Held every year on 21 March, World Poetry Day celebrates one of humanity’s most treasured forms of cultural and linguistic expression and identity. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural organization (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. World Poetry Day is the occasion to honour poets, revive oral traditions of poetry recitals, promote the reading, writing and teaching of poetry, foster the convergence between poetry and other arts, such as theatre, dance, music and painting, and raise the visibility of poetry in the media. As poetry continues to bring people together across continents, all are invited to join in the celebration. In Jamaica, words have always been a primary tool of expression, from jubilation and joy to sadness and pain. Jamaicans have an uncanny way of using words to draw people in, especially through poetry. One of the most unique forms of poetry born from great Jamaican poets is Dub Poetry.
