CHARTER OF THE
WORLD CONGRESS OF POETS (II)
PREAMBLE
We, the poets of various nations of the world, have decided to mobilize and organize our kind into a World Congress of Poets to substitute peace for war in the minds of men, by educating mankind with love of peace and of fellowmen, that is, the promotion of world brotherhood and peace through poetry and by means of their encounters an interchange of culture and reciprocal comprehension.
ARTICLE I
l. An itinerant World Congress of Poets shall meet at least once every two years or, if necessary, earlier. It shall be organized by a national or international cultural body after previous agreement of the Secretary-general and consultation with the International Committee. The proposal to organize such a Congress shall be put to the Congress for approval.
2. The World Congress of Poets is open to all poets, editors, literary critics irrespective of nationality, race, religion or ideology.
AR TICLE II
1. The Congress shall choose the President of the succeeding Congress. The President-elect shall organize the material side of the Congress and shall be responsible for all decisions taken. He shall choose his assistants and honorary representatives to preside over the meetings and coordinate the work.
2. The Secretary-general sees to the continuity of the Congress, convenes and presides over the International Committee, evaluates the candidates of the future Congresses, signs decisions and administers the permanent fund of Secretariats. The original Charter shall be deposited with the Secretariats. It shall be his duty to see to its application.
3. The International Committee is the consultative body of the Congress. It shall be composed of poets from the six continents providing for, as far as possible, equitable geographic and linguistic representation, the maximum number being fifteen.
4. The Presidents of the Congresses shall be titled "Presidents Emeriti".
5. The official languages of the Congress are English, Spanish and French. Decisions shall be drawn up in all these languages.
AR TITLE III
All decisions of the Congress shall be by a simple majority of those .present and voting.
ARTICLE IV
An Academy of Arts and Culture of the World Congresses of Poets shall be set up with an executive committee composed of not more than eleven members. The Academy may award literary
distinctions to such persons who, in its opinion, deserve recognition.
ARTICLE V
The Congress shall have power to amend the present Charter by a majority decision.
DECISION
The present Charter supersedes the previous Charter proclaimed in Taipei, Republic of China, on the Seventeenth day of November, 1973.
Adopted in Madrid, Spain, on July, 1982, by the Sixth World Congress of Poets and submitted the same day to the Secretary-general of the Congress in the official languages.
Signed by The International Committee:
O. Odon Betanzos Palacios – Spain, Charles Carrere - Africa
Byung-Hwa Cho – Korea, Tin-wen Chung - Rep. of China
P. Brian Cox – Australia; Eugene Van Itterbeek – Belgium
Justice S. Mohan – India, Mimmo Moriva – Italy
Justo Jorge Padron – Spain, Krishna Srinivas – India
Rosemary Wilkinson – USA, Jeno Platthy – USA
Lou Lutour - USA |