Dubai - UAE: 13 December 2017 –  An initiative by SGI Gulf, The Poetic Heart - a poetry symposium bringing together eminent and young poets from across the region - will be held for the seventh consecutive year in 2018 in line with SGI’s vision of promoting peace, cultural understanding and human values through education. 

To be held at the Emirates Institute for Banking and Financial Studies (EIBFS) Auditorium in Dubai International Academic City, Dubai, UAE; The Poetic Heart will take place from 9:00am to 5:30pm on 4 February 2018. 

Organized under the theme ‘Building Bridges’ this year’s symposium is built on the idea of building bonds of trust, friendship and understanding amongst individuals from different cultural, linguistic, ethnic and religious backgrounds through poetry. This year’s event will witness globally renowned poets, and budding poets from distinguished schools in the UAE, come together to recite inspiring poems in a plethora of languages including Arabic, English, Italian, Japanese, Malayalam, Persian, Tamil, Urdu, etc.

Mr. Suresh Premkumar, Chairperson, SGI Gulf, said: “The Poetic Heart began as a small initiative with the intention of creating a platform to express and connect with the local community through poetry to share our core values of peace, culture and universal harmony. The symposium has grown tremendously over the years with participation from renowned poets, musicians, and young budding poets from schools and colleges. Last year we had 30 schools with over 600 students involved, and this year we are expecting over 40 schools to participate. making the event bigger and better.”

The event is being held in partnership with Emirates NBD’s CSR initiative that commits to advocating for people of determination under its ‘Together Limitless’ platform. Last year’s edition saw some amazing performances from students of schools such as Manzil Centre and SNF Development Centre.  Students from these schools not only recited beautiful poetries but also gave splendid performances and put up kiosks of the lovely handicrafts that included jewelry, handmade cards and paintings. Continuing to build on the momentum of last year, this edition of The Poetic Heart will witness great engagement and performances by the determined ones from schools across UAE as well. 
 
Previous editions have seen World Peace Poet Laureate, Dr. Daisaku Ikeda; Emirati Tagore Peace Prize Winner, Dr. Shihab Ghanem; American Grammy Award Winner, Nestor Torres; and British Singing Icon, Sami Yusuf share the stage. Budding talents like Gulmehek Khan, the World’s Youngest Published Poetess; Ebin George, a 15-year-old Multi-instrumentalist; and Siya Arora, a 15-year-old Musician from Dubai whose song, Slow Down the World, has become an international hit, have also participated in the event. 

The Poetic Heart symposium was conceived in 2012 with the vision of becoming one the UAE’s, and subsequently the region’s leading festivals celebrating poetry and embracing different cultures. The previous 6 editions were held in association with Dubai Knowledge Village, Dubai International Academic City & The Culture & Scientific Association (Nadwa).