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IF WE WERE RIOTING IN 120 COUNTRIES, YOU’D SEE US ON THE 6 p.m. NEWS: but, we’re not, so here’s everything you need to know about 100,000 Poets for Change

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Here’s the good news: There are thousands of peace-loving, peace-living artists who gather in solidarity in some 120 countries around the world each year on the fourth Saturday of September and who connect and continue to work and stay connected even after the main event is over. The main event is 100,000 Poets for Change (100TPC), which is in its sixth year.

If we were rioting in 120 countries, for sure you’d see us on CNN, but we bare witness to the desire for and possibility of peace and apparently that doesn’t qualify as news: won’t get the adrenalin going, won’t sell laundry soap, won’t create division among us so that the wealthy and powerful can use us for their own ends. The world in all its strife is left to learn about 100TPC through social media.  So be it …

THE BACK STORY: 

I wasn’t there at the beginning, but I imagine that 100 Thousand Poets for Change founders, Michael Rothenberg and Terri Carrion (both of Big Bridge Press), were having dinner one night – maybe with some other poets and some artists and musicians  – contemplating the state of the world, the disconnection among communities and nations and trying to think of some way to connect positively, to come together in the service of shared ideals such as harmony, stewardship and compassion. And so it happened that in 2011, Michael put out a call on Facebook for 100,000 Poets for Change and a movement was born.  If memory serves there were 700 events held simultaneously around the world that first September.

The first night of the 100TPC World Conference in Salerno, Italy in 2015. Over 80 poets from 22 countries and 6 continents came together to share and to plan for the future of 100TPC
The first night of the 100TPC World Conference in Salerno, Italy in 2015. Over 80 poets from 22 countries and 6 continents came together to share and to plan for the future of 100TPC

Michael and Terri recently stated that peace and sustainability …

. . . are major concerns worldwide and the guiding principles for this global event. All participants hope, 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. We are living in a world where it isn’t just one issue that needs to be addressed. A common ground is built through this global compilation of local stories, which is how we create a true narrative for discourse to inform the future . . .

“What kind of change are we talking about? The first order of change is for poets, writers, musicians, artists, anybody, to actually get together to create and perform, educate and demonstrate, simultaneously, with other communities around the world. This will change how we see our local community and the global community. We have all become incredibly alienated in recent years. We hardly know our neighbors down the street let alone our creative allies who live and share our concerns in other countries. We need to feel this kind of global solidarity.”

What started as a poets’ event now includes artists, photographers, musicians, drummers, mimes, dancers, arts lovers and other peacemakers.

100TMC

100TAC

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Michael Rothenberg

Michael Rothenberg and Terri Carrion created a website where anyone who wanted to organize an event could register.  It is to this site that you may go to register an event or to find an event in your area. If you want to organize an event and it sounds rather onerous to you, keep in mind that while an event might be big and attended by many in a park or town square, it might also be a small gathering of like-minded artists at your home or a local cafe.  I organized The BeZine 100TPC virtual event because I am largely home bound and assume there are others out there like me who would like to participate in 100TPC but would find it difficult to spend the day out. This virtual event also gives people anywhere a place to participant in 100TPC if there is no event scheduled in their vicinity. So just use your imagination and be creative about this.  You might dedicate a book club meeting to it or an afternoon at church. This year, Terri Stewart (Beguine Again and The BeZine) has organized a peacemaking circle to be held at her church in Seattle. Bravo!

Organizers generally make flyers for their events. These are often small works of art. Depending on religious or national holidays, in some countries the events are held on days other than the fourth Saturday of September.  In other countries – Morocco is one – events are held monthly. The main consistency is spirit and shared vision.

If you are reading this post in an email, you will likely have to link though to view this slide show.

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To keep up with 100TPC, check out the website for information and updates and connect with 100TPC on Facebook.

THE BeZINE 100,000 POETS FOR CHANGE, virtual event

The BeZine 100,000 Poets for Change will start on September 15th with our September issue. Priscilla Galasso (scillagrace) is the lead for that issue. The theme is Environment and Environmental Justice, which is our chosen theme for 100TPC 2016. If you’d like to submit work on topic for that issue, send it to bardogroup@gmail.com. Please review submission guidelines first.

Our 100TPC event is hosted from our blog. The post will go up at 12 a.m. PST on September 24 and you can begin including work immediately using either the comments section or Mister Linkey. Direction will be included in the content of the post. American-Israeli Michael Dickel (Fragments of Michael Dickel) is the Master of Ceremonies again this year. He does a fabulous job of it and will keep the action and commentary running via the comments section. You are encouraged to share your own work and to read the work of others. I’ll be on hand to give Michael breaks and to keep the dialog going until midnight PST – California.  Ultimately all work shared is archived on site and at Standford University. Please keep in mind, that this is not just for poetry.  You can share appropriately themed fiction, music video, creative nonfiction – whatever can be shared in a comment. Long pieces can be shared by putting in the url link to your work on your blog or website.

To help get you going, we’ll do 100TPC writing prompts here at The Poet by Day on Wednesdays, August 23 and August 31, so that you can begin working on something for September 24.  Comments will be open for sharing and – in fact – as of today, comments are open again on this site.

100,000 PEACEMAKERS FOR CHANGE, Seattle, WA

This event is organized by The Bardo Group Beguines‘ Rev. Terri Stewart (Beguine Again and The BeZine) at Riverton Park United Methodist Church, 3118 S 140th Street, Tukwilia, Washington 98168 on Saturday, September 24th, 1 p.m. – 3 p.m. with a social gathering after from 3 p.m. – 4 p.m. Terri will lead a peacemaking circle that will focus on earth justice. She says, “We want to make a public witness of peace and peace for the earth. Hope to see you there!” The Facebook Page for this event is HERE.

That same afternoon there will also be a food drive in process at Riverton for the Tukewila Pantry Emergency Food Bank and donations of food or money are welcome. Here is the wish list if you are able to help:

Canned Meats/Fish
Canned Vegetables
Canned Fruits
Canned Meals (i.e. stews, soups, spaghetti, chili, ravioli, etc.) Macaroni & Cheese
Dry or Canned Milk
Peanut Butter
Dry Goods (i.e. pastas, rice, beans, cold and hot cereals, baking mix, etc.)

Remember, wherever you are in the world, go to 100TPC to find an event in your area or to register to hold one and no matter where you are, you can also participate in The BeZine’s 100TPC virtual event.

RELATED:

The BeZine 100TPC Commemorative Collection, 2014
The BeZine 100TPC Commemorative Collection, 2015
Michael Dickel’s report back from the Salerno Conference
The BeZine 100TPC Facebook discussion page

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cloud watching, a poem

file0001128026195the open sky

,,,,tufts like spun sugar . . .

white with sunlight

layered on an endless blue blessing

free-form

and unbounded

.       idly floating . . . waiting on nothing

not the brightness of day

nor the cool calm night

….present with our pleasure

 . . . we eye one another

my silent mind . . . t]

their silent flow

. . . . . . occasional storms 

. . .mostly languid though . . .

peaceable

. . . as the blue upon which they rest . . . .cresting

. . . . . . . …………………their charism weightless as sea foam,

they brush my imagination

at the matrix of our shared meditation

©2013, poem, Jamie Dedes, All rights reserved; Photo courtesy of morgueFile

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THE SUNDAY POESY: Opportunities, Events and Other Information and News

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CALLS FOR SUBMISSIONS

Opportunity Knocks

THE FORGE LITERARY MAGAZINE publishes one prose piece a week – no poetry. Submissions guidelines are HERE.

INTO THE VOID MAGAZINE, ARTS AND LITERATURE is accepting submissions of poetry, fiction, nonfiction and art through September 25th. Regarding poetry – “We accept poems of all forms and styles. The key here is two-fold: A clear display of the intention to create a beautiful sounding poem, and an economical use of well-chosen words of powerful meaning and description. Poems can be about anything at all, and of all shapes. We accept: Poems of up to 80 lines. There is no minimum line count. We love one-sentence poems–send ’em!”  Details HERE.

TIMOTHY MCSWEENEY’S guidelines for book submissions HERE, web submissions HERE, and the Quarterly HERE.

OUTBURST MAGAZINE “is driven by its core principles, to encourage innovation in poetry and to publish emerging poets who take risks and break boundaries. Outburst is an Irish based e-zine so we have a responsibility to contribute to the revolution in poetry writing that is going on here. This means we will publish those worthy, insofar as our fallible judgement sees fit, of publication …  innovation and experimentation [is encouraged]. We are neither overawed by, or hostile to ‘names’ nor are we repelled by rage, outrage or erotica. We promise to attempt impartiality and not to prejudge.”  Read the About and Submission Guidelines.

HAKAI MAGAZINE, Coastal Sciences and Societies “explores science and society in coastal ecosystems. Our editorially independent, web-based publication examines the ties between the ocean, land, and human societies through long- and short-form journalism, illustration, photography, and video.” The magazine “is divided into four main sections: News & Views, Features, Videos & Visuals, and Quick Reads.”  This magazine doesn’t take poetry. It is, however,  a beautiful thoughtfully-done magazine, well worth looking at if you do other kinds of creative work. You are strongly advised to study this magazine before submitting.  Details HERE.

EVENTS

13659039_1181668861888753_5467398691388450831_nHEADS-UP FOR THIS AFTERNOON NEW YORK:  Sunday, July 31 at 4 PM – 6 PM in EDT, The Parkside Lounge, 317 E Houston St, New York, New York 10002, Organized by Matt Pasca and Russ Green

MATT PASCA is a teacher, editor and two-time Pushcart nominee whose poetry has appeared in dozens of journals and anthologies as well as two book length collections, A THOUSAND DOORS (2011) and RAVEN WIRE (2016). A 2003 New York State Teacher of Excellence, Matt teaches Poetry, Mythology and Literature and curates a poetry series–Second Saturdays @Cyrus–with his wife, author Terri Muuss. Pasca also advises an award-winning scholastic literary-art magazine, THE WRITERS’ BLOCK, and is a copyeditor and reviewer for the Long Island Authors Group. Matt has performed his work in New Mexico, Montana, Minnesota, Virginia, New Jersey, all around New York and has keynoted or taught workshops at colleges, conferences and continuing Ed. programs. http://www.mattpasca.com @Matt_Pasca

New York Times proclaims FRANKIE A. SOTO is a “FORCE”. A national touring & Spoken Word Poet & Author of a Weed in a Garden of Extraordinary Flowers & Forever is not enough. He was recently nominated for 2016 National Poetry Awards. Nominated & Premiered for Atlanta Hip Hop Film Festival for his HIV poem in 2013. He is published worldwide for various newspapers, magazines and articles & one of the ambassadors for fighting cancer with poetry in Washington DC

RUSS GREEN is Co-editor at Great Weather for Media; Poet, Curator and Host at Artist.

– photo © Matt Pesca

SPIRIT ROCK INSIGHT MEDITATION CENTER, Woodacre, CA is hosting Exploring Dharma Through Poetry with Phillip Moffett on Sunday, August 14, 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Details HERE.

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100,000 POETS/PEACEMAKERS FOR CHANGE – Seattle-area readers, SAVE THE DATE  –  organized by The Bardo Group Beguines‘ Rev. Terri Stewart (Beguine Again and The BeZine) at Riverton Park United Methodist Church, 3118 S 140th Stree, Tukwilia, Washington 98168 on Saturday, September 24th at 1 p.m. Terri says, “We will be gathering to hold a peacemaking circle that will focus on earth justice. 1:00 is during the time that the community comes to the food bank. We want to make a public witness of peace and peace for the earth. Hope to see you there!” The Facebook Page for this event is HERE.

TIDBITS

3,900 Pages of Paul Klee’s Personal Notebooks Are Now Online, Present His Bauhaus Teachings (1921-1931), OpenCulture.com

JeanRhys_WideSargassoSeaTop Ten Reasons to Love Jean Rhys, author of Wide Saragasso Sea, the story of Mr. Rochester’s first wife – the madwoman in the attic – from Jane Eyre, For Books’ Sake. This October is the 50th anniversary of the publication of Wide Saragasso Sea.  The book cover art is from the first edition and the copyright is believed to belong to the publisher, Deutsch, or the cover artist. Fair use.

Toni Morrison participated in the first Digital Book Signing with Google Play

Roxane Gay Becomes 1st Black Woman to Write Marvel Comic Book. She will team with Ta-Nehisi Coates (Between the World and Me, Seiegel & Grau, 2015) to write a series set in the Black Panther’s world.  MORE

THE POET BY DAY SUNDAY POESY

Submit your event, book launch and other announcements at least fourteen days in advance to thepoetbyday@gmail.com. Publication is subject to editorial discretion.

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THINGS FALL APART

Nigerian poet, novelist, professor and critic, Chinua Achebe (1930-2013)
Nigerian poet, novelist, professor and critic, Chinua Achebe (1930-2013)

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CHINUA ACHEBE was a Nigerian poet and novelist. His first novel Things Fall Apart (1958) is his major work and is said to be the most widely read book in modern African literature. He is considered the founding father of African literature in English.

Listen to a short interview with Achebe‘s daughter in pop-out player on BBC’s Witness. Published in 1958, Things Fall Apart “was set in pre-colonial rural Nigeria and examines how the arrival of foreigners – imposing their own traditions – led to tensions within the Igbo society. The book revolutionised African culture, and began a whole new genre of world literature. Witness radio program hears from Achebe’s youngest daughter, Nwando Achebe.”

Refugee Mother and Child Poem

No Madonna and Child could touch
that picture of a mother’s tenderness
for a son she soon would have to forget.
The air was heavy with odours

of diarrhoea of unwashed children
with washed-out ribs and dried-up
bottoms struggling in laboured
steps behind blown empty bellies. Most

mothers there had long ceased
to care but not this one; she held
a ghost smile between her teeth
and in her eyes the ghost of a mother’s
pride as she combed the rust-coloured
hair left on his skull and then –

singing in her eyes – began carefully
to part it… In another life this
would have been a little daily
act of no consequence before his
breakfast and school; now she

did it like putting flowers
on a tiny grave.

– Chinua Achebe, Collected Poems

“Charity . . . is the opium of the privileged.”  Chinua Achebe, Anthills of the Savannah

RELATED:

Africa’s Voice, Nigeria’s Conscience, New York Times
The Sacrificial Egg, The Atlantic