2010 Poets and Contest Winners Announced!

Split This Rock Poetry Festival, March 10-13, 2010, will feature a diverse array of some of the finest poets writing at the intersection of imagination and social change.

Featured at Split This Rock's second festival will be Chris Abani, Lillian Allen (pictured), 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, A.B. Spellman, Arthur Sze, and Bruce Weigl.

As usual, diversity of all kinds is a top priority at Split This Rock. As at the first festival, Split This Rock 2010 will feature performance poets, experimental poets, lyrical poets, and narrative poets. Poets of color are in the majority. There are gay and lesbian poets, poets of working-class origin, and poets with disabilities. The list includes international voices, with poets from Canada, Cuba, Nigeria, Iraq, and China, as well as DC poets who write and work in our own community. And we're pleased to bring back two popular poets from the first festival, Martín Espada and Patricia Smith.

All 23 of these poets are in the world, are poet-citizens in a variety of ways. Lillian Allen is an originator of dub poetry and a leader on diversity and culture in Canada. Fady Joudah was a field doctor with Doctors Without Borders. Cornelius Eady is a founder of Cave Canem, the organization for African American poets. Jan Beatty has worked as a welfare caseworker and an abortion counselor. Mark Nowak facilitates "poetry dialogues" with Ford autoworkers in the US and South Africa. These are just a few examples. Check out the website for more on these critical voices.

We'll also be profiling them and reviewing their books on Blog This Rock in the coming months, so keep an eye out here.

Save the date: March 10-13, 2010. This is a festival you won't want to miss!
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2009 Split This Rock Poetry Contest Results

First Place: "River, Page" written by Teresa J. Scollon, Traverse City, MI.


Second Place: "The Center for the Intrepid" by Jenny Browne, San Antonio, Texas.

Third Place: "Femincide/ Fimicidio- The Murdered and Disappeared Women of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico" by Demetrice Anntia Worley, Peoria, Illinois.

We are very grateful to this year's judge Patricia Smith and to all who supported Split This Rock by entering the contest. The competition was tough - it is heartening to see the poets continuing to write their poems for a better world. Thank you.

The winning poems will be posted soon on Split This Rock's web site. Stay tuned!

Get a Personalized Poem from Workshop Leader and Poet, Lorna Dee Cervantes

On Sunday, the wonderful Lorna Dee Cervantes read some of her works at Sunday Kind of Love. As she read, she mentioned an ongoing project, born out of creativity and necessity (as she says on her website, "desperate times require desperate measures, require love"). The project involves writing love poems for strangers, bringing to mind Cyrano, the letter-writers of ancient China, and others gifted with language who use it to bring love and joy to others. As she read examples of the work the project had inspired, Lorna referred to it as "poetry busking," and the idea is simple: provide her with some information, and she will write a 100 word love poem for you. For a small fee of course (this includes a signed copy). The necessary information, as well as contact information is below. If you want to know more about Lorna, visit her blog, or even better, come to the workshop she's leading at the Institute for Policy Studies tomorrow (see link for more information).

Send the following information to lornadeecervantes [at] mac [dot] com to receive an original poem:

My name is:
My email is:
My address is:

I'll pay ($10+) ________ for a poem in (any style) ________ or __________.

I'll get it by email or I'll add $5 and get it by email and print.

I want a poem: for me, for my love, to our love (You can also have poems written for family members and friends).

I want a poem for _____________ that expresses _________________________________.

Once you've got all that filled out, provide some inspiration and insight:

Some words:
Some sounds:
Some sights/images:
Some tastes:
Some feelings, including tactile:

Help support Lorna and poetry, and show your love for someone important with an amazing gift.

Last Call For Panel Proposals!

Call for Proposals: Split This Rock Poetry Festival 2010

Split This Rock Poetry Festival: Poems of Provocation & Witness invites poets, writers, activists, and all concerned citizens to Washington, DC, March 10-13, 2010 for four days of 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.

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. Possibilities are endless. Challenge us.

The deadline is JUNE 30, 2009.

Last years panels included:
Crip Poetry: A Culture of Disability, Justice and Art

A Panel By Kathi Wolfe, Chris Bell, Petra Kuppers, Stephen Kuusisto

Nothing is more connected to poetry than the body–(with its limitations and joys) and the body politic–the intersection of the personal with social justice issues (from peace to race to LGBT). This is especially true for disability culture (crip) poets who write out of their own experience of disability (in relation to their own bodies) and to the body politic (to disability as a social construct). The panel will be a lively discussion, focused on these questions: How does disability intersect with other political issues? How do a passion for social justice and experience with disability help to create memorable, well-crafted poems?

Writing Isn't Lonely: Collaborative Writing Workshop

Susan Tichy, Eleanor Graves, Danika Myers

If our politics are communal, why do so many poems celebrate the individual voice? If poetry is about discovery, not certainty, what happens when we have "a message"? How can we write politically while preserving complexity in our language and thought? Techniques of collage can move "the message" away from content and into the poem's process. We become makers of our poems, not their sole speaker, and the whole world of language becomes our material. This workshop will take you through collaborative exercises focused on speaking truth where truth is not evident.

Writing Down the Walls: Poetry in Prison

Shelley Savren, Jimmy Santiago Baca, Clarinda Harriss, Walter Lomax, John Mingo, Kyes Stevens

Poets who have conducted writing workshops in prisons (and/or in juvenile justice facilities) will discuss their experiences working with inmates – the challenges of the system, the successes of the workshops and the disappointments. They will examine the importance of reaching this population through poetry and whether or not writing empowered the participants or brought about change. Joining the panel will be inmates who participated in poetry writing workshops and/or wrote poetry while incarcerated. They will discuss the effects of writing poetry in a hostile environment and will explore how the act of writing poems enabled them to change their lives or at least survive behind prison walls.


Details and guidelines are online here(splitthisrock.org/documents/2010_panel_proposals.doc).

Discussion and community building are at the heart of Split This Rock. We value diversity, creativity, and new ideas. Check out last year's schedule for inspiration.

Please join us!

Help Spread the Word

Forward this post, re-post it on your blog, send a message to all your Facebook friends. We are a grassroots movement and need your help to reach a wide variety of poets and poetry lovers. Thanks!

Calling All Artists: A Call for Submissions

Calling All Artists:
Submit your artwork for a chance to participate in
the upcoming
This Is My House
Art Exhibition hosted by:
Housing Counseling Services, Inc.

Purpose/Theme: Artists are asked to send submissions that are concerned with or speak to housing disparity/discrimination and the complications that arise. To raise awareness in the minds of artists and the community at large of how housing discrimination affects all aspects of our lives, from who we are and where we live to the opportunities we have and the future that lies ahead.

Participants: Artists of all ages and styles are encouraged to participate and send submissions. Younger artists are encouraged to speak with parents, grandparents and older relatives about housing obstacles they have faced and the outcomes, both good and bad of those experiences.

Submissions: All nature of art will be welcomed provided it highlights the theme in an open and thoughtful manner. Examples of art include but are not limited to:
Performance Art: Poetry, Music, Drama, etc.
Visual Art: Photography, Painting, Sculpture, etc.

*Do not send original material. Photographs of visual artwork and copies of written
material only. HCS will neither return nor be responsible for damage or loss of
original material submitted.

Dates and Deadlines: All submissions must be received no later than July 15th, 2009.

Selected artists will be invited to perform or display art work in August at a public exhibition entitled: “This Is My House”

Submissions should be sent to:
Housing Counseling Services, Inc.
2410 17th street NW #100
Washington, D.C. 20009
Attn. Seth Lawler
More information: Contact Seth Lawler, at sethlawler@housingetc.org or call
202-667-7607.

HCS is a non-profit 501(c) 3 organization founded in 1972 to provide comprehensive housing counseling, training, advocacy, technical assistance and housing opportunities for low and moderate-income homebuyers, homeowners, and tenants; to help them achieve successful living in healthy, safe and affordable homes. HCS’s goal is to prevent homelessness and increase sustainable housing opportunities by providing the skills, self-esteem and empowerment necessary within families and communities. Further, HCS works to build the individual and group capacity for economic, physical, and social development of homes, neighborhoods and communities.

All You Can Eat Pancake Breakfast in support of Art + Media House

The Art + Media House and the Visions to Peace Project are collaborating to bring a delegation of DC youth media makers to the Allied Media Conference in Detroit Michigan this July. The Allied Media Conference is an amazing 3-day conference that brings together media-makers (in the most holistic sense of the word) and social justice activists.

They need your support to help get there!
Please come out to the All-You-Can-Eat Pancake Breakfast.

*When: Sunday June 28th, 11am - 3pm

*Where: Art + Media House, 3035 15th Street NW, Washington, DC
one block from the Columbia Heights metro station on the Green line

*How much: $10-20 suggested donation (help out however you can)

*What: Eat pancakes, and sip coffee and juice. Vegan pancakes will be served. There will also be a screening of youth produced media projects.

*For more info: Give Tennessee Watson, Media Associate at Art and Media House, a call at 202.319.2294. Art and Media House contact info can also be found here.

*If you interested in volunteering at this event please let Tennessee know. Folks are needed to help cook and serve the pancakes.

Thanks for your support!

U.S. Poets in Mexico

U.S. Poets in Mexico is pleased to announce their first annual Merida Fellowship Award for an American poet over 18 years of age. The 2010 competition will be judged by poet Tony Towle. The Merida Fellowship Award consists of full tuition for one week of poetry workshops in Merida, Yucatán, Mexico for the January 2-9, 2010 session, a reading on the same night as one of their faculty members and a visiting Mexican poet, lodging for the week, Spanish lessons and all day trips – (does not include airfare, ground transportation or meals).

Faculty for January 2010 includes Mark Doty, Anne Waldman, Martin Espada, Pedro Serrano and Cassandra Tribe. Visiting Mexican poets will be Jose Vicente Anaya, Pura Lopez Colome and Briceida Cuevas Cob (a Maya language poet).

Poetry submissions for the competition are due by November 1, 2009. The recipient will be announced on the website and notified by email on November 15, 2009. See the Apply page. Also, all accepted workshop applications will automatically be entered in the competition. Tony Towle will view poems only and not applications, resumes or names.

Slam on Indefinite Hiatus - A Note from Featured Poet Natalie Ilum

Split This Rock received the following letter yesterday from 2010 featured poet Natalie Illum. Please read.


Hello Friends,

I'd like you to take a look at the community announcement below. As many of you know, I've been attending the Baltimore slams this summer and having an amazing time. The folks who organize SLAMicide are not a only welcoming and talented group, they care about artistic development, empowerment, fun and community in a way I haven't seen.

Although I am relatively new to the slam scene, I could tell they were a family and fiercely talented to boot at the 2008 National Team Semi Finals, where they placed 6th. I wanted to be a part of that. It took me almost a year to be brave enough to try, and now it's fading.

As a long time community organizer of Mothertongue, I know how hard it is to stay afloat and find a home in venues that support and value creativity, poetry and community. Thankfully, the Black Cat hasn't given up on MT, but we have struggled with schedules, numbers, audiences, volunteers, etc. I don't even want to think about how much of my personal $ I donated over the last decade to keep something I was passionate about alive. I knew the second I gave up, people would miss what Mothertongue provides. I fear the same will happen with SLAMicide.

I have not spoken to the organizers about their intentions. But, I know the decision to put the series on hold was a hard one. I'm not even an official member of the 2010 team, because the season hasn't started yet. I know that the venue issues caused Baltimore not to be able to send a team to the finals in August 2009.

I know I will miss the opportunity to strengthen my slam voice and my ties to this community. I know there is a quality difference to this team that I want to be a part of, and/or help them share their words. I believe the Slamicide community still has a lot to say. I certainly will have trouble finding a slam home that has their level of compassion and creativity. But, that is a personal struggle.

SO, I am asking you as community organizers and friends to throw your support behind them. At the very least, let's show up to this weekend's last slam and give them a sendoff to remember. And, come watch me compete for IWPS through tears ...

Show up if you ever wanted to see me slam with Baltimore, because we may not get another chance! As my beloved Joni says, don't it always seem to go, you don't know what you've got til its gone.

Lastly, I'd like to help them recoup some $$ loses. So, if you can, please donate any amount to the paypal link on their website, http://www.slamicide.com/index.html [or email granmadave {at} yahoo.com]. Ironically, I have just finished a grant which ear marked $500 towards Slamicide expenses, which I will donate if I receive the grant, but that may not happen at all, or come too late to help the team compete.

If you can think of any other means of help, please [comment with contact info to be put in touch with Natalie or SLAMicide].

It's not too late. And by helping them, you help me stay present and focused on my purpose and the good in this life.

Thank you.
MUCH LOVE
and salt,

Natalie

A Note from Split This Rock: SLAMicide is a vital resource for poetic voices in the area. Please help support this great organization. Image credit: SLAMicide.com