Events & Advocacy
July 31 @ Eatonville — Broken Gulf: A Benefit for the Louisiana Bucket Brigade
We know the power of poetry to demand change and to heal our world. On July 31, at Eatonville (2121 14th Street NW, Washington, DC), we will be using that power to benefit the Louisiana Bucket Brigade, a grassroots, 501(c)3 environmental health and justice organization that has been helping residents living near Louisiana refineries fight air pollution for years, and is now helping them track and respond to the BP oil disaster that is ravaging the Gulf.
As a place of great artistic history, cultural diversity, and environmental importance, the Gulf region has an important place in our world. The urgency of this situation, as millions of gallons of oil flood the waters, suffocate the ocean, and threaten the livelihood of the people, gets greater with each day. Join Mississippi poet Angela Ball, DC poet Sonya Renee, Chris August, and the DC Youth Slam Teamas we raise our voices against the greed and corruption that caused this catastrophe.
Tickets to the event are $10, and are available online or at the door. There will be a raffle featuring items from local businesses such as ACKC and Fiddleheads, and tems from a Mississippi artisan, and we'll enjoy appetizers from Eatonville and live music.
Sponsored by Eatonville Restaurant, Split This Rock, and the Institute for Policy Studies. Please join us as we raise our voices in celebration and support of the Gulf!
July 23 and 24, 2010 – Busboys and Poets @ 5th & K, Washington, DC – "HOWL" in the City: Poetry & Music Celebrating Ginsberg's Photos at the National Gallery ... featuring Anne Waldman, Kyp Malone, and Matthew Hemerlein
In celebration of the landmark exhibition Beat Memories: The Photographs of Allen Ginsberg on view at the National Gallery of Art through September 17, Busboys and Poets and Split This Rock present “Howl” in the City.
Renowned poet Anne Waldman and musician Kyp Malone will perform, accompanied by a quartet of musicians led by DC-based Matthew Hemerlein. Waldman will present three performances of Allen Ginsberg’s legendary poem Howl. A string quartet led by Hemerlein will perform the Washington, DC premiere of Lee Hyla’s 1993 composition Howl, to accompany Waldman’s reading of the poem. A contemporary and close friend of Ginsberg and one of the few female poets associated with the Beats, Waldman will also present her original poems each night and will be preceded by local poets Chris August, Kenneth Carroll, and Venus Thrash.
The performances will take place at 8:00 and 10 p.m. on July 23 and 8 p.m. on July 24. Tickets are $10 for each show; get yours at http://brownpapertickets.com/event/118024.
On Saturday, July 24, at 10:00 p.m., Kyp Malone, guitarist and singer for the popular experimental rock band TV on the Radio, will give a free performance on the K Street patio in front of the restaurant. Malone’s musical projects mirror the Beats’ unrelenting pursuit of creativity. The program is made possible in part by grants from the Alice Shaver Foundation and Poets & Writers, Inc. Cosponsored by The Passenger.
More details at Blog This Rock.
Call for Submissions: Split This Rock Poem of the Week
Split This Rock invites all participants in the 2008 and 2010 Split This Rock Poetry Festivals to submit poems for consideration for its expanded new program, "Poem of the Week." We began the program in October 2009 as a way to publicize the poets who were to be featured in the 2010 festival. We are now pleased to be continuing Poem of the Week and to feature poems by poets who were registered participants in either (or both!) Split This Rock Poetry Festival: Poems of Provocation & Witness, in 2008 and/or 2010.
Poem of the Week sends one poem per week on a social issue to a wide audience: Split This Rock's list serv and Facebook group (now totaling over 3,000 nationwide, combined), and the national and international networks of the Institute for Policy Studies. We also post the poem on Split This Rock's blog, Blog This Rock. We encourage everyone who receives the poem to forward and post it widely, so that it reaches a broad public. Please send us your poems for consideration.
Guidelines:
- To be considered for Poem of the Week at this time, you must have been a registered participant at either festival—volunteers and scholarship recipients included—or a featured poet.
- Send up to three short poems (poems of 40 lines or under work best) as an email attachment in Word to: info@splitthisrock.org.
- Include in the cover email your full contact information (name, address, phone, email address) and a bio up to 75 words.
- Poems may have been previously published in a book, chapbook, or paper journal, but not on the web, please. If previously published, you must own the rights to the work.
- Please include the citation, including the web address of the publisher, so we may link to it.
- Poems will be featured on a rolling basis. We will consider poems for summer and fall if they arrive by May 31 and for winter and spring if they arrive by November 30.
- Please only submit once per reading period. A poet will only be featured once in Poem of the Week.
- We will contact you if your poem is accepted to confirm details, and may request additional information at that time.
We look forward to reading your poems!
Sunday Kind of Love - 3rd Sunday Every Month at Busboys and Poets
4:00 - 6:00 PM in the Langston Room at Busboys and Poets 14th & V location. The first hour features readings by local poets. The second hour is an open mike — bring one of your own poems to read! Hosted by Sarah Browning and Katy Richey. Sponsored by DC Commission on Arts and Humanities, Busboys and Poets, and Split This Rock. Busboys and Poets also lists Sunday Kind of Love on its events page. FREE admission; donations encouraged and are split between the featured poets and Busboys' amazing wait staff.
Poets in the Think Tank
Split This Rock collaborates with the Institute for Policy Studies on an occasional basis to bring poets and social justice advocates together in the "think tank." These brown bag events are free and open to the public -- bring your lunch! Sign up for our email list or find Split This Rock on Facebook to hear about upcoming events.
Poem of the Week
Split This Rock is sending out one poem per week by poets featured in Split This Rock Poetry Festival 2010 for the 24 weeks leading up to the festival, which begins March 10, 2010. Watch BlogThisRock or sign up for our email list. We invite you to share the poems widely, always including the publication credit and festival information listed after each poem.
Haiku Postcards to the President
In 2008 we began collecting haiku postcards for President Bush. We now have the honor and responsibility of sending our postcards to President Barack Obama. We've collected hundreds so far -- you can read some of our favorites at Blog This Rock, and we plan to hand-deliver these postcards to President Obama's staff.
If we don't have YOUR haiku to the President, please send it to us at info@splitthisrock.org and we'll add it to a postcard in the collection. Please let us know we have your permission to post on the website and/or to include it in any future display or publication.
Postcards are available for use in the classroom, or to be shared and used in your community -- email info@splitthisrock.org.
Speak Art to Power: March 16-20, 2009
Poets gathered at Split This Rock Poetry Festival in March 2008 signed an Appeal to Poets, Writers, and Creative Artists, and committed to a week of creative protest against war and social injustice March 16-21, 2009. Writers, artists, musicians, performers, are called on to use their art to provoke conversation, protest and action at the six year anniversary of war in Iraq. You can pledge to participate online. We encourage you to work with other artists in your community to organize local events and to post your events as "Speak Art to Power" on the United for Peace and Justice calendar, where others in your community might find your event.
In Washington DC, DC Poets Against the War is hosting a veterans' poetry reading at Busboys and Poets on 14th and V Streets on March 21, from 5-7 pm, with readings from the anthology Post Traumatic Press 2007. Please let us know what you are planning in your town and we'll help share the news. Thanks to Patricia Monaghan for her help coordinating.
One Percent for the Arts
Split This Rock joins Institute for Policy Studies in calling on Congress to support the arts in this time of crisis. During the 1930's the WPA project created jobs for 40,000 artists, musicians, writers, theater workers, and performers. Our generation deserves no less. Click here to read the IPS article.
The Nation publishedan article on this campaign. The Irish Times also reported on the push to include arts in the stimulus package.
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Check back for more events and ways to get involved!