Let Fly the Global Poem for Change

Starting NOW, Midnight April First, and throughout the WHOLE MONTH OF APRIL, let's create a Global Poem for Change, starting with this line:

I send my words out into the air, listening for yours from everywhere.
- Naomi Shihab Nye

What words do you send out into the air?

What words do you listen for?

Celebrate Poetry Month and create a Global Poem for Change with LitWorld!

What comes next?

Submit a line of your own at litworld.org/poem and make our Poem GROW.

We need Your Words to Change Worlds.

Share our announcement and help our poem soar around the world...

Millions of Minutes, Thousands of Stories

Over 200,000 people in at least 58 countries around the globe brought their voices together on World Read Aloud Day as representatives of the Global Literacy Movement and the power of Words to Change Worlds.

Participants shared stories between continents through video chats and blogs, held 24-Hour Read-Aloud Marathons, read together in schools, hospitals, libraries, and homes.

Please share your World Read Aloud Day Story and Reading Minutes at litworld.org/wrad!

View highlights from Around the World and Times Square in our Facebook Albums!

We have tallied 10 million minutes so far towards our goal of 774 million minutes. This is a Call to Action to keep reading in honor of the 774 million people worldwide who cannot read. We must continue growing the Movement every day until we achieve Global Literacy.

World Read Aloud Day on Good Morning America

Did you catch us on Good Morning America yesterday? Watch our appearance with Clifford, The Big Red Dog, NYC Chancellor of Schools Cathie Black, and Sam Champion at our 24-Hour Read-Aloud Marathon in Times Square!

World Read Aloud Day Has Begun in Some Parts of the World, and is Simmering on Times Square...

From Manila, Philippines.  To Nairobi, Kenya.  To Dagestan, Russia.  And beyond...

Times Square, New York City, USA:

Please join us any time midnight to midnight March 9 to read and listen!

Visit with Clifford, The Big Red Dog at 8am or 10am.

Look for LitWorld's poem exclusively in the New York Daily News.

Tune in to Good Morning America on ABC to see LitWorld live at 8:30am EST!

World Read Aloud Day.

Your presence matters.

Participate and spread the word virtually on Facebook, Twitter or your Blog!

Raise your voice with LitWorld in honor of the 774 million people worldwide who cannot read. With this global rally we show the world that the right to read and write belongs to all people and we lend our voices to the Global Literacy Movement.



Breaking News: 24-Hour Read Aloud Marathon March 9 in Times Square!

We have just confirmed that LitWorld will host a 24-Hour Read-Aloud Marathon all day on March 9 in Times Square.

Please register for World Read Aloud Day to set up a time when you can be our Reader and we will email you with details!

Read our latest newsletter for the official announcement of this special event, and for the top 3 ways to participate in World Read Aloud Day today...

All ages, all countries, raising our voices for all children.

What would you miss most if you could not read or write?

We invite you to consider this question as you prepare for World Read Aloud Day, coming up on March 9 in just five weeks...

Make your own World Read Aloud Day video and share it with us on Facebook or submit your link on our registration page!

A Refreshing Retreat to Welcome the New Year

Recently, our LitWorld staff convened for a retreat in Hastings on Hudson, away from the raucous hustle and bustle of New York City. There, inside the cozy home of our Executive Director Pam Allyn, we could watch the snow falling peacefully outside, making smooth, pristine blankets of powder as it landed on the ground below. It was the perfect setting for a refreshing reunion of thoughts and ideas, a place where we were able to share our intentions for the new year; thoughts and ideas glistening with curiosity and hope. 

The time we spent allowed us to map out our ideas of how LitWorld will create an even bigger impact for change this year, resulting in abundant new visions coupled with a magnificent source of energy to carry them through. We are excited about the surge of inspiration that fills us all to give love, care, and nurture through the healing power of words. Happy 2011!