Split This Rock Poetry Festival 2020 Social Change Book Fair
Join us for a virtual Social Change Book Fair, featuring the critically important work of socially engaged poets, writers, organizations, progressive presses, literary magazines, and independent newspapers. Although we are unable to gather together this year to browse the Book Fair, we are excited to offer a space to explore and connect to the vital work being done in our community. If you are able, please consider supporting the work of these exhibitors during this uncertain time.
We will be spotlighting exhibitors on social media during the month of April using the hashtag #SplitThisBookFair. We invite you to share your own publishing and projects using the hashtag and under the virtual Book Fair posts.
Social Change Book Fair Exhibitors
ActionAid USA
ActionAid is an international network building a just, equitable, and sustainable world in solidarity with communities on the frontlines of poverty and injustice. Take action to stop the spread of coronavirus by supporting ActionAid's distribution of hygiene kits, public health education, and advocacy for public services in more than 40 countries. Learn more on ActionAid's website.
Allied in Pride
Allied in Pride is a student organization at The George Washington University. Through advocacy, social events, service, and support for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning students (LGBTQ+), they aim to create a comfortable environment for GW’s LGBTQ+ population, to raise awareness of LGBTQ+ issues at GW and in the D.C. Metro community, and to promote pro-LGBTQ+ policies at the university level. Learn more on their Facebook page.
ASAN (Autistic Self Advocacy Network)
The Autistic Self Advocacy Network seeks to advance the principles of the disability rights movement with regard to autism. ASAN believes that the goal of autism advocacy should be a world in which autistic people enjoy equal access, rights, and opportunities. To find resources, donate, and get involved, visit ASAN's website. Looking to learn more about autism from autistic people during Autism Acceptance Month? Check out autismacceptance.com!
Barrelhouse
Barrelhouse is a pop culture-obsessed independent non-profit literary organization based in Washington, DC. They publish a print and online literary magazine, run a small press, and organize literary events. Learn more on Barrelhouse's website.
Beltway Poetry Quarterly
Beltway Poetry Quarterly is an award-winning online literary journal and resource bank that showcases the literary community in Washington, DC and the surrounding Mid-Atlantic region. Learn more on Beltway Poetry Quarterly's website.
Bejeweled Poetry
m. jewel h. is a self published author, actress, and advocate for youth. She resides in the Washington DC area and has volunteered with Split This Rock Poetry Festival for years. She has also performed in regional open mic nights and poetry slams. She has also been featured in compilations such as the 2019 Poetry Marathon Anthology. Her poetry is centered on love as a catalyst for positive change and peace. Check out her book Bejeweled Poety V: Alive. The poetry focuses on seizing the day, finding peace in chaos, and victory in helping others. The call to action is to recognize the divine in all things alive and responding with love. Learn more on the Bejeweled Poetry website.
Black Mermaids
Learn more about poet, writer, and creative Julia Mallory, and purchase books and apparel on Black Mermaids' website.
Broadsided Press
Founded in 2005 with the mission of putting literature and art on the streets, Broadsided publishes monthly visual-literary collaborations as free posters for anyone to download and print. They are currently accepting submissions for their next feature, "A Sense of Home," as a response to COVID-19, and have offered a few structured writing prompts to invite new perspectives on a sense of home and what it means to be confined at home or elsewhere. The due date for submissions is May 5. Learn more on Broadsided Press' website.
Busboys and Poets
Busboys and Poets is a community gathering place. First established in 2005, Busboys and Poets was founded by owner Andy Shallal, an artist, activist and restaurateur. After opening the flagship location at 14th and V Streets, NW, the neighboring residents and progressive community embraced Busboys, particularly activists opposed to the Iraq War. Busboys and Poets is now located in seven distinctive neighborhoods in the Washington Metropolitan area and is a cultural hub for artists, activists, writers, thinkers and dreamers. Learn more on Busboys and Poets' website.
CapFire Spoken Word Arts
Capturing Fire, the International Queer Spoken Word Slam, began in March 2010. It was founded by Nuyorican Poets Café Grand Slam Champion and Washington Post’s “Fairy Godmother of Spoken Word in DC,” Regie Cabico, and driven by Natalie E. Illum of Mother Tongue, who would later be a Beltway Poetry Slam Champion. Learn more about the International Queer Poetry Summit and Slam, as well as Capturing Fire Press, on Capturing Fire's website.
CavanKerry Press
CavanKerry Press is committed to expanding the reach of poetry to a general readership by publishing works that explore the emotional and psychological landscapes of everyday life. Since its inception in 2000, CavanKerry’s mission has included the creation of programs that bring our books and writers to diverse audiences where they live, work, and receive services. Browse books and learn more on CavanKerry Press' website.
The Female Power Project
Inspired by the powers of human and divine females, The Female Power Project offers shawls, scarves, pins, prints, posters, cards, and stickers. Learn more and place an order through The Female Power Project's website.
George Mason University Creative Writing & Poetry Daily
Poetry Daily is an online anthology of contemporary poetry. Each day, they bring you a new poem from new books, magazines, and journals. Subscribe to the daily email newsletter and browse poems on Poetry Daily's website. You can learn more about George Mason University's Creative Writing department on their website.
Haymarket Books
Haymarket Books is a radical, independent, nonprofit book publisher based in Chicago, a project of the Center for Economic Research and Social Change. During the month of April, Haymarket is running a 30% discount on all books on their website. They have also launched a series of virtual teach-ins, readings, and online lectures. Check out the schedule for upcoming virtual events, as well as recorded videos from past virtual events on Haymarket's Youtube. For the latest information on book sales and virtual programs, follow Haymarket Books on social media @haymarketbooks.
Hawai’i Review
Hawai’i Review is an international literary journal housed at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa. Browse chapbooks, purchase past issues, or make a donation on Hawai'i Review's website.
MoonLit
MoonLit was founded in 2017. Through accessible and engaging literary-based programming in DC, Maryland, and Virginia, MoonLit creatively connects community and brings together creative people of all backgrounds.To check out MoonLit's upcoming online workshops, visit their Eventbrite page. Learn more about MoonLit by visting their website.
The Outrage
The Outrage is a hub for activism. Through apparel and community, they start and sustain conversations. Their goal is to make it easy, tangible, and accessible for anyone to authentically engage with or support a progressive movement. With every purchase, they donate to progressive organizations. To browse their shop, learn about membership, and more, visit The Outrage's website.
OutWrite
The 2020 OutWrite Chapbook Competition is open! Tyrese Coleman judges Nonfiction, Rivers Solomon judges Fiction, and Faylita Hicks judges Poetry. There is no fee to enter. Submissions are due by June 5. Each winner will receive 25 copies of their winning chapbook, an offer of print publication from Neon Hemlock Press, and an opportunity to read from their work at OutWrite 2020 on Sunday, August 2, 2020. Please find the full guidelines for the competition on Outwrite's website.
NELLE Literary Journal
NELLE proudly publishes the best, most exciting poetry, short fiction, and nonfiction written exclusively by women. Learn more abou the journal on their website.
The Northern Virginia Review
The Northern Virginia Review presents outstanding original fiction, poetry, essays, fine art and photography from the Mid-Atlantic region and the faculty, staff, and alumni of Northern Virginia Community College. It is published in a handsome print edition each Spring. Learn more on The Northern Virginia Review's website.
Plamen Press
Plamen Press is an independent press focused on the the publication and promotion of Central, Eastern and Southeastern European Literature translated into English. Browse their books and learn more on Plamen Press' website.
Poetry X Hunger
Poetry X Hunger strives to link the power of poetry to the cause of hunger alleviation in the U.S. and around the world. As part of their call "Now More Than Ever," Poetry X Hunger invites poets to write and submit a poem about greater local, national, and global hunger as one of the pandemic's impacts. Poems may be posted on the Poetry X Hunger website. For details and submission guidelines, visit the Poetry X Hunger Facebook page, or send an email to PoetryXHunger@gmail.com.
Rosarium Publishing
Rosarium Publishing is a publisher specializing in speculative fiction, comics, and a touch of crime fiction—all with a multicultural flair. Browse their books on their website.
Speakers of the House: The GW Spoken Word Collective
Speakers of the House: George Washington University’s Spoken Word Collective is a supportive space for students to develop and showcase their poetic voices as a means of spreading campus awareness of social justice issues. Learn more on their Facebook page.
Turtle Light Press
Turtle Light Press creates limited editions of books, handmade and trade poetry titles, and artistic photographs of Arlington, VA and Falls Church, VA as well as other Washington, DC places. Books include Star of David, Peace and War in Israel, and Nick Virgilio: A Life in Haiku. Learn more on Turtle Light Press' website.
Veterans for Peace, Chapter 105
Veterans For Peace is a global organization of Military Veterans and allies whose collective efforts are to build a culture of peace by using our experiences and lifting our voices. Learn more by visiting their website.
Washington Writers’ Publishing House
Washington Writers’ Publishing House is a non-profit organization that has published over 50 volumes of poetry since 1973 and so far nearly a dozen volumes of fiction. Submissions are open for the upcoming anthology THIS IS WHAT AMERICA LOOKS LIKE. The due date for submissions is June 1. For more information and to submit, please visit the Washington Writers' Publishing House Submittable page.
The Writer’s Center and Poet Lore
The Writer’s Center empowers writers and those who aspire to write through workshops, events, and creative collaboration. Learn more on The Writer's Center's website.
Poet Lore is a biannual print journal of poetry, essays, and reviews, published with the conviction that poetry provides a record of human experience as valuable as history. Book-length issues deliver news from the interior—poems that make concerns of our moment both urgent and intimate. Subscribe today by visiting Poet Lore's website.
Yellow Medicine Review — A Journal of Indigenous Literature, Art and Thought
Yellow Medicine Review is an international journal of indigenous literature, art, and thought. It includes the work of both renowned and emerging writers, artists, and scholars and is published twice a year in spring and fall. To learn more, browse issues, or subscribe, visit Yellow Medicine Review's website.