three days, November 3-5, the heart of Port Harcourt will be awash with rhymes and rhythms as the maiden Port Harcourt Poetry Festival, PhPoetryFestival, opening formally on November 3 at the Alliance Francaise, Old GRA, runs in the city fondly called the Garden City.

Before now, the city had been renowned for its Garden City Book Festival, promoted by Mrs Koko Kalango and her team at the Rainbow Book Club. The city also brought global glory to Nigeria, when it was elected as the UNESCO-promoted World Book Capital in 2014, also through the bidding by the Rainbow Book Club backed by the then Rotimi Amaechi-led administration of Rivers State.

This time around, however, it is strictly a celebration of Poetry, and it is the brainchild of a cast of young poets, literary activists, and enthusiasts.

Riding on the theme, “Paving the Way”, the festival will parade a cast of young local poets and established names in the N Nigerian poetry circuits, including the lyricist Sage Has.Son, the activist Dike Chukwiumerije, ‘poet of the dust’, Umar Abubakar Sidi, and the corporate executive-poet Kudo Ersesia Eke.

The festival will feature keynotes, panel discussions, workshops, performances, and raffle draws in its three-day duration.

According to the convener and director of the festival, Ken-Adele Marvellous Oruchi, the 3-day festival is “designed to promote poetry, culture, and the arts in Rivers State. Founded in 2023, the festival is geared towards fostering harmony and collaboration between poets, writers, and practitioners of the performing arts.”

Kennedy continues, “We seek to put the spotlight on our beloved garden city as we believe our activities will create an enabling environment for creative expressions within the state; building capacity and developing talents who will go on to take advantage of the numerous opportunities in the global creative economy.”

“The festival presents activities such as workshops, masterclasses, book readings, author sessions, poetry short-film screening, an art gallery tour, high schools poetry exhibition, performance poetry prize, an awards ceremony, and a concert.

“It is our desire to create a vibrant and friendly ecosystem that can spur the sustainable growth of creative expressions within the region, promote our alluring heritage as a people and consequentially bring the world to Port Harcourt.”

Speaking on the opening ceremony, which is star-studded, and holding at the Alliance Francaise, Herbert Macaulay Way, Old GRA, Kennedy says:

“We welcome you to an evening of splendid artistic expressions that will usher us into the spirit of the festival. Join us as we welcome guests and participants from across the country in a ceremony that promises to be GRAND in every sense. With keynote speeches and exhilarating performances from our distinguished guests, we are certain you’d rather be a part of this novel experience. Time: 4 PM”