In the page's words:

Poetica is an international literature festival that has been held annually in Cologne since 2015. It is organized by the University of Cologne in cooperation with the German Academy for Language and Poetry and cultural institutions of the city of Cologne and focuses in particular on poetry as an expressive genre of world literature. One author curates and moderates the festival and invites up to ten prominent poets from all over the world to present on a central theme. The initial idea for Poetica was that literature generates knowledge just like the sciences. The dialog between cross-cultural poetry, science and the public enables the comparison of aesthetic ideas and their different answers to central questions of existence.

Poetica is characterized by the presence of all authors at the events of the festival week as well as the diversity of its venues and formats, from discussions at the university and a writing workshop for students to readings and staged performances of poetry at Schauspiel Köln. At all events, the literary texts will be read in their original language by the authors and in German by actors and translators. The main texts and essays will be documented in a book publication, which will be available on the opening evening of Poetica. The opening event will be recorded and broadcast by Deutschlandfunk Kultur.

Poetica is funded by the University of Cologne, the Kunststiftung NRW and the Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia.