The International Peace Research Association gathered May 17-21, 2023, in Port of Spain, Trinidad for their 2023 conference. I attended and was in the company of some of the world’s most brilliant scholars of peace. To be in this multi-racial country, to be welcomed with great warmth by the locals and to be treated to a reiki session were all part of the amazing experience. That my mother was born in the Caribbean (Cuba) may also have been a factor in the ease I felt being in that part of the world. Hearing so many English accents was also wonderful, as was the local cuisine, including “Doubles.”
Once the conference ended, the Co-Secretary General of IPRA, Matt Meyer, sat down with me to answer a few questions about IPRA and the conference. I plan to attend the 2025 IPRA conference and perhaps present on Poetry Postcards as Peace Project. Enjoy!
Matt Meyer, IPRA, Trinidad 2023, with Paul E Nelson
Podcast (prophets-podcast): Play in new window | Download (Duration: 20:56 — )
I LOVE this website and these postings! It’s hard to believe it’s been almost a full year since this conference and our conversation, and I’m thrilled to have stumbled across these great photos and the audio of our chat. Last month, an IPRA delegation had the honor of visiting with His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan community-in-exile in Dharamsala, and later this month we look forward to the biennial African Peace Research and Education conference. We look forward to you (Paul) and your poetry, as well as all the members of our communities, at the next major IPRA conference – all to take place on Indigenous Māori land – in early November 2025. PEACE!
Matt, thank you for your kind words and for your remarkable work for peace in this world. We’d love to see you in NZ,
Paul