(24 ottobre 2017) The 7th edition of the Word N Sound International Youth Poetry festival in Johannesburg took place in recent days. The event saw numerous young artists from all over South Africa and beyond. Italy is the guest of honour represented by the poet from Trieste, Alessandro Lutman thanks to the Italian Institute of Culture of Pretoria.  The participation of the Italian poet is part of an international project called "Il Sud Africa incontra l'Italia: costruendo ponti poetici" (South Africa meets Italy: building poetic bridges) supported by the Italian Cultural Institute of Pretoria. The event on October 5th was held at the Italian Club of Johannesburg and saw the poets Afurakan Thabiso Mohare from the Word N Sound association; Raphael d'Abdon, Professor at the University of Pretoria, and Alessandro Lutman. On October 6th and 7th, Lutman performed in front of a South African audience at The Market Theatre, located in the Newtown area of the city, where he had great success and was received with a warm welcome. "This participation is just the first step of a long path, the first stone of the cultural bridge that we want to build between South Africa and Italy, as pointed out by the Director of the Italian Institute of Culture of Pretoria, Anna Amendolaggine" - explained Lutman. He also adds, "Afurakan Mohare, the festival director and I have been discussing how to continue this collaboration for a long time. (red)