Re-vision

Let's get this thing back in motion! To make sure we have consistent presence in Toledo and are seeing our Change through, this will be the official website for 100 Thousand Poets for Change - Toledo.  Events will be posted here, as well as other information as applicable.

Positive change doesn't happen and isn't needed just once a year. In Toledo, Ohio, we know that. We understand that change takes time and constant effort. Artists in Toledo are working artists. Which means we have to make an effort to keep art going while we meet basic needs and lower-middle-class economic demands. A full-time artist is rare, so we make every effort worth it and we work together to create the outstanding presence of artistry and literature that Toledo is becoming known for.

Which is why we're going to make 100 Thousand Poets for Change - Toledo a year-round force. Events throughout the year, including our annual September event. Sponsorship of social programs throughout the year. And listening to the voices of Toledo-area artists as they help us make change happen.

Let's kick off this commitment with a promise to publish. The idea has been tossed about before, but I think we have some parameters that will make completing a publishable manuscript possible. Here's the skinny:

     Submissions of no more than 3 poems per poet due October 31, 2014
     Submissions must relate to Toledo-area, with a theme of transformation and/or change
     Must be original poetry, by writers who have some connection to Toledo-area
     Submissions should be sent by email to 100kpoets4changeToledo@gmail.com
          Please include a brief bio and contact information

There will be editorial review and we expect to limit the total anthology to only 50 or so pages. We are only human and have full-time jobs doing other, completely unrelated things. So please be patient if you submit and do not hear back right away.

Publication is expected in Early 2015.

Information about this month's events will be posted here soon. Hope to see you soon!
     

A big idea

Just tossing out ideas about this year's event - what we'd really like to see is a whole day of poetry.  In my mind, I picture the entire city scattered with poets leading or attending events in every corner of every neighborhood, children and old men and whole families taking part.  People who haven't read a poem since 7th grade when they decided only God could make a tree and they stopped reading poetry entirely.  People who like the Beats because they're cool but who never really heard their voices.  People who like music and think it's nothing like poetry.  And they'll all be surprised and wandering around the city to the next event.  And it will seem like the city is lousy with poets.  For at least a day.

The Beginning

It started on September 24, 2011. Toledo poets and writers and one songstress shared their love of a midwestern city shot through glass. And they made themselves part of a movement of art in a city of rust and revival.

Here's a place for everyone involved in that, and the subsequent events to come, to share their love of a wonderful city and their works to share themselves and their community with the world.

Bring it. Spread it. Love it.