Poets from Brunei Darussalam recently joined their counterparts from Indonesia and Malaysia in reciting poetry highlighting contemporary world issues at the Indonesian Poets Festival in Sumatera.
Held from May 25-28 at the Taman Budaya, Medan, the event entitled "The 1st International Poetry Gathering" managed to group together more than 60 regional poets.
Three poets from Brunei - Adi Swara, Camar Putih and ZA Brunei - joined Indonesian poets such as Viddy AD Daery, Dini Usman, Idris Pasaribu and Ahmadun Yosi Herfanda.
Some 15 poets from Malaysia also attended the event including renowned literati Khalid Salleh, SM Zakir, Dr Ahmad Razali, Dr Ibrahim Ghafar dan Salleh Rahmad.
Held for the first time in Indonesia, the festival was declared open by Medan Head of Culture and Tourism Department, H Syarifuddin SH, as a representative of the Medan governor.
According to poets from Brunei, the four-day event was filled with poetry recitals, discussions, exhibition of posters, sale of literature books and screening of short films.
Meanwhile, Dr Mukhlis Pa`eni - the Director General of Values of Culture, Arts and Film, Department of Culture and Tourism, Republic of Indonesia - attended the Regional Literati Forum (Musyawarah Sasterawan Nusantara) at a leading hotel in Medan last Monday (May 28).
A resolution passed during the forum was to organise the festival on an annual basis with next year`s event to be held at Kediri, East Java.
Source: www.brunei-online.com (2 Juni 2007)
