World Poetry Salon: Aleš Šteger, Jure Tori, and Patricio Ferrari

Join The New York Public Library and Limelight Poetry at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library (SNFL) for a World Poetry Salon event as part of our 2026 World Literature and Arts Festival!

Experience words and music from around the globe at the World Poetry Salon, a new series presented in partnership with Limelight Poetry, a local nonprofit dedicated to promoting world poetry. Each event features readings by a celebrated poet set to live music by a musician of the same cultural background. 

This salon will feature a reading by Aleš Šteger accompanied by musician Jure Tori. A printout will be available for attendees to follow along with Šteger's poetry during the reading. Following the reading, Šteger will be interviewed by event host Patricio Ferrari.

The poems of Aleš Šteger are distinguished by their exceptional musicality and breadth of interpretative possibilities. The Slovenian poet, who performs his poems in the original and, depending on the audience, in translations, has been performing with accordionist and composer Jure Tori for seven years. Over time, a unique fusion of music and lyrics has emerged, a performative ritual based on haunting compositions, laconically entertaining and accessible lyrics, and an energetic performance that combines the celestial and the earthly.

To join in person | Please be sure to register for an In-Person Ticket. Doors will open 30 minutes before the program begins.

For free events, we generally overbook to ensure a full house. Priority will be given to those who have registered in advance, but registration does not guarantee admission. If you register for multiple tickets, please provide the name of each person who will be attending the event or arrive with your entire party present. Only registered patrons will be granted entry into the event space. All registered seats are released shortly before start time, and seats may become available at that time. A standby line will form 30 minutes before the program.

To join online | On the day of the event, registrants will receive a Youtube link to join the program. To receive an email reminder shortly in advance of the event, please be sure to register! If you encounter any issues, please join us on NYPL's YouTube channel.

This event was preparted with support of the Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia in Washington DC.

ABOUT LIMELIGHT POETRY

Limelight Poetry is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting world poetry, founded in 2024 in New York City. It invites outstanding poets and artists from around the world to share their work in various forms, with the goal of showcasing poetry in underrepresented languages. Drawing on the city's rich cultural resources, Limelight Poetry connects poetry with other art forms, fostering a global exchange of poetic expression. It welcomes audiences into a vibrant and inspiring world of poetry, music and beyond.

ABOUT THE POET

Aleš Šteger has published numerous collections of poetry, essays and prose, and moves between different literary worlds and textual genres. His books have been translated into more than 20 languages. He himself translates from German, English and Spanish, including works by Gottfried Benn, Walter Benjamin, Ingeborg Bachmann and César Vallejo. Šteger is the recipient of prestigious international awards such as Prix Max Jacob Etranger (France, 2025), Premio Siglo de Oro (Mexico, 2024), the Alfred Kolleritsch Memorial Prize (Austria, 2021), the Horst Bienek Prize (Germany, 2016) and the BTBA Award for the best translated book of the year in the USA (2011). He has been awarded the Chevalier des Artes et Lettres by the French Minister of Culture. He is a member of the Academy of Arts in Berlin and the German Academy of Language and Literature.

ABOUT THE MUSICIAN

Jure Tori is known far beyond his country's borders as "an extraordinary accordionist" and "a storyteller on the accordion". For more than 20 years he has been playing a wide variety of styles, from tango and jazz to ethno music and hard rock. He has developed his own style, which he remains true to in his compositions: sometimes melancholic, other times lively and joyful. He has co-written and co-written more than 20 CDs. In recent years, he has performed in German-speaking countries, mainly with the Austrian double bassist Ewald Oberleitner, and in Slovenia with the legendary rock thrash band Orleki.

ABOUT THE HOST

Patricio Ferrari (polyglot poet, translator, editor) was born in Buenos Aires and left home at sixteen, when he began a lifelong journey across continents and languages. He has since shaped a multilingual poetics that explores belonging, displacement, and the in-between. In 2025, he was awarded the Fence Modern Poets Series Prize for Mud Songs, the first volume of Elsehere, a trilogy charting how each language molds and reveals a different facet of the self—what he calls heterophony, the process of self- othering through an adopted tongue.

ABOUT THE FESTIVAL

The New York Public Library’s World Literature & Arts Festival (April 15–30, 2026) brings together trailblazers from diverse disciplines and backgrounds to celebrate storytelling and spotlight NYC’s vibrant communities. Join us for free events, programs, book recommendations, and resources for all ages.

BOOKS AND MORE

If you have an NYPL library card, you can borrow e-books related to this event on your favorite devices. Learn more: nypl.org/ebookhelp.

Don't have a New York Public Library card? Get one here!

ACCESSIBILITY

In-Person

• You can request a free ASL (American Sign Language) interpretation or CART (Communication Access Real-Time Translation) captioning service by emailing your request at least two weeks in advance of the event: email accessibility@nypl.org.


• This venue is fully accessible to wheelchairs.

Online

• Live captioning will be provided.


• You can request a free ASL (American Sign Language) interpretation by emailing your request at least two weeks in advance of the event: email accessibility@nypl.org.

CONNECT

For general questions, please email adultprogramming@nypl.org.

Please submit all press inquiries at least 48 hours before the event: email press@nypl.org.