Award-Winning Actress & Activist Jane Fonda Set to Participate in a Special Poetry Reading During Launch Party for Get Lit's Groundbreaking Poetry Sharing Platform: Uni(verse) on December 11, 2021

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 6, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Diane Luby Lane, Founder of Get Lit - Words Ignite, the Los Angeles-based education nonprofit started in 2006 to increase literacy, empower youth, and energize communities through poetry and visual media, announced today that the 15th annual Get Lit Gala this year will be a Launch Party for Uni(verse). The event will take place virtually on December 11, 2021, with award winning actress and activist Jane Fonda set to participate in a very special reading of the UNI(VERSE) Launch Poem, created through hundreds of globally submitted verses as part of Get Lit's 1,000 Verses / $1,000,000 Campaign. 

Get Lit is transforming the lives of young people worldwide through classic and spoken word poetry. Through specialized curriculums, the program provides a creative outlet, community, and real-life work experience, transforming students into activists, scholars, and stars. The Uni(verse) Launch Party will introduce Get Lit's brand new, one-of-a-kind poetry sharing platform Uni(verse), the world's first interactive poetry platform for the classroom and youth community. Uni(verse) is based on the award-winning and impactful poetry, literacy, and empowerment curriculum that Get Lit has always provided, but the platform now allows students worldwide the ability to access the program online and to exchange ideas within and outside of school. 

Tickets to attend the virtual Launch Party are free and can be obtained by registering at GetLit.org/Universe-Launch.  Anyone donating $1000 or more will be invited to share their favorite verse (or can sponsor a student or teacher to share their favorite verse) of poetry on Get Lit's very special interactive poetry wall,  and may be included in the original poem that will be read aloud by the award-winning actress and activist,  Jane Fonda, during the gala and launch party on December 11. A commemorative broadside print featuring the UNI(VERSE) poem will be given to each contributor.

"Get Lit's UNI(VERSE) platform leverages custom, cutting-edge technology to foster greater learning and collaboration opportunities in arts/language education, which is usually reserved exclusively for students in STEM. We couldn't be more excited to be able to bring the gift of spoken word poetry to students and teachers all over the world," said Founder Diane Luby Lane.  "Our new interactive Poetry Wall is an example of how poetry can bring us all together. I can't wait to share the created UNI(VERSE) poem with our attendees during this year's gala." 

The goal of this Launch Party is to match a $100,000 donation by The Gary Saltz Foundation by 12/11 and then to further raise $1,000,000 by December 31st.  Anyone donating $1000 or more will be invited to participate in the interactive virtual Poetry Wall and have a chance to have their verse included in The UNI(VERSE) Poem, which will be read aloud by Jane Fonda on the night at the Launch Party.   Donations received go towards helping to make the Get Lit curriculum and UNI(VERSE) platform accessible to students in classrooms around the world. 

ABOUT GET LIT
Get Lit - Words Ignite is a Los Angeles-based education nonprofit founded in 2006 by author and educator Diane Luby Lane, to increase literacy, empower youth, and energize communities through poetry and visual media.  The organization aims to transform the lives of young people worldwide through classic and spoken word poetry. Through the use of specialized curriculums, the program engages young people by providing a creative outlet, community, and real-life work experience, transforming students into activists, scholars, and stars.

The only program of its kind in the nation, Get Lit has created a unique call-and-response model where students identify classic poems that resonate with their own stories, and write original responses, inspiring students to discover, develop, and amplify their voices while learning and exploring classic poetry from the past and present.  At Get Lit, "a classic isn't a classic because it's old, a classic is a classic because it's great." 

Get Lit annually reaches 50,000 youth, ages 9 through young adulthood, through its In-School and After-School programs. Instruction culminates in the three-day Classic Slam, the largest classic youth poetry competition in the country. Get Lit is also home to the Get Lit Players (GLPs), an award-winning youth poetry troupe who have collaborated with the United Nations, John Legend, the White House, and more, inspiring their peers to read, write, uplift their communities and participate in the arts. Their online videos have been watched over 350 million times. 

85% of Get Lit's students are from under-resourced areas; 92% are students of color. Get Lit reaches students, whether they are in the front row, in the back of the classroom, or online. Graduating students have gone on to successes including positions as Youth Poet Laureates of the U.S., staff writers on top television shows, United Nations Youth Ambassadors, Grammy-winning artists, and Fulbright Scholars. 

Get Lit was chosen as a 2020 Library of Congress Literacy Awards Best Practice Honoree, one of only 15 in the world.  Also in 2020, 27 Get Lit poets co-wrote and co-starred in the film "Summertime" directed by Carlos López Estrada. The film premiered opening night at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival and opened in theaters across the U.S. in Summer 2021 to great critical acclaim. It is currently available on Amazon and other platforms, and a PG version is available for classrooms. Get Lit poets have performed at premier venues such as the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, the Hollywood Bowl, The White House, and the United Nations. 

In early 2022, Get Lit will officially launch Uni(verse), the world's first interactive poetry platform for the classroom, community, and beyond. Get Lit's Uni(verse) will enable students throughout the US and internationally to take Get Lit's standards-aligned "Words Ignite" course online and to exchange ideas both within and outside of school. It will feature Get Lit's interactive poetry Anthology, searchable by poet, theme, and literary device. Through poetry, Uni(verse) will build and strengthen communication, collaboration, empathy, and community throughout the world.

SOURCE Get Lit

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