Calling The World: Powerful Poetic Voices

Few literary genres can touch the heart, energize the soul and challenge the mind like poetry. If you’re looking to hear some truly moving and inspiring words from some talented writers, there’s an extraordinary new way to discover the work of nine celebrated poets. Calling The World is a collaboration between The Poetry Society of America and Saint Flashlight, two wonderful organizations dedicated to sharing the words and experiences of poets in new and exciting ways. This exhilarating project is an audio anthology of poems that includes works by Pablo Neruda, Mónica de la Torre and Kwame Dawes, among others. The poems are read by a wonderful group of performers, including Jane Hirshfield and Billy Collins. 

Calling The World: Illustration by Monica Ramos

Calling The World was initiated in part as a response to the feelings of loneliness and isolation caused by the coronavirus outbreak. The experiences and emotions people have felt as a response to the pandemic are wide-ranging and unprecedented. Now, more than ever, people need to feel a sense of community and togetherness. The array of voices and life experiences heard in this moving anthology feature a wide range of perspectives from all around the world, including locations such as Europe, Latin America and the Middle East. 

The unique visions of these gifted poets help us realize that we all have things in common, and that our cultural differences shouldn’t separate us, but bring us closer together. Poetry Society of America Executive Director Matt Brogan, and Molly Gross and Drew Pisarra of Saint Flashlight are the guiding lights behind Calling The World. They’re dedicated to making poetry more accessible to all, allowing readers and listeners to experience poetry in new and exciting formats. Both organizations have been involved with previous projects that bring art and poetry to everyday spaces, including the Poetry Society of America's Poetry in Motion program, presented with MTA Arts & Design, which placed poems on New York City public transportation vehicles, and Saint Flashlight’s Movie Marquee Poems project, which repurposed unused cinema marquees in Brooklyn's Park Slope area by adding original haiku by contemporary poets to them.

I encourage you to listen to the work of the gifted poets featured in the Calling The World audio anthology by calling (212) 202-5606. You might have heard of the band They Might Be Giants and their "Dial-A-Song" line that was popular in the 1990s, but in this case you can "Dial-A-Poem." Your day, and your spirit, will definitely benefit from hearing the passionate voices of these amazing artists. It's a unique and powerful experience. For more information on the Poetry Society of America, please visit https://poetrysociety.org/, and to check out Saint Flashlight, go to http://saintflashlight.com/.