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Poets Occupy Wall Street

Originally Published: September 27, 2011

Poetry gets back to good old-fashioned rabble-rousing with Occupy Wall Street, an Arab Spring-inspired mass mobilization currently gathering in New York City. A designated Poetry Corner has been established in the Liberty Plaza area, which protesters have been occupying since September 17th. Through the Poetry@OccupyWallStreet Facebook page, poets around the country can post poems or comments in dialogue with the movement. All poems will be read on-site and added to the community library, and one will be featured tonight at the General Assembly meeting. From the Facebook page:

The poetry corner is now open on the northeast corner of the park. It is a public, democratic site. Anyone can organize a reading or event there as long as it is done through consensus with those present. This is leaderless movement. We would like to be the community we seek. Please respect everyone through the use of a vote. Ask for permission from others to speak. Listen to one another. Let everyone's voice be heard. In doing so, we'll perform not only poetry but true, participatory democracy.

Future plans include on-site writing workshops and a poetry reading this Friday. Find more information here.