HALLOWELL — The public is invited to The Harlow at 6 p.m. Friday, April 12, for a reading of “Letters to the Earth,” a collective response to the crisis of climate change. Readers will include members of The Harlow’s Bookey Readings poetry group and volunteers from the audience. All ages are welcome and participants are welcome to bring their own letters inspired by the project to read or be read.

“Letters to the Earth” is an international cultural response to the global climate and ecological emergency. It was spearheaded by the British group “Culture Declares Emergency,” made up of members of the creative industries including actors, directors and playwrights.

“Letters to the Earth” is the beginning of a wider campaign calling on culture to do its part to tell the truth about the climate and ecological crisis and take necessary action. A recent open call for “Letters to the Earth” resulted in hundreds of letters from people of all ages from across the world and from all walks of life.

According to organizers, “The letters have moved, humbled and inspired us by their number, their depth of feeling and their call to action. They constitute the largest creative response to the climate crisis the world has yet seen.”

The Harlow is one of nearly 50 venues hosting a reading of “Letters to the Earth” on April 12, in England and across the world, from Zambia to Canada, from Latvia to Maine. For more information on Letters to the Earth, visit https://www.letterstotheearth.com/.

For more information about Culture Declares Emergency, visit https://sites.google.com/view/culturedeclaresemergency.

Exhibitions at The Harlow are free and open to the public. Hours are noon to 6 p.m. Wednesday to Saturday. For more information, visit harlowgallery.org or call 207-622-3813.