Call for Poets in Resistance Again

The Social Justice Team of Tree of Life Unitarian Universalist Congregation, 5603 Bull Valley Road in McHenry, is issuing a call to poets to participate in Poets in Resistance Again, a public reading on Saturday, January 11, 2025 from 7 to 10 pm.

In order to assure the widest possible range of voices—all ages, gender identifications, races, ethnicities, and spiritualties—and of poetic style—poetry slam, hip-hop, performance art, observational, personal reflection, traditional, rhymed, unrhymed, even academic—poets are asked to submit a representative piece of their work—not necessarily what they plan to read.
Ten to twelve poets will be selected and a couple of alternates in case of late cancellations. Each set will be limited to 10 minutes and will be timed. Poets will be able to read from a podium, use a stand-up microphone, sit on a stool, or roam the state with a wireless mic. Space will be available to offer books, chapbooks, CDs or other materials for sale.

The first Poets in Resistance program was held in March of 2017 and was one of the most successful public events that Tree of Life has hosted. Social Justice Team Chair and event organizer Patrick Murfin said, “It has been the historic mission of poets to be the prophets, Cassandras, and voices for the voiceless often in defiance of authority and at great personal risk “Now perilous times, climate disaster, war, oppression, and existential threat to democracy demand that those voices be heard again.”

The call for a new program was inspired by a quote from Nobel Laureate Toni Morrison:
"This is precisely the time when artists go to work. There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal. I know the world is bruised and bleeding, and though it is important not to ignore its pain, it is also critical to refuse to succumb to its malevolence. Like failure, chaos contains information that can lead to knowledge — even wisdom. Like art."

Poets should send a sample poem and a short one or two sentence of personal information for the program book and introductions in a Word doc format along with a head shot photo in a jpeg format to pmurfin@sbcglobal.net. For more information they can call Murfin at 815 814-5645 or visit the Facebook event.

The event will be free to the public but a suggested $20 donation can be split between Tree of Life social justice ministries and select social justice organizations on the front lines.