Press Release for Mumbai, India

PRESS RELEASE

POEMS FOR PEACE

Poets around the world will participate in the momentous 100 Thousand Poets for Change movement on September 24 2011; in Mumbai, a multilingual poetry reading and a workshop for Adivasi children are being planned

Mumbai, September 13, 2011: Poets in 450 cities representing 95 countries are currently organizing the largest poetry reading in history with over 600 individual events scheduled to take place simultaneously on September 24, 2011, to promote environmental, social, and political change.  The historic global event, 100 Thousand Poets for Change, has been set in motion by Michael Rothenberg, a widely known poet, songwriter, editor of the online literary magazine Bigbridge.org and an environmental activist based in Northern California.

In Mumbai, poets Menka Shivdasani and Anju Makhija will be organizing two events. The first of these, on September 23, 2011, will be a workshop for Adivasi children at the Bandanwadi school near Tara village close to Panvel, Raigad district, Maharashtra, where Adivasi poems/songs in Marathi will be explained and sung, to acquaint the children with traditional songs. This will be led by Anil Vishwanatharama.

The second event will be a multilingual poetry reading on September 24, (4.30 p.m. onwards) hosted by Culture Beat, Mumbai Press Club. This will include a sitar recital by Madhusudan Kumar, and participation by poets writing in English, Marathi, Gujarati, Malayalam, Sindhi and other Indian languages. There will also be a film screening, organized by Rafique Baghdadi, and an Open Mike session, managed by Peter Griffin, Annie Zaidi and Manisha Lakhe of the writers’ forum                                      Caferati, where Mumbaikars may present their poems related to the themes of peace and sustainability.

“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 is a major concern worldwide and the guiding principle for this global event,” says Rothenberg.

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, seven in Nigeria, 17 in Canada, 19 in Great Britain, five in China, three in Cuba and over 220 events in the United States.

The home page of the 100 Thousand Poets for Change website, www.100TPC.org, has been buzzing these last few weeks, and 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.

Mumbaikars are invited to send in their poems, artworks or any other relevant material on the themes of peace and sustainability. Write in to Menka Shivdasani and Anju Makhija at poetsinmumbai@gmail.com

For more information, contact:

Menka Shivdasani Anju Makhija

Mob: 9820101507                                           Mob: 9821070174

menka.shivdasani@gmail.com anjumakhija@hotmail.com

Michael Rothenberg,

Founder

100 Thousand Poets for Change

P.O. Box 870

Guerneville, Ca 95446

Phone: 305-753-4569

http://www.100TPC.org

walterblue@bigbridge.org

 

 

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