International Poetry Festival in Kosovo

 Kosovo is preparing next week to host the International Poetry Festival 2025, a prominent cultural event expected to bring together poets, translators, and critics from around the world, reaffirming poetry’s status as a human bridge that transcends borders and languages. The festival is anticipated to create a vibrant space for cultural dialogue and creative exchange among participants from Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Arab world.

The festival’s activities will be spread over several days and will include multilingual poetry evenings, where poems will be recited in their original languages, accompanied by translations that enable local and international audiences to engage with the texts and appreciate their aesthetic and intellectual dimensions. In addition, intellectual seminars and panel discussions will be held, addressing issues of contemporary poetry, the role of the poet in a turbulent world, and the importance of translation in conveying poetic experiences across cultures.

The festival will place special emphasis on youth participation, organizing a number of poetry-writing workshops and open meetings with guest poets. These activities aim to encourage emerging talents and strengthen the relationship of younger generations with poetry as a tool for free expression and the building of awareness. Wide participation is expected from university students and literature enthusiasts.

The Director of the International Poetry Festival Fahredin Shehu, affirmed that “the festival celebrates poetry and poets from different countries around the world, fostering a dialogue among diverse cultures, just as it creates a dialogue between poetry, painting, and music.”

He pointed to the importance of poetry in bringing together the scattered fragments of the world, emphasizing that poetry has the power to transcend borders. Shehu added that “the festival celebrates beautiful words, creativity, friendship, love, and aesthetic and human values. It represents a form of cultural exchange, where poets from diverse cultural backgrounds meet within the festival space hosted by Rahovec, the City of Grapes.”

The festival will also witness the honoring of poetic and cultural figures who have contributed to enriching the global literary scene, in recognition of their creative achievements and their role in fostering dialogue among peoples. This recognition comes as part of the festival’s vision of celebrating influential poetic experiences and linking creative accomplishment with human responsibility.

The organizers of the International Poetry Festival – Kosovo 2025 emphasize that this edition seeks to establish Kosovo as an international cultural platform and an annual hub for poets from diverse backgrounds, sending a clear message that poetry is capable of creating spaces for understanding and peace. The festival is expected to conclude with a collective poetry evening reflecting the spirit of diversity and convergence, affirming that the poetic word will continue to unite the world around the values of beauty, freedom, and humanity.

Guests of this 8th edition:

Ledia Dushi
Albanian poet, translator, and scholar with a PhD in ethnology and folklore. Award-winning author of several poetry collections, widely translated. Former university lecturer and researcher, she currently directs the Marin Barleti Library in Shkodra, bridging poetry, scholarship, and cultural memory.

Nadija Rebronja
Serbian poet and essayist with a PhD in comparative literature. Her internationally translated poetry appears across Europe, Asia, and Latin America. Her book Dance to the Seas inspired musical compositions performed internationally, highlighting her cross-disciplinary poetic influence.

Ilire Zajmi
Writer, researcher, and journalist from Kosovo with a PhD in Mass Communication. Author of thirteen books across poetry and prose, translated into many languages. An award-winning poet, she actively participates in international festivals and is a member of Poetas del Mundo.

Xheladin Emrullah Hamza
Kosovar poet, translator, and former municipal official whose life was shaped by hardship and resilience. Author of five poetry books and notable translations, he now devotes his retirement to literature, exploring spirituality, memory, and personal experience through verse.

Alireza Abiz
Iranian poet, literary scholar, and translator based in London. Author of award-winning Persian poetry collections and major studies on censorship in Iran. His work is widely translated, and he bridges Persian and world poetry through teaching, translation, and criticism.

Lulzim Tafa
One of the most renowned Albanian poets worldwide, also a legal scholar and university professor. Widely translated and highly decorated internationally, his influential poetry addresses history, ethics, and humanity, earning him major global awards and academic honors.

Mark Pashku
Writer from Montenegro whose work spans poetry and novels. Educated in Albanian literature and ethnology, he is known for introspective narratives on identity and society. His award-winning novels are translated into major European languages.

Tobias Burghardt
German poet, essayist, and translator, co-founder of EDITION DELTA. Widely translated and internationally awarded, he is recognized for promoting world poetry through writing, publishing, and translation, including the prestigious Antonio de Ferraris International Poetry Award.

Jona Burghardt
Argentinian-born poet, translator, and cultural organizer based in Germany. A multilingual writer whose poetry is widely translated, she is active in international festivals and literary exchange, and a recipient of the Khatak Prize for cultural contribution.