Split This Rock Poetry Festival: March 10-13, 2010

Read our Cento!

In early 2010, the United States will have spent $1 trillion on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. On March 11, 2010, participants of the Split This Rock Poetry Festival gathered at Upper Senate Park near the U.S. Capitol, stepped up to the mic, and recited or read one line of poetry, which became a collaborative poem about our vision for the next $1 trillion.

The Washington Post has published an article that includes excerpts and a video.

Festival Kicks Off Wednesday, March 10!

Register onsite, buy tickets to individual readings at the door, join us in speaking poetic truth to Congress!

Online pre-registration is closed — please register at festival venues: Busboys and Poets, Langston Room from 2-5 pm on Wednesday or to all day Thursday, Friday, Saturday at the Thurgood Marshall Center. Full festival registration is $85 ($50 with a current student ID). One-day passes are $35 ($15 with a current student ID). To save time, complete this form and bring it with you.

If you pre-registered, no tickets required: Check in and pick up your badge and festival program onsite at either Busboys and Poets (Wednesday) or the Thurgood Marshall Center (Thursday-Saturday). If you miss us at at Busboys on Wednesday, we'll check you in at the Wednesday night featured reading, and you can pick up your full packet Thursday morning.

Check the detailed schedule and Venues pages for more info.

Free & Open to the Public

Many of our events are open to the public! See our Public Events page for details.

Press Release

We invite you to read, download, and share our press release for the 2010 festival (Microsoft Word format). Members of the press, please contact Sarah Browning: browning@splitthisrock.org.

Help Us Spread the Word!

Add one of these graphic tags and a link to www.splitthisrock.org to your website, blog, email signature, Facebook profile, or myspace page. (Right-click over the image to download a copy or grab the location.)

Pre-registration is Closed — Please Register at Festival Venues

Split This Rock Poetry Festival invites poets, writers, artists, activists, dreamers, and all concerned world citizens to Washington, DC, for poetry, community building, and creative transformation as our country continues to grapple with two wars, a crippling economic crisis, and other social and environmental ills. From March 10 through March 13, 2010, the festival will feature readings, workshops, panel discussions, youth programming, film, activism — opportunities to speak out for social justice, imagine a way forward, and celebrate the many ways that poetry can act as an agent for social change.

• If you can't make it to the entire festival, one-day registrations are available. Just check in on the day (or days) that you can attend. To save time, complete this form and bring it with you.
  
• Many of our events are open to the public. Please join us for readings, open mics, Poetry in the Streets, and the first Split This Rock Book Fair, to be held on the last day of the festival.
  
• Please send questions to info@splitthisrock.org, and someone will respond to you within 24-48 hours.

We can't wait to see you!

2010 Featured Poets

Our 2010 featured poets are Chris Abani, Lillian Allen, Sinan Antoon, Francisco Aragón, Jan Beatty, Martha Collins, Cornelius Eady, Martín Espada, Andrea Gibson, Allison Hedge Coke, Natalie Illum, Fady Joudah, Toni Asante Lightfoot, Richard McCann, Jeffrey McDaniel, Lenelle Moïse, Nancy Morejón, Mark Nowak, Wang Ping, Patricia Smith, Arthur Sze, Quincy Troupe, and the Busboys and Poets Poets-in-Residence: Holly Bass, Beny Blaq, and Derrick Weston Brown. Read their bios here. You can also buy books by our featured poets from Split This Rock's official bookseller, Teaching for Change.

Call for Film and Video - Deadline extended to February 26, 2010

Split This Rock invites poets, writers, artists, activists, dreamers, and all concerned world citizens to submit original films or videos for the 2nd Split This Rock Poetry Festival, to be held March 2010. We are looking for artistic, experimental, and challenging film/video interpretations of poetry that explore critical social issues. Entries can be up to 15 minutes long.

• Guidelines in Word or PDF format.
• Please include an entry form (available in Word or PDF) with your submission.

The deadline for submissions is February 26. Selected work will be screened during the Split This Rock Poetry Festival film program. Please check the festival program and schedule for details, coming soon.

Get Involved

See our Volunteer page and join our list to stay up-to-date on our ongoing programs in Washington, DC, and to find out how to help out with the 2010 Poetry Festival!

Split This Rock is pleased to announce our third annual poetry contest, judged by Chris Abani.
The deadline for submissions was January 22, 2010. Find full details on our Contests page.

Call for Proposals - Panels, Readings, and Workshops

Split This Rock Poetry Festival invites poets, writers, and activists to Washington, DC, for poetry, community building, and creative transformation as our country continues to grapple with a crippling economic crisis and other social and environmental ills. The festival will feature readings, workshops, panel discussions, youth programming, film, activism — opportunities to imagine a way forward, hone our activist skills, and celebrate the many ways that poetry can act as an agent for social change. We invite you to send proposals for panel discussions, group readings, roundtable discussions, workshops, and small-scale performances on a range of topics at the intersection of poetry and social change.

Panel and workshop selections are complete for 2010. Please check the festival program and schedule for details.