What is World Poetry Day? Here's the lowdown and test your knowledge with our well-versed quiz

Today is World Poetry Day, and if you’re out of the loop about what that means or how to mark the occasion, Euronews Culture have got you covered.

Every year, World Poetry Day is celebrated on 21 March with the aim of supporting linguistic diversity through poetic expression. 

The day encourages people to understand the importance of poetic devices and increases the opportunity for endangered languages to be heard. 

World Poetry Day not only honours poets, but aims to revive oral traditions of poetry recitals, as well as promote the reading, writing, and teaching of poetry. It also highlights the convergence between poetry and other arts such as theatre, music, painting, and raises the visibility of poetry in the media.

World Poetry Day was first adopted by UNESCO in 1999, during its 30th General Conference in Paris. 

The original UNESCO declaration says the day was established to "give fresh recognition and impetus to national, regional, and international poetry movements".

The theme for World Poetry Day 2023 is “Always be a poet, even in prose.” 

This famous line of verse by French poet Charles Baudelaire emphasizes the importance of creativity and beauty in all forms of writing, not just poetry. It’s a call to observe and appreciate the role that poetry can have in everyday life.

The UNESCO website also states that for World Poetry Day 2023, their forum “Poetry for Life” highlights the power of poetry in difficult times: “In times of uncertainty and turbulence, we need more than ever the power of poetry to bring people together and to nurture the peace all societies need today. Let’s enhance the Reading and Writing skills among students.”

They also suggest to use the hashtags #WorldPoetryDay and #Poetryforlife to highlight