International Literature Days was held at various places in Diyarbakır November 5-7, 2009 with the partnership of Diyarbakır Arts Center and Winternachten Foundation in collaboration with Lîs Editions. The event brought together representatives of world literature from different countries. Held as one of the legs of the Winternachten International Literature Festival that is organized annually in Lahey, the International Literature Days event provided a significant experience by bringing together writers from different nationalities with Kurdish artists in Diyarbakır, as well as facilitating the encounter of different cultures and literatures.
In the Literature Days, the discussion topics consisted of non-Western literary traditions, the linguistic and literary position of Kurdish in the Middle East, and the relationship of literature with religion and mythology in Mesopotamia and the Middle East. South African and Kurdish poets who gathered at the Diyarbakır Art Center read poems emphasizing the importance of peace, freedom, and living together. On the last day of the event, around 50 artists, writers, and poets from various countries and cultures took the stage at a reading event in Sümerpark to read excerpts from the first Kurdish novel by Ereb Şemo, Şivanê Kurmanca (Kurdish Shepherd). Folk poets (dengbej) from the Dicle-Fırat Culture and Arts Center and the Music Band of the Confederation of Public Employees’ Unions (KESK) also participated in the event that was held in collaboration with Diyarbakır Metropolitan Municipality and the Netherlands Consulate-General in Istanbul.