The Jerusalem-based K'tovet Poetry Group is proud to announce the upcoming 2nd annual "One Meter Square" Poetry Festival. Over sixty of Israel's leading poets and musicians will be taking part in a variety of 15 admission-free events, all dealing with the many different forms of Israeli space – small, intimate, and "one meter square".
According to Israeli police regulations, organizers of public events are obliged to maintain a reasonable level of crowding based on a benchmark of one meter square per person. It is therefore both symbolic and ironic that one meter square is a festival standard designed to ensure both pleasure and safety. One meter square outlines an existential compromise in a world that is becoming progressively smaller, in a country that is becoming progressively more cramped for the peoples who inhabit it, in a small city center, in the narrow alleyways of Lev Ha'ir – the heart of Jerusalem – and above all, within the poem itself, where less always contains more.
The Festival will take place in the Lev Ha'ir Quarter in the heart of Jerusalem. The participating poets will read from their works and talk to audiences in local courtyards, in homes of residents, in intimate public spaces and in cafés. The various venues have been carefully selected so as to enable even large numbers of people to experience the unique intimacy of this historic quarter. The themes of the performances are also intimately connected to the idea of "one meter square" – a pocket, an invitation to laughter, the individual, a patch of ground, and more.
The K'tovet Group has been active for the past seven years in Jerusalem, hosting scores of poetry and music performances, creative writing workshops and encounters with poets from Israel and abroad.
For the full Hebrew festival program in pdf form, click here.
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