I am an ignorant sod and so had to look up Parnassus on Wikipedia and found this,

The name “Parnassus” in literature typically refers to its distinction as the home of poetry, literature, and learning; the Montparnasse area in Paris, France, for example, bears its name from the many literature students who recited poetry in the streets, who as a result nicknamed it “(le) Mont Parnasse”.

It seems that London, during Olympics 2012, will be the home of poetry. According to the April 17, 2012 article by Alison Flood for the Guardian, the Poetry Paranassus, poets from around the world have confirmed their presence at the event on the banks of the river Thames. From the article,

In what is being called the biggest gathering of poets in world history, the writers will appear at Poetry Parnassus, a week-long series of poetic events at the end of June led by the Southbank Centre’s artist-in-residence Armitage and artistic director Jude Kelly and inspired by epinicians, poetry commissioned as part of the ancient Olympic Games in Greece. It will see poets, rappers, storytellers and praise singers reading their work in more than 50 languages, from Haitian creole to Maori, with the event to open as 100,000 poems are dropped from a helicopter on to the waiting crowd. Many of the poets will be travelling to the UK for the first time.

A 24-year-old poet from Kazakhstan will be alongside an 83-year-old poet from Luxemburg. In addition, there will be Ireland’s Seamus Heaney, the Nobel Laureate, Kim Jong-il’s  exiled former court poet, Jan Jin Seong, and Canada’s Karen Solie.

You can find the list of poets and the countries they will be representing here.

Project organizers are searching for more poets as they are looking for representatives from 23 more countries. If you have a suggestion for a poet from these countries (from the article),

…  Bhutan, Brunei Darussalam, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Dominica, Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Lesotho, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Madagascar, Mali, Monaco, Namibia, Nauru, Niger, Palau, Papua New Guinea, American Samoa, Seychelles, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Timor-Leste and Vanuatu

This sounds like it will be an extraordinary event (from the article),

It will see poets, rappers, storytellers and praise singers reading their work in more than 50 languages, from Haitian creole to Maori, with the event to open as 100,000 poems are dropped from a helicopter on to the waiting crowd.

They are also looking for translators (from the South Bank Centre website),

Poetry translators and interpreters based in the UK are invited to be part of Poetry Parnassus. … Poetry Parnassus will give you the chance to work with highly acclaimed poets from all around the world, sharing their writing with UK audiences and making this landmark festival a success.

The translator’s registration/application form is here.

The free event (no tickets are required) runs from June 26 – July 1, 2012 according to the London 2012 Festival website.

For anyone who’s curious about the Canadian poet who will be attending, Karen Solie (from the Wikipedia essay),

Born in Moose Jaw [1966], Solie grew up on the family farm in southwest Saskatchewan. Over the years, she has worked as a farm hand, an espresso jerk, a groundskeeper, a newspaper reporter/photographer, an academic research assistant, and an English teacher. She currently resides in Toronto, Ontario.

Solie won the Griffin Poetry Prize in 2010. From the June 4, 2010 article by Vit Wagner for thestar.com

At a gala in Toronto’s Distillery District on Thursday night, the Saskatchewan-bred, Toronto-based Solie was named winner of the Griffin’s Canadian honours, joining the ranks of past winners that include Margaret Avison, Robin Blaser and, last year, A.F. Moritz.

This year,  poetry-loving arts patron Scott Griffin permanently upped the cash awards that come with his prizes (one for Canadian verse, one for international) from $50,000 to $75,000, which Solie won for her work Pigeon. Ireland’s Eilean Ni Chuilleanain was honoured for Sun-fish.

…

The cash reward was boosted as part of the 10th anniversary of the prize, one of the world’s most lucrative for a single volume of verse. Speaking about the impact of his prize earlier this year, Griffin told the Star, “The purpose of the prize was to bring some profile to poets, who were virtually at the back of the bus — and maybe not even on the bus. And I think it has done that.”

Here’s a video of Karen Solie reading a selection from her award-winning book of verse, Pigeon,

You can find the text version of the poem on the Griffin Poetry webpage hosting Karen Solie’s works.

ETA April 27, 2012: Link to Vit Wagner’s article on Karen Solie added.