Written by Goenawan Mohamad, and published as a part of Poetry International – Indonesia (2010). Mar 15, 2010
Goenawan Mohamad's opening speech at the World Poetry Festival, Kuala Lumpur, 17 August 2004. I would like to thank you for having me here, in this extraordinary gathering of poets, and for giving me the honour to begin our conversation. However, I must confess my nervousness; I know that each time poets get together they become acutely self-conscious of their peculiar trade, especially in today’s world. When words relentlessly multiply, like they do nowadays, the verbal deluge makes us wonder what will happen next to the hidden side of language, which is silence.
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