{"id":1044,"date":"2026-10-29T22:39:01","date_gmt":"2026-10-29T21:39:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/poggioaisanti.com\/blog\/?p=1044"},"modified":"2026-10-30T11:12:19","modified_gmt":"2026-10-30T10:12:19","slug":"every-word-is-a-seed-our-first-natural-poetry-festival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/poggioaisanti.com\/blog\/en\/every-word-is-a-seed-our-first-natural-poetry-festival\/","title":{"rendered":"Every Word Is a Seed \u2014 Our First Natural Poetry Festival"},"content":{"rendered":"

Our first International Natural Poetry Festival at Poggio ai Santi, 17\u201318 October 2026<\/em><\/p>\n

Some ideas are born almost in silence, like a seed placed in the soil. We don’t know exactly what they will become, but we sense they are worth tending.<\/p>\n

That was the spirit in which we imagined our first International Natural Poetry Festival, devoted to the theme The Seed \u2013 Origin and Future of Natural Poetry<\/strong>. On 17 and 18 October, here at Poggio ai Santi, the idea finally took shape: two days of encounters, conversations, poetry and sharing.<\/p>\n

For us, nature is not just the landscape around us. It is something we live with every day, something we try to understand, respect and protect. For years we have been working to safeguard biodiversity and to preserve native plant varieties. The Festival grew partly from the wish to tell that story in a different language \u2013 the language of poetry, which has a way of bringing together different sensibilities, experiences and generations.<\/p>\n

Words, landscape and biodiversity<\/h2>\n

Saturday afternoon opened with a literary caf\u00e9, the presentation of Mara Milena Anastasia’s artist’s book and the handing out of little seed bombs: a symbolic gesture, but also a very real invitation to sow.<\/p>\n

With Antonio Perazzi, landscape architect and author of La repubblica autonoma di Piuca<\/em>, we explored the relationship between people, nature and landscape. The conversation continued in the round table Landscape and Poetry<\/em> with historian and territorial scholar Rossano Pazzagli, accompanied by poetry readings from Letizia Papi.<\/p>\n

A particularly moving moment was the live link with the Svalbard Global Seed Vault \u2013 the world’s seed bank, deep in the Arctic islands of Svalbard \u2013 with Professor Fuad Ga\u0161i. It reminded us how vital it is to preserve the genetic diversity of plants, especially at a time shaped by climate change. Every variety that disappears is a loss not only for agriculture, but for the natural and cultural heritage we have inherited.<\/p>\n

Keeping an ancient seed alive is not nostalgia. It is an act of love for the future.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ex Semine: where poetry meets the kitchen<\/h2>\n

The kitchen of our restaurant, Il Sale, wanted to be part of the story too.<\/p>\n

Chef Michele Bisanzio created Ex Semine<\/em> \u2013 “from the seed” \u2013 a tasting menu inspired entirely by seeds, explored through different ingredients, textures and techniques. From fermented pumpkin seeds to smoked sesame, from buckwheat to sunflower seeds, each course offered a new way of discovering what the land gives us.<\/p>\n

It translated the Festival’s theme into flavours, aromas and textures, and reminded us that our relationship with nature also runs through what we choose to grow and bring to the table.<\/p>\n

The words that took root<\/h2>\n

On Sunday, after a walk through the countryside of Poggio ai Santi, it was time for the awards of the International Natural Poetry Competition.<\/p>\n