The ninth International Istanbul Poetry and Literature Festival, which has welcomed more than 150 domestic and international veteran men of letters, kicked off with an opening ceremony at Pera Palace Hotel last night. The festival embraces poetry as well as short stories and children's literature. This year, the festival will also host various events to commemorate English bard William Shakespeare on the 400th anniversary of his death and the centenary of the birth of Turkish philosopher Cemil Meriç. "The Shakespeare Reading" event will take place at the Moda Stage and the most renowned works by Shakespeare will be read aloud by Mert Fırat, Defne Halman, Ceren Hacımuratoğlu, Ümit Bülent Dinçer and Volkan Yosunlu.The ninth edition of the International Istanbul Poetry and Literature Festival will host panel sessions, readings and various other events at Pera Palace Hotel, Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar Library, the Basilica Cistern, the Gülhane Park, the Emiragan Tulip Museum, Moda Stage, Minoa Book Store, and Turabibaba Library. "Karanlık İşler" will also present a unique reading session to book worms, which will take place in total darkness.Poets and writers from 20 countries around the world including the U.K., Portugal, Spain , France, Italy, Slovenia, Austria, Germany, Poland, Sweden, Hungary, Bosnia Herzegovina, Lebanon, Morocco, Syria, China, Argentina, Mexico and Australia will join Turkish men of letters such as Mario Levi, Ahmet Ümit, İskender Pala, Tarık Tufan, Beşir Ayvazoğlu, Haydar Ergülen, Zeynep Sevde Paksu, Mevlana İdris Zengin, Selçuk Küpçük, Hüseyin Yurttaş, Abdülkadir Budak, Barış Müstecaplıoğlu and Mehmet Fidancı. Among the world-recognized writers, French philosopher Eric Sadin, contemporary Slovenian literature's prominent writer Drago Jancar, English writer Jason Goodwin who is known for his books on the Ottoman Empire and founder of "World Poetry Movement" and Australian Phillip Hammial stand out. The festival, whose regulatory board is composed of Adnan Özer, Metin Celal and Doğan Hızlan, will close its curtains for this year with the live performance of the band Country for Syria at the Emirgan Tulip Museum on Oct. 2.