Autorii selectati provin din 30 de tari, iar pe lista apar nume precum Maya Angelou, Vikram Seth, Adrian Mitchell sau Margaret Atwood.
Doua autoare din Romania au fost si ele selectate: Doina Ioanid si Nina Cassian.
Toate aceste poeme vor fi prezentate public pe 20 iulie, la un „eveniment fara precedent“, in care 50 de persoane (actori si scriitori) vor recita aceste poezii, atat in limbile in care au fost scrise, cat si in traducere, in limba engleza. Printre acestia, va fi prezenta la ceremonie si Celia Hewitt, „muza“ care a inspirat poezia Celia, Celia a lui Adrian Mitchell.
Un prolog si un epilog
Evenimentul va avea un prolog (poemul The Dream Keeper de Langston Hughes) si un epilog – Love After Love de Derek Walcott, care, in opinia specialistilor de la Southbank Centre, este „the most iconic love poem“. Aceasta manifestare se va desfasura in cadrul Festivalului Iubirii si al Festivalului International de Poezie, creat de Ted Hughes in 1967.
Iata lista completa: Michael Donaghy (SUA) – The Present; Naomi Shibab Nye (Palestina) – Shoulders; Philippe Jaccottet (Franta) – Distances; Tadeusz Rozewicz (Polonia) – A Sketch for a Modern Love Poem; Billy Collins (SUA) – Night Club; Nazim Hikmett (Turcia) – Things I Didn’t Know I Loved; Margaret Atwood (Canada) – Variations on the Word Love; Mutsuo Takahashi (Japonia) – Dove; Anna Swir (Polonia) – Thank-you, My Fate; Lawrence Bradby (Marea Britanie) – If Your Faith in Me Should Fail; Mary Oliver (SUA) – Wild Geese; Anat Zecharaya (Israel) – A Woman of Valour; Karlis Verdins (Lituania) – Come to Me; Doina Ioanid (Romania) – The Yellow Dog; Ana Ristovic (Serbia) – Circling Zero; Katharine Kilalea (Africa de Sud) – You Were a Bird; Ted Hughes (Marea Britanie) – Lovesong; Kim Addonizio (SUA) – You Don’t Know What Love Is; Kim Hyesoon (Coreea) – A Hole; Choman Hardi (Kurdistanul Irakian) – Summer Roof; Carolyn Kizer (SUA) – Bitch; Nina Cassian (Romania) – Lady of Miracles; Ashjan Al Hendi (Arabia Saudita) – In Search of the Other; Don Paterson (Scotia) – My Love; Edwin Morgan (Scotia) – Strawberries; Chinua Achebe (Nigeria) – Love Song (for Anna); Muriel Rukeyser (SUA) – Looking at Each Other; Linton Kwesi Johnson (Marea Britanie/Jamaica) – Hurricane Blues; Tracy K Smith (SUA) – Duende; Warsan Shire (Marea Britanie/Somalia) – for women who are difficult to love; Frank O’Hara (SUA) – Having a Coke With You; Adrian Mitchell (Marea Britanie) – Celia Celia; Jackie Kay (Scotia) – Her; Maya Angelou (SUA) – Come. And Be My Baby; Kutti Revathi (India) – Breasts; Sujata Bhatt (India) – Love in a Bathtub; Annabelle Despard (Norvegia) – Should You Die First; Alice Oswald (Marea Brianie) – Wedding; Valzhyna Mort (Bielorusia) – Love; Nikola Madzirov (Macedonia) – When Someone Goes Away Everything That’s Been Done Comes Back; Iman Mersal (Egipt) – Love; Sinead Morrissey (Irlanda) – Forgive Us Our Trespasses; Kei Miller (Jamaica) – Epilogue; Faiz Ahmed Faiz (Pakistan) – Before You Came; WS Merwin (SUA) – In Time; Arundathi Subramaniam (India) – Prayer; Yves Bonnefoy (Franta) – A stone; Ko Un (Coreea de Sud) – Snowfall; Amjad Nasser (Iordania) – A Song and Three Questions; Vikram Seth (India) – All You Who Sleep Tonight.