Those who favor peace rather than war in Iraq will get a chance to voice their thoughts at a poetry reading Wednesday.
They will also protest First Lady Laura Bush's decision to cancel a poetry reading at the White House.
The reading will take place from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in the Atrium Gallery in the Art and Journalism Building. Students are free to come and go, said River Karner, the event's organizer and assistant professor of English.
"It's about whatever peace means for that person," Karner said. "It's a good time for us to be focusing on topics of peace."
Samples of poetry will be available, she said.
The poetry reading on campus will be part of a nationwide event. Poets will speak from universities and poetic organizations across the country. Butler University is also participating, Karner said.
The national event is in response to the poetry reading "Poetry and the American Voice" that was supposed to take place at the White House Wednesday.
Bush, who organized the readings, postponed them for fear of turning a literary event into a political forum, according to Associated Press reports. The White House has not rescheduled yet.
According to the Associated Press, Sam Hamill - co-founder of the Copper Canyon Press, a poetry publisher - sparked the national poetry reading to protest the White House's cancellation.
Hamill received an invitation from the White House to participate. He declined, believing that to read his poetry would support the president's push for war in Iraq.
According to the Associated Press, Hamill proceeded to send an e-mail on Jan. 28 to friends requesting that Wednesday be made a national day of poetry against the war. Hamill asked for fellow poets to submit pro-peace poems and statements.
Hamill has received over 1,500 poems or personal statements protesting the war, the Associated Press reported.
Karner heard of the poetry event from an e-mail sent by a friend.
"There's no reason we can't celebrate ideas of peace here," Karner said.
But the reading will not be about protesting war as much as it will be about promoting peace, Karner said.
"I don't want anybody to feel silenced," she said. "People should feel free no matter what their views are."
The event is about open discussion, Karner said.
"Fear of discourse is never a good thing," she said. "It's about letting our voices be heard, and people who aren't opposed (to war) should feel welcome. It's an exchange of ideas."
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