100 THOUSAND POETS FOR CHANGE

Poets Worldwide Unite for the Truly Historic "100 Thousand Poets for Change" Event

Poets in 400 cities representing 95 countries are currently organizing the largest poetry reading in history with over 500 individual events scheduled to take place simultaneously on September 24^th to promote environmental, social, and political change.

Poets, writers, artists, and humanitarians will create, perform, educate and demonstrate, in their individual communities, and decide their own specific area of focus for change within the overall framework of peace and sustainability, which founder Michael Rothenberg stated, “…is a major concern worldwide and the guiding principle for this global event.”

Bob Holman and Margery Snyder, in a recent article on About.com said, “the beauty of the concept of 100 Thousand Poets for Change is that it is completely decentralized and completely inclusive.”

The events range from a poetry and peace gathering in strife-torn Kabul and Jalalabad to 20 collective poetic actions in Mexico City where poets, painters, filmmakers and musicians will spread the word of peace and non-violence throughout the city with day long readings and workshops. There are 29 events planned in India, 7 in Nigeria, 17 in Canada, 19 in Great Britain, 5 in China, 3 in Cuba and over 220 events in the United States for a start. Participation continues to grow. Poetry demonstrations are being organized in political hotspots such as Cairo, Egypt and Madison, Wisconsin. There are 20 events in North Carolina where teacher/poets have mobilized and will be conducting poetry workshops and peace readings, and will send poems to congress in a statewide campaign for sustainability and to emphasize the need for arts in the schools. And along the Platte River near Omaha, Nebraska, poets will be demonstrating against TransCanada’s planned Keystone XL tar sands pipeline.

More examples of events can be easily accessed on the home page of the 100 Thousand Poets for Change website at www.100TPC.org.

All those involved are hoping, through their actions and events, to seize and redirect the political and social dialogue of the day and turn the narrative of civilization towards peace and sustainability.

Each city organizer and their community has an individual Event Location blog page on the website for posting written material, poetry, artwork, photos, and video to document this global mega-event across national borders.

Immediately following September 24th all documentation on the 100TPC.org website will be preserved by Stanford University in California, which has recognized 100 Thousand Poets for Change as an historical event, the largest poetry reading in history. They will archive the complete contents of the website, 100TPC.org, as part of their digital archiving program LOCKSS.

Founder Michael Rothenberg is a widely known poet, songwriter, editor of the online literary magazine Bigbridge.org and an environmental activist based in Northern California.

For information contact: http://www.100TPC.org

Contact: walterblue@bigbridge.org

Phone: 305-753-4569