The 41st Youth Poetry Festival submission event was officially launched, as announced at a news conference in Beijing on Sunday.
The festival, organized by the Poetry Periodical since 1980, aims to discover and nurture outstanding young poets with great creative potential from across the country. Each session of the festival brings together a dozen young poets for discussions and revisions, with experienced poets invited to share insights and mentor the emerging talents.
Since its inception, the event has seen the emergence of generations of young poets, including prominent figures like Shu Ting, Gu Cheng, Liang Xiaobin and Ye Yanbin. Over 570 young poets from various regions and ethnicities have participated in the event. Many distinguished poets who once emerged from the event have already become the backbone of the Chinese poetry scene.
"There is a close connection between youth and poetry. Youth is a period filled with passion and creativity, while poetry is the most direct way to express these emotions," said Li Shaojun, the editor-in-chief of the Poetry Periodical.
"We hope that young poets from each generation can showcase their talents through the platform of the Youth Poetry Festival, exploring the diversity of poetry and creating works that are both deeply rooted in cultural heritage and resonant with the spirit of the times, thus advancing the modernization of Chinese poetry," he added.
This year, the Youth Poetry Festival will take place in Xiangyun county in Dali Bai autonomous prefecture of Southwest China's Yunnan province.
Poet Jidi Majia, a former vice-president of the China Writers Association, highlighted the cultural diversity of Dali, where various ethnic groups have influenced each other, giving rise to a distinctive regional culture that serves as a rich source of inspiration for poetry creation. He emphasized the event as a crucial cultural brand for nurturing and promoting young poets, so as to contribute to the flourishing development of Chinese poetry.
"I hope more poets will fall in love with Xiangyun, get closer to the county, understand its local culture, and become familiar with the vibrant practices of the local people in creating a better life. I hope they will produce high-quality works that document the human history of Xiangyun and are worthy of the times," he expressed.
