20 poets from 16 countries will perform at over 60 events, ranging from intimate readings in private gardens to readings on a boat on the Ljubljanica River, from Austria to Croatia. Never before has great international poetry been so close and so accessible, and never before has its amazing power drawn so many readers and listeners from close by and from afar. Join us. In order to disseminate the voices of outstanding poets far and wide, our events are free, mostly both in Slovene and in English, as well as in the languages of our guests from countries ranging from China to Egypt!

Two great poetesses and two great poets of contemporary poetry written in German are coming to Slovenia: Jan Wagner, Monika Rinck, Birgit Müller-Wieland in José F. A. Oliver.

Project Open Letter to Europe is addressing institutions, politicians, media and everyman of Europe and presenting the problems that are considered the most pressing. In 2019, Open Letter to Europe is to be authored by Bulgarian-born German cosmopolitan, writer, translator and performer Ilija Trojanow. The author will present it at the opening of the festival on August 21.

Poetry promenade is back for the third time! The streets of Ptuj will rejoice with poetry, music, dance and acrobatic stunts, all that on the last morning of festival, Saturday, August 24. All visitors are warmly intited to join the promenade in masks!

Ptuj is the capital of European poetry. Thanks to the Versopolis platform, which has been helping great but internationally less-known poets navigate the European festival circuit for five years, these poets can now be seen, heard and translated. Thanks to our initiative, over 224 000 poetry booklets have been published and poets have given more than 300 readings to audiences in countries other than their own. Our festival will thus be visited by Versopolis poets Ramunė Brundzaitė from Lithuania, Goran Čolakhodžić from Croatia, Maarten Inghels from Belgium and Lou Raoul from France. However, Versopolis is not just a platform: it is also an English-language international journal, the Versopolis Review, which upholds notions of Europe as a treasury of different cultures, provides sharp critique where warranted and connects poetry with ongoing social and political developments.

This year’s festival will include the 63rd, 64th and 65th editions of Wicked Tastings!, where guests will be able to listen to select guest poets and taste wines produced by Ptujska klet, Gregor Breuer from Rüdesheim and the Vipava 1894 cellar. Following enthusiastic feedback in the past few years, this year’s festival will again feature a wine workshop that will conclude with a fun quiz with prizes; both will be headed by wine writer Jože Rozman. The wine altar, managed by professional taster Staša Bizjak, will feature nine carefully selected wines from Slovenian Styria and Germany.