Poets of the world unIte for change In global event

This will be put to the test -- at least in the world of letters -- on Sept. 24, when tens of thousands of poets and literature buffs come together in the global “100 Thousand Poets for Change,” the largest poetry event in history, as its organizers put it.

The worldwide festival, the brainchild of US-based poet Michael Rothenberg, will be marked in around 500 cities in over 90 countries around the world -- including Turkey’s İstanbul and Mardin provinces -- on Saturday to promote environmental, social and political change.

Close to 100,000 poets, writers and artists are expected to take part in around 650 events that are scheduled to take place as part of the daylong festival. The participating artists will be creating and/or performing literature, as well as discussing in panel discussions what can be done for peace and sustainability, which are of “major concern worldwide and the guiding principle for this global event,” said Rothenberg, also an environmental activist and the editor of the online literary journal Bigbridge.org, in a statement on the event’s website.

“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,” the statement read.

Tacim Açık, the chairperson of the project’s Turkey leg, told the Anatolia news agency on Thursday that each participating country is free to design its own festival program -- from topics to be discussed in panels to participants and the themes to be highlighted at the event.

Açık said the organizers and participants of the event’s Turkey leg have decided to highlight the country’s need for peace and social change as its main focus.

The İstanbul leg of the event will see some of Turkey’s most famous contemporary poets and authors -- including Murathan Mungan, Lale Müldür, Birhan Keskin, Haydar Ergülen, Yücel Kayıran, Enis Akın, Pelin Özer and Latife Tekin, among others -- speak in panels throughout the day at the Akbank Art Center in Taksim. In the evening, the event will move to the Kumbaracı50 theater, also in Taksim, which will be hosting live music performances and poetry recitals, Açık said. Singers Yasemin Mori and Mabel Matiz will take to the stage during the event.

The southeastern province of Mardin, in the meantime, will be hosting the daylong event in its Sakıp Sabancı Municipal Museum. Poets and authors expected to make appearances and speak in panels in the Mardin event include Kemal Varol, Azad Ziya Eren, Veysi Erdoğan, Emel İrtem and Habip Can Türker.

“The İstanbul-Mardin connection refers to the fact that [western and eastern Turkey] need to admit their plights are shared because, in reality, everyone’s primary desire in Turkey is the hope for coexistence,” Açık added.

The project runs entirely on the principle of volunteering, without a certain budget, and thus admission to all events will be free.

Afghanistan’s Kabul and Jalalabad and Egypt’s Cairo and Alexandria are also taking part in the event with poetry and peace gatherings. According to the project’s website, there will be nearly 300 events in the United States alone. Mexico is taking part with over 30 events, with 18 poetic actions in Mexico City, where poets as well as environmental and political activists are hoping to encourage reflection and creative responses against systemic violence through the written and spoken word with daylong street events, readings and workshops.

After the event, all documentation on the event’s website will be preserved by Stanford University in California, which has recognized “100 Thousand Poets for Change” as an historical event, the organizers say. The complete contents of the website will be archived as part of the university’s digital archiving program. For more information, see www.bigbridge.org/100thousandpoetsforchange.