For the first time, Poetry will be the central theme of The Script Road – Macau Literary Festival. In its various forms, it will be the connection for dozens of invited guests, in celebration of the very human capacity to imagine, create and communicate.

The Festival will be held from March 15 to 24, and will be mostly based at theOld Navy Yard’s Contemporary Art Centre, in the Inner Harbour.
2019 marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of American poets Walt Whitman and Herman Melville, as well as the 100th anniversary of the birth of Portuguese authors Sophia de Mello Breyner Andersen and Jorge de Sena, and Macanese poet Jose dos Santos Ferreira (Adé), who wrote his poems in the local creole language, Patuá. Special tributes will be paid to them all in a series of discussion panels, performances, film screenings and exhibitions involving local and international guests.

During its 10-day programme, the Festival will welcome prominent poets such as Jidi Majia, the vice-president of the Chinese Writers Association, Bei Dao, Yan Ai-Lin, Chris Song, Yam Gon, Chen Dong Dong, Shu Yu, Huang Fan, Lu Weiping, Na Ye, Tan Wuchang and Hsiu He, most arriving from mainland China, with others from Taiwan and Hong Kong.
From Portuguese-speaking countries, the attendance of José Luís Tavares from Cape Verde, Pedro Lamares from Portugal, Hirondina Joshua from Mozambique, Gisela Casimiro from Guiné-Bissau, and Eduardo Pacheco from Angola, has already been confirmed.

Local poetry association The Other Sky will join the event represented by its members Mok Hei Sai, Lou Kit Wa and Wong In In. The Macau-based theatre group Rolling Puppets will stage their puppet-theatre show “Drug”, at the Navy Yard over three days, which is a renewed adaptation of Lu Xun’s novel “Drug” published in 1919.

Last but not least, Portuguese 2017 Eurovision Singing Contest winner Salvador Sobral will visit Macau for the first time, and will perform at The Script Road Concert scheduled for March 17.
Other guests, including musicians, novelists, and filmmakers will be announced soon.
Alongside the Contemporary Art Center at the Old Navy Yard, the Art Garden, Albergue SCM, Macao Creative Industries Center, IPOR, Cinematheque Passion and the Portuguese Bookshop will be some of the other venues of the Script Road.