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Semana Poetica VII


"Poetry is the universal language which the heart holds with nature and itself," wrote 19th-century literary critic William Hazlitt. Approximately 200 years later, his words rang true at the seventh-annual Semana Poética, an international and multilingual festival that celebrates poetry’s ability to transcend cultural and linguistic divides.

Originally a small poetry festival organized by the Department of Spanish and Portugese that presented the works of Spanish-speaking poets only, the event today brings together poets from India, Palestine, Israel, the United States, Germany, Italy, Spain and Russia, who each present poems in their respective native languages.

This fact, says Christopher Lemelin, assistant professor of Russian and current editor of the international and multilingual journal Sirena, is critical to the festival's success. [Article continues below.]


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  • Dickinson College President William G. Durden '71 kicks off the festival by outlining the importance of poetry as part of the liberal-arts education. 
    President Durden
  • Indian-born Sujata Bhatt, who has called her native language, Gujarati, "the deepest layer of my identity," reads her imagistic poetry in Bosler Hall. 
    Sujata Bhatt
  • German poet Michael Augustin, whose works have been translated into many languages, presents his poems in Bosler Hall. 
    Michael Augustin
  • Born in Málaga, Spain, Rafael Ballesteros is a published poet, guest lecturer and former congressman who participated in the drafting of the 1978 Constitution.
    Rafael Ballesteros
  • A view from above reveals a reading's intimate ambiance.
    Lofty View
  • Italy's Alessandro Carrera reads in Bosler Hall. A widely published poet and author, Carrera is also a lecturer and singer/songwriter.  
    Alessandro Carrera
  • American professor/poet Steve Gehrke reads an art-drenched poem that describes a seizure Michelangelo suffered while painting one of his most famous works. 
    Steve Gehrke
  • Nathalie Handal, who has lived in Europe, the United States, the Caribbean, Latin America and the Arab world, brings a unique, worldly perspective to her work. 
    Nathalie Handal
  • Nitsa Kann, assistant professor of Judaic Studies at Dickinson and author of four books, reads poems in Hebrew. 
    Nitsa Kann
  • Germany's Uwe Kolbe reads his seemingly simple yet multilayered verse in the Stern Center. 
    Uwe Kolbe
  • Christopher Lemelin, associate professor of Russian, displays the most recent edition of Sirena, an international and multilingual journal that publishes works by poets from across the globe. 
    Christopher Lemelin
  • Aurora Luque of Spain, who teaches Greek and has published several poetry books in Spanish, packs a powerful command of language into her emotionally charged verse. 
    Aurora Luque
  • Moscow-born Vera Pavlova reads her highly personal poetry in Rubendall Recital hall. 
    Vera Pavlova
  • Utz Rachowski, a freelance writer who was born in East Germany and was once jailed for copying and distributing texts by dissident friends, reads poems in the library. 
    Utz Rachowski
  • Merit O'Hare '12, a nationally recognized student poet, read the festival's first and last poem. Above, O'Hare (front row, right) is recognized for her work.
    Merit O'Hare '12
  • Utz Rachowski, a German poet, speaks during the closing ceremony.
    Utz Rachowski
  • A crowd of poetry fans gathers in Rubendall Recital Hall to listen to contemporary Russian poetry.
    Russian Lit
  • Pavlova reads her dense and emotive verse in the Rubendall Recital Hall.
    Dense Verse
  • Alexei Tsvetkov, a Russian poet currently living in Washington, D.C., reads poems in Russian and English. 
    Alexei Tsvetkov
  •  The well-attended festival was sponsored by the departments of Spanish and Portuguese, English, German studies, French and Francophone studies, Italian studies, Russian, Judaic studies and East Asian studies, as well as The Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues, the Office of Global Education, and the Office of the Dean of Students.
    The World in Carlisle
  • Audience members read English translations of verse that non-English-speaking poets read in their native tongues.
    Interpretations
  •  Provost and Dean Neil Weissman addresses the audience during the closing night of Semana Poética.
    Neil Weissman
  • Merit O'Hare '12, who won the Borders Open-Door Poetry Contest for her poem “Jainism,” closes the final night of the festival with a poem.
    Merit O'Hare '12
Dickinson College President William G. Durden '71 kicks off the festival by outlining the importance of poetry as part of the liberal-arts education.  Prev ImageNext Image

“Language is, in fact, not just a different way of speaking. It also embodies the culture itself and offers students who are studying the language a window into how people in that culture think,” explains Lemelin. “The language [used in poetry] gives a good reflection of how the culture views humanity.”

Still, he emphasizes, listeners do not have to be familiar with each language to enjoy the readings. Listeners who do not understand the meaning of the words in spoken poetry can often better concentrate on the musicality of the poem's cadences and sounds.

“Poetry is very much about sound, and the interaction between sounds is important,” Lemelin explains. “Each language has its own character. It's almost like going to a music concert—students can get beyond the literal meaning of the words and enjoy the beauty of the language itself. It is a wonderful opportunity for them."

Jorge Sagastume, associate professor of Spanish and founding editor of  Sirena, stresses that the writings also act as “a metaphor for what we are: a group of individuals from different parts of the globe ... and with multiple views of the universe ... but with a common interest: Art.”

By MaryAlice Bitts
Photos by A. Pierce Bounds & Claire Wilson '11