FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact:
Three Girls Media &
Marketing Inc.
(408) 871-0377
Emily Sidley, emilysidley@threegirlsmedia.com
Global
Event Embraces Local Issues Through Poetry, Music, Art and More
Nearly
700 Events Planned in More Than 115 Countries for
100
Thousand Poets for Change
Santa Rosa, Calif. (August 8, 2012) – September 29, 2012 marks the
second annual global event of 100 Thousand Poets for Change, a grassroots
organization that brings poets, artists and musicians (new this year) together
to call for environmental, social, and political change, within the framework
of peace and sustainability. The local focus is key to this global event as communities
around the world raise their voices through concerts, readings, workshops,
flash mobs and demonstrations that speak to the heart of their specific area of
concerns, such as homelessness, ecocide, racism and censorship.
“Peace and sustainability is a major concern worldwide, and the guiding
principle for this global event,” said Michael Rothenberg, Co-Founder of 100
Thousand Poets for Change. “We are 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.”
There are nearly 700 events
planned worldwide, including:
• 25 different events in the San
Francisco Bay Area, the birthplace of 100 Thousand
Poets for Change, with live
poetry readings by Beat Legend Michael
McClure, former US Poet Laureate
Robert Hass and other major poets
• The Occupy Wall Street Poetry
group kicks off a weekend of events in New York
City with a poetry reading at
the famous St. Mark’s Poetry Project
• Peace On Streets, R.O.A.D.,
Tasker Elite and SHARP will host performance artists,
poets, musicians, hip hop
artists and various youth and parent groups who will perform and lead workshops
throughout Philadelphia to bring awareness to the ongoing
problem of street violence in
their city
• Wordstock, a 3 day festival at
the Bamboo Arts and Celebration Center in De Leon Springs, FL, will include
poetry slams, concerts, and an art exhibition focusing on
images of war and peace
• Hugo House in Seattle and
Kelly Writers House in Philadelphia, both literary landmarks in the US, will be
hosting major poetry readings
• In New Orleans, a blues
festival featuring ten bands will help raise funds for medical care for aging
musicians
• In Jamaica a week long series
called “Tell the Children the Truth” will present concerts, spoken word
performances, art exhibits, lectures, and workshops to bring attention to
damaging culture of secrecy and denial surrounding the abuse, poverty and
illiteracy impacting the nation’s children and destroying their future.
• Poetry and peace gatherings are planned in the strife-torn cities
of Kabul and Jalalabad, Afghanistan
• In Cairo and Alexandria, Egypt, poets, musicians and mimes
will perform in public spaces and theaters
• In Volos, Greece, there will
be 5 days of poetry and music events, including an exhibition of photography
looking at the new phenomenon of homelessness in Greece
• An event in Blackpool, England
will celebrate outspoken poets and writers of
past generations through a
special performance of Bullets and
Daffodils, a play about the life of peace poet Wilfred Owen
Organizers and participants 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. Those that want to get involved can visit www.100tpc.org to find an event near them or
sign up to organize one in their area.
100 Thousand Poets for Change began
in Sonoma County, Calif. The official Headquarters’ Event will take place at the Arlene Francis Center in downtown Santa
Rosa and will feature
poetry readings, group meditations, workshops, and music and dance of various
styles including hip hop, flamenco, African drums, reggae, salsa, folk and
more. The HQ event will also live-stream other 100 Thousand Poets for Change
events worldwide. This 3 day event is sponsored by the Peace & Justice
Center of Sonoma County and the Sonoma County Arts Council.
Immediately following September
29th, all documentation on the 100TPC.org website, which will include specific
event pages with photos, video and other documentation compiled by each city
coordinator, will be preserved by Stanford University in California. Stanford
recognized 100 Thousand Poets for Change in 2011 as an historical event, the
largest poetry reading in history. They will continue to archive the complete
contents of 100TPC.org, as part of their digital archiving program LOCKSS.
About 100 Thousand Poets for
Change
Co-Founder Michael Rothenberg
(walterblue@bigbridge.org) is a widely known poet,
editor of the online literary
magazine Bigbridge.org and an environmental activist based
in Northern California. Terri
Carrion is a poet, translator, photographer, and editor and visual designer for
BigBridge.org.
100 Thousand Poets for Change
P.O. Box 870
Guerneville, Ca 95446
Phone: 305-753-4569
www.100TPC.org
###
