VERONA, Italy — The World Academy of Poetry, a new institution dedicated to the promotion of poetry around the globe, opens Friday in the Italian city best known for its star-crossed lovers, Romeo and Juliet.
Among those expected to take part in the inauguration ceremonies were Wole Soyinka of Nigeria, who won the 1986 Nobel Prize for Literature, and 50 other literary greats. They will take part in concerts and readings around Verona this weekend to celebrate the new academy.
The academy will sponsor poetry contests and readings, publish a magazine and produce television broadcasts on prominent members of the institution, the Italian news agency ANSA said.
The northeastern city of Verona, chosen by Shakespeare for his tragic love story “Romeo and Juliet,” already is home to the International Institute for Opera and Poetry, which was established by UNESCO.
