Calling poets to a greater role in public life and fostering a national network of socially engaged poets.
By Leslie Anne Mcilroy(1) to form by heating and hammering; beat into shape, as in the child’s back
burning, shoulders of flame, ribs of shame till she is no longer what she
was, but what you want her to be; 2) to form or make, especially by
concentrated effort, as in pride, see the girl, my girl, take credit, look what I
By Kathi WolfeIn an elevator trapped
between the fifteenth and sixteenth
floor of her apartment building,
Sunday morning, Elizabeth, her cane
By Kenneth CarrollKenneth Carroll performs the poem "Presidential Love Letter" at the 2008 Split This Rock Poetry Festival.
By Cornelius EadyCornelius Eady performs the poem "My Body Elizabeth" at the 2010 Split This Rock Poetry Festival.
By Douglas KearneyDouglas Kearney performs the poem "No Homo" at the 2012 Split This Rock Poetry Festival.
By Rachel McKibbensRachel McKibbens performs the poem "Tom Boy" at the 2012 Split This Rock Poetry Festival.
By Marilyn NelsonMarilyn Nelson performs the poem "Millie Christine" at the 2012 Split This Rock Poetry Festival.
By Wang PingWang Ping reads "On a Playground in Park Slope, Brooklyn a Retired Neurologist from Beijing is Cursing" at the 2014 Split This Rock Poetry Festival.
By Tim SeiblesTim Seibles performs "One Turn Around the Sun" at the 2014 Split This Rock Poetry Festival.
By Claudia RankineClaudia Rankine reads an excerpt from "Citizen" at the 2014 Split This Rock Poetry Festival.