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The 24th Annual Tennessee Williams / New Orleans Literary Festival runs March 24-28, 2010 at Le Petit Théâtre du Vieux Carré and other venues in and around the French Quarter in New Orleans, La.
The Festival celebrates the playwright and his works and literary life in the adopted city Williams called his "spiritual home." The fête features master classes; panel discussions; interviews; theater music, food/drink and film events; a scholars' conference; comedy improv; a poetry slam; short fiction and one-act play competitions; a breakfast book club; French Quarter literary walking tours; a book fair; and a fund-raising event.
Leading the list of participants is Tony- and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Edward Albee. Also appearing are two-time Tony Award-nominee Lois Smith, who appeared in the original Broadway production of Williams' play Orpheus Descending, and playwright-screenwriter-director John Patrick Shanley (Doubt, Moonstruck).
Split This Rock Poetry Festival: Poems of Provocation & Witness comes to the historic U Street neighborhood of Washington, D.C., March 10-13, 2010. Poets, artists, social justice activists, and community organizers from across the area and the nation will take to the stages and streets of the capital to celebrate poetry as an agent of social change.
Split This Rock Poetry Festival offers a diverse mix of programs, including poetry readings every evening on the main stage at Bell Multicultural High School, workshops and panel discussions about the intersection of poetry and social change, a book fair, films, youth programming, parties, and activism.
Featuring 24 visionary voices:
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
Bruce Weigl
Also included is Somehow Tenderness Survivies: a Tribute to Dennis Brutus, Lucille Clifton, Mahmoud Darwish, and Howard Zinn. Friends and colleagues will present remembrances and favorite poems, then attendees will be invited to add their voices, as well, as they honor these visionary world citizens.
As the country continues to grapple with two wars, the economic crisis, and social and environmental ills, Split This Rock offers participants opportunities to speak out, make common cause, and explore the many ways poets are working for change through their writing, activism, and community work. Co-Director Sarah Browning said, “At times of crisis, poetry that looks directly at our world and struggles to understand, to bridge differences, to imagine other possibilities than those endlessly repeated by politicians and pundits is more important than ever.”
A screening of cutting-edge short films that showcase how poets, writers, and activists are collaborating with visual media artists to explore critical social issues. Edited by poet, filmmaker, and Director of the Poetry Center of Chicago Francesco Levato.
A new feature is a free Social Change Book Fair. Festival participants and members of the public can explore progressive presses, literary magazines, independent newspapers, and social justice and literary organizations.
Other free events during the festival include a youth poetry open mic and the final round of competition for the D.C. Youth Slam Team, the teen poetry group that will go on to compete at the national slam competition in Los Angeles in June.
As the country reaches the milestone of $1 trillion spent on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, festival participants will engage in peaceful action and use poetry to speak to those in power. A “public poem,” to be spontaneously created at a federal government site on the afternoon of Thursday, March 11, will imagine what the next $1 trillion could — and should — be spent on. “Based in our nation’s capital, Split This Rock provides opportunities for all who gather to speak out for a more just ordering of our nation’s priorities,” Browning said.
Split This Rock was incorporated in Washington, D.C., as a nonprofit organization in 2009. The biennial festival is just one part of Split This Rock’s larger mission. “All Split This Rock’s programs are designed to integrate poetry of provocation and witness into public life and to support the poets who are writing this vital work,” Browning said. “We collaborate with community and social change organizations, organize public events such as the festival, readings and forums, sponsor contests to promote socially engaged poetry, and provide workshops on craft and the writing life for youth and adult poets.”
For more information, visit www.SplitThisRock.org.
Split This Rock Poetry Festival
March 10-12, 2010
1112 16th Street NW, Suite 600
Washington, D.C. 20036
202-787-5210
Bell Multicultural High School
3101 16th Street NW
Washington, DC 20010
Busboys and Poets
2021 14th Street NW
Washington, DC
The Thurgood Marshall Center for Service and Heritage
1816 12th Street NW
Washington, DC
True Reformer Building
1200 U Street NW
Washington, DC
The 2009 Provocative Thinkers in Science Series, a set of five evening events, brings together world-renowned scientists to explain cutting-edge topics in science to a lay public audience. It will be held on weeknights this September through December, 2009.
Says Adrienne Burke, Executive Editor of Science & the City, "Now in its third season, the Science & the City event series serves the Academy's mission to promote the understanding of science in society. This fall our audiences will have the chance to engage with some of the most fascinating minds in research and learn about science that is changing the world, and our understanding of it."
Science & the City events are held in the evenings in the Academy's conference center on the 40th floor of 7 World Trade Center. Wine and cheese receptions and book-signings take place following each lecture.