POETRY NEWS: May 2010
Listings of readings and performances in the Poetry News only include events in the greater DC area (covering roughly the same area that the METRO public transit system covers), although we include a larger geographic region for listings of Competitions, Grants, Calls for Entries, Workshops, and Special Events (covering all of DC, MD, VA, WV, and DE). To get listed in the Beltway Poetry News, please send an email with full information (including a phone number) any time during the month prior for readings and new releases, and up to two months prior for Calls for Entries and Special Events. We try to be as complete and accurate as possible. Listing here does not constitute an endorsement, nor can we be responsible for changes and additions made after the first of the month. Please check with sponsors to confirm the accuracy of listings. Send your news to beltway.poetry@juno.com.
NEW RELEASES
Francisco Aragón, Glow of Our Sweat (Scapegoat Press)Reginald Dwayne Betts, Shahid Reads His Own Palm (Alice James Books)
Regie Cabico, The Bird That Looks Like 2 Mustaches Kissing: Poems Spoken (CD, Regie Cabico)
W. Perry Epes, Nothing Happened (The Word Works)
Anne Higgins, How the Hand Behaves (Finishing Line)
Elisabeth Murawski, Out-patients (chapbook, Serving House Books)
Ravi Shankar, Voluptuous Bristle (chapbook; Finishing Line)
Myra Sklarew, Harmless (Mayapple)
Barrelhouse, "Office Life," Issue 8, 2010. http://www.barrelhousemag.com.
Poet Lore, Volume 105, No. 1/2, Spring/Summer 2010. Contributors include: Reginald Dwayne Betts, Rod Jellema, Holly Karapetkova, Bronwen Butter Newcott, Linda Pastan, David Salner, and Rose Solari. http://www.poetlore.com.
Tidal Basin Review, Spring 2010, Inaugural Issue. Contributors include: Abdul Ali, Holly Bass, Derrick Weston Brown, Sarah Browning, Jacqueline Jules, Alan King, Tony Medina, Kim Roberts. http://www.tidalbasinpress.org.
COMPETITIONS, GRANTS and CALLS FOR ENTRY
Greater Washington Indie Arts Festival seeks artists under age 30 of all kinds, including writers, to present at this year's festival, to take place at the Arlington Arts Center on June 19. No fees charged to artists, no jurying, open to all. No deadline listed. Information and application: http://www.dcindieartsfest.org/getinvolved.html.The Gunpowder Review seeks poetry, fiction, and visual art, especially by women with a local connection (MD, northern VA, DC, DE, or lower PA). Poems up to 36 lines, prose up to 1500 words, B&W photos and line drawings (also work in color for cover). No previously published work. No work returned; include SASE for reply only. Full contact info on each submission. Pays one copy. Must be received before the end of May. Mail to: WH Stevens and VW Crist, eds., The Gunpowder Review, 4036 Hunt Crest Rd., Jarrettsville, MD 21084-1821. http://www.gunpowderpenwomen.com.
Gival Press Annual Oscar Wilde Award. For best unpublished poem in English that relates GLBT life. Entrants must be 18 or older, and submit poems in a blind format with separate cover letter. Poems may be of any length; must be typed and submitted with reading fee of $5.00 per poem. Winner receives $100 and publication on the press website. No poems returned; include SASE. Postmark deadline: June 27. Gival Press, PO Box 3812, Arlington, VA 22203. http://www.givalpress.com.
WORKSHOPS, EXHIBITIONS, AND SPECIAL EVENTS
DC Big Read, through May. This year, all DC residents are encouraged to read A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines. Events include book discussions, films, lectures. R. Dwayne Betts will be presenting from his memoir, A Question of Freedom; Kim Roberts will present a web exhibit on DC's segregated African American Schools (1807 to 1954); the Larry Neal Awards will include a special award for themes from the book; and Miriam's Kitchen will create a special display at the Whole Foods Market on Wisconsin Ave. Free admission to most events. Sponsored by the Humanities Council of Washignton, DC Public Libraries, and the DC Commission on the Arts. http://www.neabigread.org/communities/?community_id=1967.National Underground Spokenword Poetry Awards (NUSPA), May 1, 6:30 pm. Awards ceremony and performances, hosted by Beny Blaq. Semi-formal; hors d'oevres included. The Solarium, L'Enfant Plaza Hotel, Washington, DC. $35 tickets in advance. Sponsored by Great Publishing Company. http://nuspa.greatpublishing.com/.
Washington Friends of Walt Whitman Reading, Tour of Rock Creek Cemetery, and Picnic, May 8, 11:00 am. Celebrating the 150th Anniversary of the 1860 edition of Leaves of Grass, which included the first publication of the groundbreaking "Calamus" and "Enfans d'Adam" clusters of poems exploring same-sex and opposite-sex love. Free, no reservations needed. Meet in front of St. Paul's Church on the Rock Creek Cemetery grounds. Bring your favorite Calamus and Children of Adam poems to read, and--weather permitting--we will picnic by the gravesite of Charles Eldridge, Whitman's friend and publisher of the 1860 edition. Bring cold dishes to share. Entrance to the cemetery is at the intersection of Rock Creek Church Road and Webster Street NW in the Petworth neighborhood of DC. Hosted by Martin G. Murray. http://www.whitmandc.org.
6th annual Green Man Festival, May 8 (10 am to 7 pm) and May 9 (11 am to 6 pm), Roosevelt Center, Greenbelt, MD. Rain or shine. Events on the theme "Honoring Our Earth Through Conscious Choice." Performances, exhibits, vendors, films, crafts, and poerty readings by Greta Ehrig and Anne Becker on May 8 at 12:30 pm. Admission unclear. http://www.greenbeltgreenmanfestival.org/.
"Writing a Village" free monthly poetry workshop, May 17, 7:30 to 9:30 pm, led by Anne Becker. All levels of experience are welcome. Bring a poem and ten copies to share with the group. Rose Room, Takoma Park Community Center, 7500 Maple Ave., Takoma Park, MD. http://www.bodywriting.org/.
Gettysburg Review Conference for Writers, June 9-14. Readings, workshops, craft talks. Featuring Stanley Plumly, Lee K. Abbott, and Rebecca McClanahan. Fees charged; some partial tuition scholarships available. http://www.gettysburgreview.com.
Films at the National Gallery of Art on the theme "Beat Memories" in June. All films free. "Ferlinghetti" on June 18 at 1:00 pm and June 25 at 1:00 pm. "Polis is This: Charles Olson and the Persistence of Place" (with "Lowell Blues") on June 26 at 2:00 pm. "Patti Smith: Dream of Life" (with "Long for the City"), in which Smith visits the burial places of favorite poets (Rimbaud, Burroughs, Ginsberg) on June 27 at 4:30. National Gallery of Art Auditorium, 4th Street and Pennsylvania Ave. NW, DC. http://www.nga.gov/programs/film.
Americans for the Arts 50th annual conference, June 25-27, Baltimore. "Half-Century Summit": professional development sessions, panels, discussions, tours, one-man show by John Waters. Fees charged. http://www.americansforthearts.org.
AREA READINGS and PERFORMANCES
Saturday, May 1 at 5:00 pm
Brownstar and performers from SuluDC. Benefit for CARE.
$20 suggested donation (tax deductible). Meze, 2437 18th St. NW, Adams Morgan neighborhood, DC. (2020 797-0017.Sunday, May 2 at 1:00 pm
Sandra Beasley, book release party and reading from I Was the Jukebox
Free. Politics & Prose Bookstore, 5015 Connecticut Ave. NW, DC. (202) 364-1919.Sunday, May 2 at 2:00 pm
Open Door Series: Geraldine Connolly and Grace Cavalieri
Free. The Writers Center, 4508 Walsh St., Bethesda, MD (301) 654-8664.Monday, May 3 at 7:00 pm
Cafe Muse: David Lee Dodd and Lesley Wheeler. Hosted by Adele Steiner and Laura Goldberg, with classical guitar by Michael Davis.
Free. Friendship Heights Village Center, 4433 S. Park Ave., Chevy Chase, MD. (301) 656-2797.Friday, May 7 at 8:00 pm
Plan B Press presents "The Poetry Lab" featuring Paul Siegell and Tony Mancus with Daniel Collins
Free. The Soundry, 316 Dominion Rd. NE, Vienna, VA (703) 698-0088.Sunday, May 9 at 2:00 pm
Open Door Series: Susan Shreve and Barbara Graham read from the anthology Eye of My Heart, and discuss the experience of being a grandmother
Free. The Writers Center, 4508 Walsh St., Bethesda, MD (301) 654-8664.Sunday, May 9 at 9:00 pm
Nine on the Ninth Series: featured reader plus open mic, hosted by Derrick Weston Brown.
$3 Admission. Busboys and Poets, 14th & V Streets NW, DC. (202) 387-POET.Sunday, May 9 at 6:00 pm
Iota Series: Cliff Bernier and W. Perry Epes followed by open mic. Hosted by Miles David Moore.
Free. Iota Club and Cafe, 2832 Wilson Blvd., Clarendon neighborhood, Arlington, VA. (703) 256-9275.Wednesday, May 12 at 8:00 pm
An Evening with Henry Allen
Free. Takoma Park Community Center, 7500 Maple Ave., Takoma Park, MD. (301) 891-7100.Friday, May 14 at 8:00 pm
Staged reading of select scenes from "Hyena in Petticoats," a play about Mary Wollstonecraft by Grace Cavalieri. Featured readers: Rose Solari, Kenneth Flynn, and James J. Patterson.
Free. Takoma Park Community Center, 7500 Maple Ave., Takoma Park, MD. (301) 891-7224.Friday, May 14 at 11:00 pm (doors open at 10:00)
11th Hour Poetry Slam
$5 Admission. Busboys and Poets, 14th and V Streets NW, historic U Street neighborhood, DC. (202) 387-POET.Saturday, May 15 at 6:00 pm
"Reality Radio: Telling True Stories in Sound": Reading by John Biewen, Joe Richman, and Katie Davis. Introduction by Bob Edwards
Free. Politics & Prose Books, 5015 Connecticu Ave. NW, DC. (202) 364-1919.Saturday, May 15 at 6:30 pm
Sulu DC Series, featuring JR Russ, Jennifer Cendaña Armas, Yalinidream, Lilian Bui, with sounds by DJ 9-Volt
$10 Admission. U Street Music Hall, 1115 U Street NW, historic U Street neighborhood, DC. (202) 462-1212. (202) 588-1880.Sunday, May 16 at 2:00 pm
Open Door Series: Ann McLaughlin and Myra Sklarew
Free. The Writers Center, 4508 Walsh St., Bethesda, MD (301) 654-8664.Sunday, May 16 at 4:00 pm
Sunday Kind of Love: Aracelis Girmay and David Gewanter
Free, but donations collected. Busboys and Poets, Langston Room, 14th & V Streets NW, DC. (202) 387-POET.Wednesday, May 19 at 7:00 pm
A Space Inside: Hosted by Monica Jacobe.
Free. Riverby Books, 417 E. Capitol St. SE, Capitol Hill neighborhood, DC. (202) 543-4342.Thursday, May 20 at 6:00 pm
"Poetry Between the Lines," featuring winners of the Xtreme Teen Poetry Slamfest, plus guest poets Bassey Ikpi and Lyrical Storm. Sponsored by the Prince George's Arts Council.
Free. Montpelier Arts Center, 9652 Muirkirk Rd., Laurel, MD. (301) 277-1402.Thursday, May 20 at 7:00 pm
US Poet Laureate Kay Ryan
Free. Library of Congress, Jefferson Building, Coolidge Auditorium, ground floor, DC. (202) 707-5394.Thursday, May 20 at 7:30 pm
Third Thursday Poetry Series: Don Berger, Martin Fitzpatrick, Janice Samuels, Samantha Magrath, Katherine Williams, and Anne Becker
Free. Takoma Park Community Center, 7500 Maple Ave., Takoma Park, MD. (301) 891-7100.Thursday, May 20 at 9:00 pm
Story/Stereo Series: William Archila and Josh Weil, plus live music
Free. The Writers Center, 4508 Walsh St., Bethesda, MD (301) 654-8664.Friday, May 21 at 7:30 pm
"This is Our Body" visual arts exhibition and poetry reading by Anne Dykers, Regina Coll, Greta Ehrig, Nicole Salimbene, James Landry, Tiziana Lohnes and Anne Becker
Free. Takoma Park Community Center, Auditorium, 7500 Maple Ave., Takoma Park, MD. (301) 891-7224.Sunday, May 23 at 2:00 pm
Open Door Series: Ramola D and Daniel Gutstein
Free. The Writers Center, 4508 Walsh St., Bethesda, MD (301) 654-8664.Wednesday, May 26 at 7:00 pm
Kensington Row Series: Ethan Edwards and W. Luther Jett
Free. Kensington Row Bookshop, 3786 Howard Avenue, Kensington MD. (301) 949-9416.
PLEASE NOTE: Open mic events are not listed on this page. Please see our full listing of Reading Series for more information.