UNESCO World Poetry Day (2026)

On UNESCO World Poetry Day, 21 March 2026, David read with Michael Harlow (NZ co-ordinator), Fiona Farrell, Kate Camp,, Paul Schimmel, Erik Kennedy, and Terry Locke in the New Zealand contribution to the World Poetry Day Festival. Organiser Rei Berroa of Mason University Washington, also enlisted poets from Algeria, Argentina, Austria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, China, Colombia, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, France, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Honduras, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Macedonia, Mexico, Morocco, the Netherlands, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Sri Lanka, the United States, Uruguay, and Venezuela.

Back in 2000 David organised the first New Zealand celebration, with group readings at venues in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, and Dunedin. The World Poetry Day Festival 2026 moved with the times, it took place on social media, with New Zealand restarting play on the first of three recordings 55 minutes in. The event began at Festival Arte Vivo, in Santiago, Dominican Republic, at 12 midnight March 21 and ended at Teatro de la Luna in Washington, DC, at 12 midnight March 22, Eastern Daylight Time (EDT). Festival Arte Vivo and Teatro de la Luna were the two main co-sponsors of the event, with support from the Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra in Santiago, Dominican Republic.