On March 15, Tara Skurtu (Poetry ’13) started an initiative called International Poetry Circle, and she says she “had no idea how much it’d grow.” Today, IPC has over 2,000 videos, across all social media platforms, in more than fifteen languages! During this isolating season, IPC has been helping people around the world connect through poetry.
“At International Poetry Circle,” Tara explains, “poets and poetry lovers record themselves reading a poem of their own or a favorite poem to help us all feel more connected and hopeful.”
IPC was recently featured in the Boston Globe, and the Emily Dickinson Museum made an official video for IPC in Dickinson’s bedroom and other Dickinson spots. The hashtag #InternationalPoetryCircle is how the videos are being spread on all social media platforms. (The Twitter account @intpoetrycircle, which exists to RT all the videos, is temporarily down, but it should be up and running again soon!).
Here’s how to contribute to International Poetry Circle:
1. Record a video of yourself reading a poem.
2. Post it on social media with the hashtag #InternationalPoetryCircle.
3. For increased accessibility: Add captions or a photo/link to the poem for people to read.
Thank you so much, Tara!
