ORGANIZER: Lisa Vihos
CONTACT: spyderbyte@aol.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
100 Thousand Poets for Change
Returns to Sheboygan with Poetry, Music, and Visual Art
Over 600 Events Planned in 100 Countries promoting peace and understanding
Sheboygan, Wisconsin – On September 27, 2014 from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m., area poets, musicians, and artists will participate in 100 Thousand Poets for Change, a grassroots organization that brings communities together to envision a more peaceful world.
The open mic event will be held at Glas Coffee House located at 924 N. 14th Street. It will feature poetry and music by Gerald Bertsch, Sylvia Cavanaugh, Willow Dodgson, Jon Doll, Mary Kunert, Alan “Doc” Mock, Ndamyo Mwanyongo, Lisa Vihos, and Ed Werstein. Design students from IDEAS school are creating art work for the event, which will be staged on the back deck of the coffee house, weather permitting, or inside in case of rain. Bring a lawn chair, have some coffee, and enjoy poems and songs that speak of change.
The Sheboygan organizer, Lisa Vihos, is pleased that the event—now in its fourth year—continues to thrive, bringing community members together to share words and music in the spirit of a more peaceful world. She says, “There will be original work presented by the featured artists, as well as work from other times and places selected and shared by the participants. The format is open mic, so everyone is invited to come and share on the topic of change, interpreted in many different ways.” Audience members can bring an original poem or song, or an admired piece created by someone else. Sign-ups for the open mic will begin at 12:45 p.m.
“Peace and sustainability are major concerns worldwide, and the guiding principles for this global event,” said Michael Rothenberg, Co-Founder with Terri Carrion of 100 Thousand Poets for Change in Guerneville, California. “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.”
Immediately following September 27th, 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.
Lisa Vihos
100 Thousand Poets for Change
stoneboat.journal@gmail.com
www.100TPC.org
Many thanks to all the participants at the event, including these who are not pictured:
Katie Amundsen
Joe D, Botana
Sylvia Cavanaugh
Steve Coursey
Gina Covelli
Aaron Covey
Mary Ann Hurtt
Mary Kunert
Ed Werstein
Marilyn Windau
Lisa Vihos (left) and Ndamyo Mwanyongo of Malawi (right)
Posters made by high school students at IDEAS school in Sheboygan.
North High Slam Team
North High Slam Team
Gerald Bertsch reading
Jon Doll singing
the crowd at Glas Coffee House
Nadia John
Beth Carreno (reading Lawrence Ferlinghetti)
Alan ‘Doc’ Mock
Willow Dodgson