Activism / Poesía-Poetry

Award-winning Latino poets headline weekend poetry festival

By hola | Published March 27, 2014 | No Comments

This weekend the poetry organization Split This Rock is hosting its biannual festival of readings, workshops and panel discussions. The four-day event showcases the work of poets from around the country. This year’s stars include Latino Book Award winner Maria Melendez Kelson, and Eduardo C. Corral, the first Latino to win the prestigious Yale Younger Poets prize.

Organizers will also hold a protest in front of the White House tomorrow morning. Starting at 10 a.m., they will read poetry critical of government censorship and surveillance. On Saturday, there will  be a book fair featuring books about social change and human rights.

Several readings are free and open to the public but the organization, which supports itself through registration fees, is charging between $45 and $120 apiece for entrance to other events including workshops and panel discussions. For more information, check the Split this Rock website.

Here’s a list of the free poetry readings

Thurs. Mar. 27, 7:30-9:30 p.m.
Joy Harjo, Dunya Mikhail, Danez Smith

Fri., Mar. 28, 7:30-9:30 p.m.
Anne Waldman, Tim Seibles, Maria Melendez Kelson with 2014 Poetry Contest Winner Karen Skolfield

Sat. Mar. 29, 4:30-6:30 p.m.
Claudia Rankine, Eduardo C. Corral, Myra Sklarew, Gayle Danley

Sat. Mar. 29, 8:30-10:00 p.m.
Yusef Komunyakaa, Wang Ping, Franny Choi

Sun., Mar. 30, 11:30am-1:00 p.m.
Shailja Patel, Sheila Black, Natalie Diaz

-Tori Hyndman

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