UNESCO first adopted 21 March as World Poetry Day in 1999, “with the aim of supporting linguistic diversity through poetic expression and increasing the opportunity for endangered languages to be heard”, something very close to the NPL's heart. 

To celebrate this landmark in the poetry calendar, we've curated a special selection of our eloans, showcasing poetry in translation and supporting endangered languages around the globe.

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Our Poem of the Day is a recording of Nobel Prize-winning poet Wole Soyinka, who read his poem 'Her Joy is Wild' in the library for 2012's Poetry Parnassus.

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