Every summer Berlin invites up to 200 poets and artists from around the world to the Poesiefestival Berlin. They workshop poetry, and read to audiences drawn from some 10,000 visitors to the festival.

The poetry festival is followed by an 'open air marketplace of poetry' where artistic directors of poetry festivals around the world come to network and secure performance bookings and distribution rights.

The Australian Embassy in Berlin supported two appearances by poet Les Murray at the 2014 festival in June. He gave a talk titled 'The Ringing Planet' where he spoke of a 'repoeticisation' of the world, and recited at Weltklang – Nachte der Poesie (Night of Poetry) where international poets read in their own language, and the audience can read a version of each work in German from a pre-published anthology.

Festival Director Dr Thomas Wohlfahrt praised Mr Murray for his 'emphatic celebration of nature'. His participation in the festival received very positive and broad media coverage in German and Swiss newspapers.