Life Will Emerge, Freed from Iron – Poetry to Rebuild the Human Spirit

📍 Medellín, Colombia 📅 July 5 – 12, 2025

The 35th Medellín International Poetry Festival will bring together over 60 poets, artists, and a warm, expansive public to celebrate the transformative power of poetry in times of global uncertainty. This year’s festival is themed:
“Life Will Emerge, Freed from Iron – Poetry to Rebuild the Human Spirit”,
a title that resonates with the resilience of the human soul and the enduring strength of collective imagination.

Since its founding in 1991, the Festival has stood as a symbol of Medellín’s spiritual resistance and cultural renewal. Each year, voices from around the world gather here not only to share their verses, but to restore hope, inspire unity, and elevate consciousness through poetry.

The upcoming edition continues that legacy, bringing international voices together at a time when poetry is needed most—as a balm, a protest, and a vision. Join us in Medellín, July 5–12, 2025.

Quote from @ashuretwebi, featured poet at this year’s edition:
“If the dream took you in its arms, it’s a great blessing.
You’ve learned to tell a deadly missile from a deadly missile.
Don’t believe the smoke rising from the buildings—
There are always people rising to live…”

Here is a list of poets and their countries as featured in the 35th Festival Internacional de Poesía de Medellín (2025) poster:

1. Adnan Al-Sayegh – Iraq
2. Agustín Guambo – Ecuador
3. Ahmad Zakraia – Egypt
4. Almendra Tello – Ecuador
5. Aminur Rahman – Bangladesh
6. Ana Sofía Buitrago – Colombia
7. Anne-Marie Gutman – Syria/Norway
8. Arturo Borra – Argentina
9. Ashur Etwebi – Libya
10. Claudia Christiansen – France
11. Diana Vélez López – Colombia
12. Dimitris Lyacos – Greece
13. Dušan Čavić – Serbia
14. Edson Velandia y Adriana Lizcano – Colombia
15. Esmeralda Torres – Bolivia/Venezuela
16. Eugenio Montejo (Tribute) – Venezuela
17. Hugo Mujica – Argentina
18. Huu-Vinh – Vietnam
19. Ismery Pacheco – Cuba
20. Jaime Londoño – Colombia
21. Juan Aurelio García – Nicaragua
22. Khosiyat Rustamova – Uzbekistan
23. Kuchkor Norqo’bîl – Uzbekistan
24. Lemi Ghariokwu – Nigeria
25. Leticia Arámburo – Mexico
26. Letizia Leone – Italy
27. Lorena Buitrago – Colombia
28. Luis La Cortea – El Salvador
29. Lorca Sbeyti – Lebanon
30. Lucero Zappa – Mexico
31. Lucas F. Ariza – Colombia
32. Luis Arturo Restrepo – Colombia
33. Manuel Becerra – Mexico
34. María Belén Milla – Peru
35. María Sánchez – Spain
36. Martí Lani Rojo – Popular China
37. Reshma Ramesan – India
38. Luis La Cortea – El Salvador
39. Lorena Buitrago – Colombia
40. Loren Shepty – Lebanon
41. Lucero Zappa – Mexico
42. Lucas F. Ariza – Colombia
43. Luis Arturo Restrepo – Colombia
44. Manuel Becerra – Mexico
45. María Belén Milla – Peru
46. María Sánchez – Spain
47. Masud Bijouiche – Morocco
48. Miry Gossain – Colombia
49. Nadeesha Sathees – Sri Lanka
50. Nashit Khalid – Pakistan
51. Milka Vint Bobé – Puerto Rico
52. Mohammad Al-Maghut (Tribute) – Syria
53. Mohamed Bentalha – Morocco
54. Mohsen Emadi – Iran
55. Murad Sudani – Palestine
56. Murat Nemet Nejat – Turkey
57. Natasha Kanapé Fontaine – Innu, Canada
58. Nina Rapi – Greece
59. Porfirio Salazar – Panama
60. Rima Najjar – Palestine
61. Romulo Bustos – Colombia
62. Rula Sittih – Sudan/Egypt
63. Rosa Chávez – Guatemala
64. Ricardo Castillo – Mexico
65. Steven Anderson – Colombia
66. Taurua Niuia – New Zealand
67. Valentina Rojas – Colombia
68. Vasile Stanescu – Romania
69. Yang Limin (Tribute) – Popular China
70. Yingxia Tang – China/Australia

For media inquiries or more information, please contact:
📩 fipmedellin@gmail.com
🌐 www.festivaldepoesiademedellin.org