Français en bas de page
Random Acts of Poetry - a week-long event where poets randomly read poems to people on the streets of Canada -will return for an encore in October.

Random Acts of Poetry is the brainchild of Canadian poet Wendy Morton and supported by online bookseller Abebooks.com and the Victoria READ Society, a non-profit literacy organization. The first event in 2004 featured 27 poets in 18 Canadian cities.

A celebration of poetry and literacy, the poets - all of whom have had their work published - will travel through their cities randomly reading poems to strangers in parks, bus stops, schools, cafes, shops, libraries, hair salons and other everyday places.

As the sponsor, Abebooks.com will donate a payment to each poet for their efforts, as well as purchasing books from each poet’s publisher so they can be presented to listeners, who have been ‘poemed.’

“Random Acts of Poetry had a huge impact on Canada last year. We hope to repeat that effect and also introduce the event to the UK and Ireland where there is a great appetite for poetry,” said Wendy Morton. “We have found poets who are willing to take poetry on to the streets and directly into peoples’ lives. I’ve had remarkable experiences reading poetry to strangers and seeing how poems can move them –sometimes to tears.”

Lisa Stevens, VP of Marketing at Abebooks, said: “We’re delighted to help promote poetry and literacy around the world. Poetry does not adhere to international boundaries and neither does Abebooks.com, which lists books from 13,000 booksellers in 48 countries.”

More info about this year's edition: (updated August 20th 2007)

37 POETS TO COMMIT ‘RANDOM ACTS OF POETRY’ ACROSS CANADA