Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Activist Poetry

Here are some items of interest about Split This Rock Poetry Festival. First, you can read some of the work of the featured activist poets in Washington’s premiere online poetry journal, Beltway Poetry Quarterly. Save the date for some upcoming readings. And finally, the festival itself is open for registration. All the details are below:

From Beltway Poetry Quarterly:

We begin 2008 with a rousing new issue of the journal, celebrating political poetry "borne out of a hunger." The Split This Rock Issue features seventeen poets who are participating in the upcoming festival of the same name, either as organizers or readers.

As co-editor Regie Cabico writes in his introduction, these poets sing "about gentrification, pop culture, immigration, war, heritage, disability, history and American iconography" to create a home "in the gut of a government that should hear, swallow, and ingest verses of provocation and witness."

The Split This Rock Issue of Beltway Poetry Quarterly features poems by the following authors:

Winona Addison * Naomi Ayala * Sarah Browning * Grace Cavalieri * Teri Ellen Cross * Heather Davis * Joel Dias-Porter * Yael Flusberg * Brian Gilmore * E. Ethelbert Miller * Princess of Controversy * Tanya Snyder * Susan Tichey * Melissa Tuckey * Dan Vera * Rosemary Winslow * Kathi Wolfe

The Split This Rock Issue (Volume 9, Number 1), is co-edited by Regie Cabico and Kim Roberts. The issue is available online now here.

Additionally, the following Beltway Poetry/Split This Rock Poetry readings are scheduled:

Sunday, March 9, 2008 at 6:00 pm
Split This Rock Poetry Festival Reading, sponsored by Beltway Poetry Quarterly. Featured readers: Brian Gilmore, Melissa Tuckey, Heather Davis, and Steve Rogers. Followed by open mic.

Iota Bar and Restaurant, 2832 Wilson Blvd., Clarendon neighborhood, Arlington, VA. (703) 522-8340. Series hosted by Miles David Moore - Free Admission. More info: http://www.wordworksdc.com

Sunday, March 16, 4:00 pm
Sunday Kind of Love Reading Series: Split This Rock Festival Reading sponsored by Beltway Poetry Quarterly. Featured readers: Winona Addison, Naomi Ayala, Teri Ellen Cross, Yael Flusberg, Tanya Snyder, Dan Vera, Rosemary Winslow, and Kathi Wolfe. Followed by open mic.

Busboys and Poets, 14th & V Streets, NW, DC. (202) 387-POET. Free Admission, although contributions are gratefully accepted. Guest hosts: Kim Roberts and Regie Cabico.

From Split This Rock Poetry Festival:

We are pleased to announce that registration for Split This Rock Poetry Festival: Poems of Provocation & Witness, is now open. Register online at: http://splitthisrock.org/registration.html

Register by March 10 and save. Before March 10, registration will be $75 and $40 for students. After March 10, the fee will rise to $85, and $50 for students. Your registration fee will include admission to all festival activities including readings, workshops, panels, receptions, film screenings, and open mics. Walking tours of literary DC are also included, but you must sign up when you register. Each tour is limited to 25, first come, first served.

Please consider an additional gift to help others attend. Split This Rock is a grassroots event and we need everyone’s support to make it a success. We have sponsorship levels to fit every budget. See details and give a gift here: http://splitthisrock.org/donate.html.

Scholarships are available. Guidelines for application can be found online at: http://splitthisrock.org/registration.html

SpaceShare – Split Your Car, Split Your Room, Go Green – Thanks to the generous partnership of SpaceShare, you can find a hotel roommate or a home stay arrangement, share space in your car, find a ride, or offer a room in your home. Just go to www.spaceshare.com/splitthisrock/ to sign up.

Register today! We look forward to seeing you in March at Split This Rock, the historic gathering of activist poets.

Work-in-Progress

DC-area author Leslie Pietrzyk explores the creative process and all things literary.