Berlin - Recently deceased Palestinian national poet Mahmoud Darwish is to be remembered with a world-wide day of readings of his work on October 5, including at the 2008 International Literature Festival in Berlin.

Darwish died on August 9 following heart surgery.

He was one of the best-loved Arab poets of recent times and is known for his evocations of the Arab-Israeli conflict and his commitment to promoting peaceful and fair coexistence between Arabs and Israelis.

The international readings, being held in over 30 countries from Australia to Zimbabwe, are being held following an appeal by dozens of major poets and writers, including South Africa's JM Coetzee and Ireland's Seamus Heaney.

A statement by the Berlin festival said that "few other poets have displayed such dedication to articulating a vision of a meaningful, real and fair peace between Arabs and Israelis, which furthers a dialogue between two voices and two different outlooks on life, while ensuring that one does not impose its view upon the other."

The 2008 Berlin International Literature Festival ends on Sunday. (dpa)