It's a celebration of language and an opportunity for some linguistic gymnastics and yesterday, the world paused to appreciate poetry in all its many forms.

Eastern Daily Press: International poet George Szirtes celebrates World Poetry Day at Wymondham by reading a poem at the town's Market Cross. The poem, from George's book, Mapping the Delta, is a translation of a traditional Hungarian folk song. World Poetry Day sets out to support linguistic diversity through poetic expression. Picture: DENISE BRADLEYInternational poet George Szirtes celebrates World Poetry Day at Wymondham by reading a poem at the town's Market Cross. The poem, from George's book, Mapping the Delta, is a translation of a traditional Hungarian folk song. World Poetry Day sets out to support linguistic diversity through poetic expression. Picture: DENISE BRADLEY (Image: Copyright: Archant 2017)

Held annually on March 21, World Poetry Day celebrates one of our most treasured forms of cultural and linguistic expression in an art form which has been practiced throughout history in every culture and on every continent.

UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientifc and Cultural Organisation, a specialised agency of the United Nations based in Paris first celebrated a poetic day in 1999 with the aim of promoting the reading, writing and teaching of poetry.

International poet George Szirtes took the opportunity to bathe Wymondham in words with a reading of poems from his book, Mapping the Delta, choosing a traditional Hungarian folk song he translated into a poem. Mr Szirtes was born in Budapest in 1948 and came to England with his family after the 1956 Hungarian uprising.

A former lecturer at the University of East Anglia, he trained as a painter and in recent years has worked as a translator of Hungarian literature. His poetry books include The Budapest File, An English Apocalypse, Reel, New and Collected Poems, The Burning of the Books and other poems and Bad Machine.