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For more info about Poets Against the War, contact info@poetsagainstthewar.org.Our MissionPoets Against the War serves poets in various ways, including publishing poetry via its website, providing information and resources to aid poets in creating strong networks and taking action in opposition to war.
Background 4 In late January 2003, in response to an invitation to a symposium by Laura Bush to celebrate "Poetry and the American Voice," Sam Hamill declined; a longtime pacifist, he could not in good faith visit the White House following the recent news of George W. Bush's plan for a unilateral "Shock and Awe" attack on Iraq. Instead, he asked about 50 fellow poets to "reconstitute a Poets Against the War movement like the one organized to speak out against the war in Vietnam...to speak up for the conscience of our country and lend your names to our petition against this war” by submitting poems of protest that he would send to the White House. When 1,500 poets responded within four days, this web site was created as a means of handling the enormous, unexpected response.By March 1, more than 13,000 poems had been reviewed and posted by 25 volunteer editors. Since then, the "accidental groundswell" grew to include poets from other nations. All of the poems on this web site have been presented in person, and by invitation, to several representatives of the U.S. Congress; many of them have since been introduced into the Congressional Record. This historically large collection has also been presented by poets to the governments of England, Australia, Turkey, Italy, France, Germany, India, Pakistan, and probably more. It has been presented to representatives from Alaska to Connecticut. Today, although the attack wasn't prevented, poets continue to speak out for a world in which non-violence and international cooperation will ultimately prevail over a single administration's philosophy that the most horrendous crimes are justified in the service of foreign policy. Today it is more important than ever to lift our voices in support of respectful explorations of alternatives to war. Please join us. Organize a reading. Keep joining protests. Teach compassion. Participate. In all of America's history, poets have never made such a difference. If you can go a step further, we’d be grateful for your donation to help build this grassroots movement for peace. Click here to offer financial support. An Open Letter from Sam HamillJanuary, 2003 When I picked up my mail and saw the letter marked "The White House," I felt no joy. Rather I was overcome by a kind of nausea as I read the card enclosed: Laura Bush requests the pleasure of your company Only the day before I had read a lengthy report on George Bush's proposed "Shock and Awe" attack on Iraq, calling for saturation bombing that would be like the firebombing of Dresden or Tokyo, killing countless innocent civilians. Nor has Bush ruled out the use of nuclear weapons. I believe the only legitimate response to such a morally bankrupt and unconscionable idea is to reconstitute a Poets Against the War movement like the one organized to speak out against the war in Vietnam. I am asking every poet to speak up for the conscience of our country and lend his or her name to our petition against this war. Please submit your name and a poem or statement of conscience to the Poets Against the War web site. -- Sam Hamill, Founding Editor and Co-founder of Copper Canyon Press Note: We accepted poems from January 27 through February 28, and then presented the entire anthology of 13,000 poems to the US Congress and the Bush Administration in Washington, DC on March 5th, as well as to several other national governments around the world. Please join our mailing list to receive updates.
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