These Coffee Shops Will Accept Poems as Payment on World Poetry Day

Most poets may struggle to make an actual income from their writing, but today they can at least get a free cup of coffee. In honor of World Poetry Day on March 21, an international chain of cafés will be offering its patrons coffee in exchange for poems, The Guardian reports.

The Austrian coffee-roasting company Julius Meinl first launched their Pay With a Poem initiative in 2013. Last year, more than 100,000 customers took part and today 1280 locations will be accepting poems as payment in 34 countries, including Australia, Canada, China, England, and the U.S. Poems collected from coffee shops that day will later be put on display as part of an art installation in London.

The coffee chain's passion for poetry is something it celebrates throughout the year. Shops will often host various poetry events, and in 2013 a robot was set up in their Bucharest location to transcribe poems in real-time as people wrote them online. To see if a café near you is accepting poems as currency today, you can check out their map of participating stores.

[h/t The Guardian]