First lady Laura Bush was planning to host a celebration of American poetry at the White House today. Instead, poets all over the world will read verse protesting the possible war in Iraq.

Bush's "Poetry and the American Voice" symposium was canceled after several prominent poets -- including former U.S. poet laureates Rita Dove and Stanley Kunitz -- declined her invitation. The White House feared the event would become less a literary event than a political forum.

Instead of booking flights to Washington, many poets contributed anti-war poems to a hastily created Web site. The protest took on a life of its own, and now more than 150 events are scheduled for today in U.S. cities such as San Francisco and New York, Tuscaloosa, Ala., and Dubuque, Iowa. Overseas, there will be readings in Guadalajara, Mexico, Oslo, Norway, and Oxford, England. There will be at least four events today in the Bay Area.

One of the invited poets, Sam Hamill, co-founder of poetry publisher Copper Canyon Press in Port Townsend, Wash., declined with a flourish. He urged friends to observe "A National Day of Poetry Against the War" and to contribute anti-war poems to a new Web site, www.poetsagainstthewar.org. He said he planned to present a printed version of the poems to the White House on Feb. 12.

Word spread, and more than 5,300 poems were collected, many from the brightest literary talents in America, including Adrienne Rich, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Philip Levine and Diane DiPrima. Hamill said he had expected about 50 responses.

"It was never my intention to close down her poetry tea party," Hamill said,

"but I had to make a statement. There isn't just a war being planned against Iraq, there's a war going on against the Constitution."

After Bush, who has hosted several lively literary events at the White House, postponed the event late last month, her office issued a statement: "While Mrs. Bush understands the right of all Americans to express their political views, this event was designed to celebrate poetry." The symposium has not been rescheduled.

Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Philip Levine, who lives in Fresno and New York,

said that after he received his invitation, "I didn't have time to think about much of anything before the phone began to ring. I realized right away there was a sort of industry being created not to go to the White House."

He has fond memories of poetry nights during both the Carter and Clinton administrations. "I can see poets of all kinds going to the White House in World War II. But this war -- it's all too disguised to limit our personal rights, to make sure Bush gets a second term, and to show the world that we're serious about pre-emptive action and everybody better be good little children or else."

Poets not invited to the White House event also joined the protest.

Poet Carolyn Kizer of Sonoma, the first director of the Literature Program at the National Endowment for the Arts, from 1965 to '70, said, "As soon as I heard about the protest, I hastily sent off a poem." Of the current administration, she said, "They are leading us down the road to terrible tragedy."

San Francisco poet DiPrima contributed a poem called "Good Clean Fun," written in the early '90s, to Hamill's Web site. "I was sick with thinking about how often terrorist acts are perpetuated by our government and not called terrorism," she said. DiPrima said the importance of poetry had been building since Sept. 11. She has helped to launch "peace readings" on the anniversary of that day.

When Reiko Redmonde, events coordinator of the all-volunteer collective Revolution Books in Berkeley, heard about the Web site, she sprang into action.

"We thought it was so wonderful, we called poets we knew, and they called poets they knew, young and old, from all over the Bay Area." The store quickly set up a reading of anti-war poetry, scheduled for 7:30 tonight.

In Peace and Poetry: An open reading sponsored by PoetryTelevision.com, 1 p. m., at Yerba Buena Children's Garden, 760 Howard St. at Third, S.F. (One poem per poet.) Call (415) 503-4170, ext. 185, or visit info@poetrytelevision.com.

Guerrilla Poetry Reading: At 5 p.m. -- wherever you are, whatever your politics -- Youth Speaks/The Living Word Project asks that you stop and read a poem aloud. "Enter your voice into the national movement," says James Kass of Youth Speaks. For information, visit www.youthspeaks.org.

Poetry and the American Voice Has Been Cancelled: An open forum for art, poetry and performance against war, co-sponsored by the Poetry Center, 7 to 9 p.m. at Modern Times Bookstore, 888 Valencia St., San Francisco. Suggested donation $3 to $5 for Artists Action Network Web site. For information, call (415) 282-9246 or send e-mail to spaceistheplace@hotmail.com.

Poets Against the War: James Kass, Adelle and Jack Foley, Shailja Patel, Marvin X and others read at 7:30 p.m. , at Revolution Books, 2425 Channing Way,

Berkeley. Open mike after scheduled poets, if time allows. Call (510) 848- 1196.

Anti-War Poetry: Open microphone, 7:30 p.m., Mama Bears Women's Bookstore, 6536 Telegraph Ave., Oakland; $2 donation. "Come and read an anti-war poem that you or someone else has written -- or just lend your spirit."

Sacramento Poets Against the War: Open microphone poetry event, 7 p.m., The Book Collector, 1008 24th St., Sacramento. For information, call (916) 442- 9295.

©2003 San Francisco Chronicle

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