Posted inArts & Entertainment

Write Your Roots Epic Poetry Day invites Oaklanders to write a soccer-stadium full of stanzas

For Janet Heller, CEO and co-founder of Chapter 510 and the Dept. of Make Believe, the epic poem the perfect medium for the people of Oakland to express themselves on the same page, albeit a page the size of a soccer field. All month, Chapter 510 has been disseminating prompts on Instagram Live to bear poem-shaped fruit from Oakland residents to eventually combine and bind into a free book centered on themes of “power.” After more than a year of remote operations, Chapter 510 will host a virtual and in-person open house to commemorate what is now a citywide holiday; this Friday, and every last Friday in April from here on out, is known as Write Your Roots Day.