(Speech At The Launch Ceremony Of “Golden Bird In The Sun” And The Copyright Export Ceremony Of “Epic Of Eurasia” At The 31st Beijing International Book Fair)
By Guiseppe Conte（Italy）
Dear Chinese friends , dear poets, I greet you from the shore of the Mediterranean Sea.I’m here to speak to you about a life devoted to defending poetry and the dialogue between East and West, in the name of a universal idea of humanity –that is more just and more humaine.
I believe in greatness, in beauty, in love, in journeying, and in myth as a form of knowledge and spiritual Energy, that erases boundaries and unites peoples.
I admire the epic vision of Eurasia, and intended to promote it in Italy, where poetry has reached the supreme heights of Dante ( to whom I dedicated a fantastic tale titles Dante in love) and the supreme artistic height of Renaissance.
Today the crisis of the West is the crisis of poetry in Western societies – where poetry is denied and debased by the dominance of nichilistic materialism.
But we resist and rebel. We still cultivate greatness and dreams. Thanks also to exchanges with Arabic-language poets – allow me to send greetings to Adonis, my great friend and mentor- and together with you, we strive to create new artistic and spiritual frameworks in the world.
I like to conclude reading two final verses from my poem And never forget the sea: “ Love freedom, seek joy/and never forget the sea”.
Never forget Infinite, Sun and Eternity.
