most of them are fully booked. People spontaneously go there based on posters on the streets and alleys, and then come forward to actively communicate and tell poets the touching poems. Cao Shui recited 30 poems, including "Great Compassion Dance," "Iron Lion Tomb," "Imperial Flower," "Mermaid Dream," and "The Princess Blue of the Forbidden City”. Cao Bo recites 30 works including "You Are a Cat", "A Little Bird", "Zoo", "Dream Series", etc. Each recitation is usually composed of poets from four countries, with different hosts for each session. The poets first recite their works in their native language, and then Colombian young poets recite their Spanish translations. Each poet is assigned a dedicated reciter who recites throughout the entire poetry festival. Cao Shui's reciter is Leonardo, and Cao Bo's reciter is Mark.

Cao Shui is one of the representative poets of the post-80s generation in China. In recent years, he has participated in a series of international activities such as the Krisya  International Poetry Festival in India, Homer International Poetry Festival in Türkiye, and the International Writing Plan of the Chinese Writers' Association. His works have been translated into 24 languages, including English, French, German, Russian, Japanese, Korean, Greek, Hindi, Italian, Spanish, Turkish, Arabian, etc. More than 30 famous poets have commented on their writing in the international poetry world, and he has been called a representative poet of "the young generation leading the new world" by the outstanding Indian poet Rati Saxena. He translated three books, including The Footsteps of Istanbul, and is an internationally renowned poet known as the "International Cao" in the poetry world. He has written poetry, novels, fairy tales, screenplay. He has published 40 collections including the poetry collection "Epic of the Eurasia", the novel "Secret History of Kunlun", the collection "Animal Kingdom of Kekexili", and the fairy tale "Snow Leopard Prince". He has also created more than 100 collections of film and television scripts such as "Peacock King". In recent years, in addition to publishing "The Snow Leopard Prince", he has also published 18 fairy tales, becoming a famous fairy tale writer. He initiated the Great Poetry Movement (GPM) in 2007. He also initiated the "Cao Shui and Yi Sha Debate" in the poetry world, advocating the Poetry Film Movement and the Dramatized Novel Movement, which had a wide influence in the literary world. In recent years, Cao Shui has won more than 50 literary and artistic awards, including the First Chinese Young Poet Award, the Seventh Chinese Long Poetry Award, the "Literary Star" of the 5th Qinghai Youth Literature Award, the 4th Cao Yu Cup Script Award, the 8th Italian Apollo Dionysus Poetry Award, the 27th Italian "Octopus Bone" Poetry Award, and the 12th Russian Golden Knight Award. His works are appreciated by both the literary world and the market, and are considered one of the representative writers of China's post-80s generation.

Cao Bo,is a Chinese poet, born in November 1979, Chinese postmodern poets, now lives in Xi'an City, China. He began to write at the age of 20. He has published his works in Poetry Journal, Star Journal and Yanhe Journal, etc. His works have been collected in a variety of anthologies. In 2017, the poetry collection Yesterday was published; in 2019, the poetry collection You Are A Cat was published; in 2020, the poetry collection The Man On The Sea was published; in 2023, the poetry collection Rosefinch

 was published. He has won the Chinese Young Poet Award, the Top Ten Poetry Collections of Poetry Tide Magazine, the Golden Camel Award of the Silk Road International Poetry Art Festival, the Boao International Poetry Award, the Top Ten Poets of the Chinese Poetry Spring Festival Gala, etc.

During the Poetry Festival, Fernando Rendon, the President of the Medellin Poetry Festival and the General Coordinator of the World Poetry Movement, also convened two conferences for Chinese poets, Cao Shui and Cao Bo, as well as Chinese New Zealand poet Chris Peiying. On July 17th, it was decided to add the Colombian premiere ceremony of "The Song of the Dream Land" and the award ceremony of the Great Poetry Movement Medal at the Chinese Poets' Recitation Ceremony on July 19th. On the 17th, which is also Fernando's birthday, he invited Cao Shui, Cao Bo, and Pei Ying to his birthday party in the evening. Cao Shui and Cao Bo respectively represented the Boao International Poetry Festival and the Silk Road International Poetry Festival to present "World Poetry" and "World Poets" magazines, with Fernando appearing as the cover character. Chris Peiying gifted the overseas cooperation edition of People's Daily with a full page report on the Beijing premiere of "The Song of the Dream Land".

On July 19th, the Colombian premiere of "The Song of the Dream Land" was held at the Museum of Modern Art in Medellin, hosted by Gloria Rendon, Secretary General of the World Poetry Movement and wife of Fernando. Cao Shui published the Translation and Publishing Process of Fernando's Song of the Dream Land in China in English and reviewed his experience of joining the World Poetry Movement and meeting Fernando through Turkish poet Nurduran Duman in 2017. Since then, they have begun to have close contact. This year, the Song of the Dream Land was published by Beiyue Literature and Art Publishing House, and Jidi Majia, Fernando, Ouyang Jianghe, Lamberto Gazia, Roberto Eado, and Qiao Damo jointly presented the Beijing premiere. He hoped this book can influence more humanity with Fernando's poetry and ideas, and together build an ideal country for all mankind. "Gloria translated it synchronously in Spanish, which caused thunderous applause at the scene. Fernando also stood up and hugged Cao Shui. Cao Shui, Cao Bo, and Chris Peiying collaborated with Fernando to recite seven representative works from the book, "Journey to the Sky," "Discovery," "When I Discovered You," "Storm," "Convergence," "Wish," and "Fate," in both Chinese and Spanish. Chinese and Spanish complement each other, receiving applause after each recitation.

The second agenda of the day was to award the Grand Poetry Movement Medal. Cao Shui, Cao Bo, and Pei Ying respectively represented the Grand Poetry Movement Committee and presented the Grand Poetry Movement Medal to Fernando Rendon and George Wallace. The Great Poetry Movement Medal was established by the Poetry Movement Committee in 2023, and is awarded annually to two international poets who have made significant contributions to great poetry and epic. The medal of 2023 was awarded to Turkish poet Nurduran Duman, Haluk Sahin, chairman of Homer International Poetry Festival, and Ulugbek Yesdaulet, former chairman of Kazakhstan Writers Association.

The third agenda of the day was the "Chinese Poets Recitation", where Chinese poets Cao Shui, Cao Bo, and Chris Peiying recited their own works, and Colombian young poets recited Spanish translations. Cao Shui's long poem "Iron Lion Tomb" has a magnificent momentum and was later known as the "Ginsburg of China". Cao Bo's' You Are a Cat 'conveys the whispers of postmodernism. Peiying's poetry has a classical flavor. This is the first time that the Medellin Poetry Festival has set up a special session for Chinese poets, reflecting the importance attached to Chinese poetry.

On the mornings of July 18th and 19th, two consecutive "World Youth Poet Congress" were held to explore the future development of poetry in the world. Chinese poets Cao Shui and Cao Bo participated. The theme of the first day was "Realizing the Globalization of Poetry through New Technologies". Cao Shui have a speech "The Impact of the Internet Age on the Globalization of Poetry", describing his process of joining the world poetry movement. Without the Internet, the world poetry movement would not have been possible. "In 1827, the great German poet Goethe first proposed the concept of world literature, and the world poetry movement initiated by Fernando in 2011 truly brought world poetry into a substantive state." Cao Shui also introduced China's "most modern debate" - the Cao Shui and Yi Sha dispute. Afterwards, he was interviewed by VOZ News to discuss the significance of the World Poetry Movement. The theme of the second conference was "The New Poetry Trend in the World". Cao Shui gave a keynote speech titled "The Development of the Great Poetry Movement, Poetry Film Movement, and Dramatized Novel Movement", and young poets on site asked questions one after another. During the conference, Venezuelan poet Yuri Patino also gave a speech on supporting Palestine, and Cao Shui also delivered a speech titled 'Palestinians should have their own country like all people in the world'. There were 6 young poets who gave keynote speeches this time. In addition to Chinese poet Cao Shui, there were also Mexican poet Yasmin Alfaro, South African poet MoAfrika wa Mokgathi, Colombian poet Valiria Echavarria, Indian poet Sonnet Mondal, and Nigerian poet Tolu Agbelusi. This year's Medellin Poetry Festival specially invited young poets from 20 countries around the world, which is the highest proportion of young poets in history and reflects the importance attached to the new generation of poets in the world.

On the morning of July 20th, Fernando convened Cao Shui, Cao Bo, and Pei Ying to attend the World Poetry Movement Conference, thanking Cao Shui for his contributions in translation, publishing, and communication in the World Poetry Movement in recent years, and appointed Cao Shui as the coordinator for Asia. This meeting is translated by Gloria. Finally, Fernando and Gabriel Jamie Frank, Secretary General of the Medellin Poetry Festival, Luis Eduardo Rendon, hugged Cao Shui and shouted, "Long live the World Poetry Movement”.

On the afternoon of July 20th, the closing ceremony of the Medellin Poetry Festival was held at the Carlos Vieco Open Air Theater, where 80 poets from around the world were divided into 8 groups and recited in turn. Cao recited the representative work 'Great Compassion Dance' and Cao Bo recited the representative work 'You Are a Cat', which caused cheers at the scene. At this recitation, poets from various countries showed their talents. American poet Matt Sedillo recited through rap, Uruguayan poet Melissa demonstrated through dance, Indonesian poet Amien Kamil recited through shouting, Swiss poet Marko Miladinovic demonstrated through performance, and South African poet MoAfrika wa Mokgathi demonstrated through singing, showcasing the world's most avant-garde poetry to the citizens of Medellin. That evening, the Latin party continued, with poets from various countries dancing passionately to the rumba, bidding farewell to this grand feast in the poetry world.

During the Poetry Festival, Cao Shui, Cao Bo, and Fernando respectively presented the Boao International Poetry Award to American poet George Wallace and Colombian poet Gabriel Jaime Franco on behalf of the Boao International Poetry Festival. At that time, due to mailing reasons, the trophy was temporarily kept by translator Cao Shui.

Cao Shui, Cao Bo, and Chilean poet Roberto Aedo also visited the entire city of Medellin, including the Antioquia Museum, the National Palace of Culture, the Metropolitan Cathedral of Medellin, and the Medellin Market, to learn about the local customs and create a large number of original poems. They were also known as the "Medellin Three Musketeers" during the poetry festival. Cao Shui and Cao Bo showcased the image of the new generation of Chinese poets, who possess the ability to write globally and confidently showcase the charm of Chinese poetry to the world.

The Medellin International Poetry Festival is one of the three major poetry festivals in the world, which began in 1991. As of now, over 1800 poets from more than 190 countries have attended its events. Since 1995, the Poetry Festival has invited more than 20 famous Chinese poets, including Bei Dao, Shu Ting, Zhou Tao, Yu Jian, Jidi Majia, Sun Youtian, Xiao Xuegao, Hong Bo, Yang Ke, Zhou Sese, Zhao Zhenjiang, Zhao Lihong, Su Yang, Shen Haobo, Sun Xintang, Cao Shui, Hu Xian, An Qi, Li Shaojun, Mel, Zheng Xiaoqiong, Huang Yazhou, etc. Cao Shui has participated in the 30th Medellin International Poetry Festival. The current Poetry Festival continued until July 20th, with over 70 events centered around themes such as "Poetry and Music", "Poetry and Drama", "Poetry Dialogue", and "Poetry Lecture Hall" open to the public for free. The venue is fully booked and citizens spontaneously attend. Medellin used to be a city of drug lords, but the hosting of the poetry festival gradually purified the city into a holy land of poetry. 

         Click to enter the Chinese version