Poetry Coalition Postcard Project
In March 2020, Kundiman partnered with more than 25 other literary organizations in the national alliance, Poetry Coalition. We worked together to create programs to promote the value poets brings to our culture. This year’s project focused on the theme “I am deliberate / and afraid / of nothing: Poetry & Protest” — a line from Audre Lorde’s poem, “New Year’s Day.” The theme was inspired by several different occasions taking place this year, including the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment granting women the right to vote and the 50th anniversary of the tragic shooting of student protesters at Kent State University. It also speaks to the role poetry has played in encouraging civic and grassroots engagement, and contributed to public debate and dialogue.
Kundiman returned to our tradition of running a Postcard Project during this month. During March, our fellows wrote and sent postcards investigating poetry and its relation to protest. As the postcards physically traveled around the country, they simultaneously reached a wider digital audience. We shared pictures of the postcards on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, using the hashtags #PoetryCoalition and #PoetryandProtest. We’ve collected them all here for ease of viewing. Thank you to all those who participated, either by writing postcards, sharing them, or simply reading them!
2020 Postcard Project Testimonials
“It's a challenge to write daily and to share writing that is raw and spontaneous with people. This year was especially difficult and meaningful at the same time, finding words for the mesh of anxiety, anger, and grief we are all feeling in this shared threat. Reading and writing the postcards reminded me to not let the pandemic consume me, to appreciate what is still ordinary in extraordinary times.”
––Jane Lin
“Every year I look forward to Kundiman’s Postcard Project— it’s a call for me to sit for at least long enough to be thoughtful enough and quiet enough to send an offering to another person. It’s always a gift to receive this offerings from others. This year, especially, it’s been a touchstone I’m grateful for. Even in isolation, across the miles, these bits of mail have been a way to connect, to say “I’m here too,” to send love, to hold in hand proof that we’re together.”
––Michelle Peñaloza
2020 Postcard Gallery
