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Poets from across the kingdom will be sharing their colourful compositions in a fun festival format with the aim of encouraging future talents to join the literary world.
The Colours of Life is an annual poetry festival organised by The Second Circle, a sister group of the Bahrain Writers’ Circle (BWC). The event, which was first launched in 2012 and featured 15 poets, was founded by David Hollywood who is also the originator of The Second Circle.
Since then, the bilingual festival has attracted poets and writers ranging in age from Bahrain, Malaysia, the US, Canada, India, Ireland, Yemen, the UK, Pakistan, Germany and the Netherlands. This year the exhibition, which will be staged at the Riffa Views International School’s Level 5 non-profit professional learning centre on Saturday, will feature 20 poets showcasing 34 poems alongside visual and musical accompaniments.
Claudia Hardt, a PR and communications specialist and member of BWC who has been participating in every festival, said: “What we hope to achieve is to get the word out that poetry is accessible, fun and it evokes many colours.
“We also want to re-encourage further talent. For example, we have one poet who has been a member for many years and has finally taken the plunge to participate. We had to turn away eager participants as we limit the number of poets to 20 as we feel that more than an hour is too much. Each poet gets three minutes to deliver one, two or three poems.
“We also have more Bahraini poets than ever before - some even presenting their poetry in English.”
There will also be a meet and mingle session after the poetry presentation; giving visitors a chance to purchase some of the published works as well as discuss the poems with the writers themselves.
Claudia, who will be sharing her poem, entitled Dana, said: “I am inspired by the rich culture, heritage and the natural beauty of Bahrain. My poetry focuses on the tradition of pearl diving and its precious gem – the Pearl.
“It talks about the being away at sea and coming back to the shores of the Two Seas; bringing someone’s loved one back to the family.”
Admission is free and all guests are required to provide an ID or CPR card at the entrance.
For details on joining BWC, visit www.bahrainwriterscircle.net
