Speak in Verse: Split This Rock Poetry Festival

By Lavanya Ramanathan
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, March 20, 2008

For the next four days, the area around U Street and Columbia Heights will be buzzing with the presence of poets, who are converging here to celebrate their art and join the many others in town this week voicing opposition to the war.

The inaugural Split This Rock Poetry Festival-- named from a verse in Langston Hughes's poem "Big Buddy" (which reads, "I'm going to split this rock and split it wide! When I split this rock, stand by my side") -- will mark the fifth anniversary of the Iraq war. At the helm is local poet Sarah Browning, who with others will lead full days of readings with poets from across the country, as well as workshops, panels and a film screening.

So what to do if you like poetry, but don't have four whole days to give over? If you have to choose, put your money on these events:

- Tonight, head to Bell Multicultural High School on 16th Street NW, where many of the festival's featured readings will take place. Opening night features Mart¿n Espada, an English professor at University of Massachusetts at Amherst, who harkens to Pablo Neruda; E. Ethelbert Miller, author of "How We Sleep on the Nights We Don't Make Love"; Alix Olson, a nationally known spoken-word performer who has appeared on "Def Poetry Jam"; and Texas poet and author Naomi Shihab Nye. $5-$8. 8 p.m. 3101 16th St. NW.

- Tomorrow, Nye is joined by Regie Cabico and Sage Morgan-Hubbard for readings aimed at kids ages 5-12. Best part: It's free. 10-11 a.m. at Busboys and Poets' bookstore area, 2021 14th St. NW. 202-387-7638.

- And for adults tomorrow, there's always the open mike in Busboys and Poets' Langston Room. The event features Princess of Controversy, and poets are asked to bring one three-minute offering. Sign-up is at the door. (Note: The space is small, and registered participants get preference.) $5-$8. 10 p.m. 2021 14th St. NW. 202-387-7638.

The festival runs through Sunday.

Full festival registration, $85; students, $50. Registration for tomorrow or Saturday only is $25. Individual events (such as the ones described above), $5-$8. Various locations. For details, visit http://www.splitthisrock.org.

Save the Date

CONCERT: Paramore and Jimmy Eat World It's the loud fireball that is Paramore that's the most interesting act on this bill, which comes to American University's Bender Arena next month. Led by singer Hayley Williams, the group of Tennessee teens landed on the pop map with last year's record "Riot!," which won over the MTV crowd -- and was a pretty spectacular coup for women in pop-punk. They hit town April 26. $35. Doors at 6 p.m. 4400 Massachusetts Ave. NW. 202-397-7328.

ON STAGE: Funniest College Competition Of the four years this competition has been at the DC Improv, it's Georgetown students who have racked up the most wins, with two. Howard U. and George Mason each have one win in the showdown, which features students from schools as far away as West Virginia and as near as College Park competing to have their school named the District's Funniest College. This year, just under a dozen students have made it to the finals, which are held April 16 at the Improv. $10. 8:30 p.m. 1140 Connecticut Ave. NW. 202-296-7008.

The District
Today

THE SCENE: Sports for Hipsters Tonight is Rock & Roll Hotel's weekly Jenga night, which brings the popular game of your childhood into a bar setting-- just as you might have always dreamed. The rules: Pull a block, stack it on the top, repeat until, hopefully, someone else causes the whole thing to fall. Free. 8 p.m.-2 a.m. (21 and older only). 1353 H St. NE (second-floor bar). 202-388-7625.

Tomorrow

ON STAGE: Paint and Bodies in Live Action Shen Wei Dance, a resident troupe at the Kennedy Center led by Chinese artist Shen, performs two nights of "Connect Transfer." The show features a dozen dancers creating a "live action painting" using paint and canvas, set to live music by Gloria Cheng and the Flux Quartet. $19-$48. Tomorrow and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Kennedy Center Concert Hall, 2700 F St. NW. 202-467-4600.

Saturday

FOR FAMILIES: White House Easter Egg Roll: Are You Game? The annual White House children's event on the South Lawn isn't until Monday morning, but the equally dependable event, the wait for tickets, begins Saturday. Timed tickets (max five per person, with one child required to be age 7 or younger, and only two adults per group) are distributed Saturday at 7:30 a.m. The event features kids dressed to the nines in their itty-bitty suits and itty-bitty dresses, rolling colored eggs across the White House lawn, with visits from the Easter Bunny and such. It's Monday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tickets are also handed out that day, but a far smaller number. Ellipse Visitor Pavilion, 15th and E streets NW. 202-456-7041.

FOR FAMILIES: "A Camera, Two Kids and a Camel" The newest exhibition at the National Geographic Museum, a show of photography by Annie Griffiths Belt, one of NatGeo's first female photographers, opened this week. The 30 or so photos chronicle Belt's 30-year career, which at points had her globe-hopping with her two children in tow. Make an afternoon of it and catch it with the "Frogs" show, which features live animals. Free. Monday-Saturday 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Sunday 10-5. 1145 17th St. NW. 202-857-7700.

Maryland
Today

EXHIBIT: "Looking Through the Lens: Photography 1900-1960" Mere picture-taking became high art in the early part of the last century as cameras found their way into the hands of artists looking to test the boundaries of the medium. "Looking Through the Lens," at the Baltimore Museum of Art, captures the phenomenon and the era's rapid developments through 150 prints by European and American artists such as Man Ray, Alfred Stieglitz, Dorothea Lange and Gordon Parks. The show opened this week. Free. Wednesday-Friday 11 a.m.-5 p.m., Saturday-Sunday 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Through June 8. Baltimore Museum of Art, North Charles Street and Art Museum Drive, Baltimore. 443-573-1700.

Tomorrow

FILM: Environmental Film Festival: "The Unforeseen" Robert Redford is one of the two producers of this film, which might be of interest to all you -- um, us -- former Texans here in Washington. This feature-length doc follows the move by one developer in the 1980s to turn the Hill Country near Austin into Texas-size subdivisions, a proposition that threatened to affect the coolest swimming hole in the world, Barton Springs. It's screened at the AFI Silver tomorrow at 7 p.m. $6.75-$9.75. AFI Silver Theatre, 8633 Colesville Rd., Silver Spring. 301-495-6720.

Northern Virginia
Today

EXHIBIT: "La Femme: Celebration of an Icon" This juried show at the Art League Gallery features paintings, photos and collage exploring the world of the woman, with many nods to the feminine form. Free. Monday-Saturday 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sunday noon-5. Through April 7. Torpedo Factory Art Center, Art League Gallery, 105 N. Union St., Alexandria. 703-683-1780.

Tomorrow

ON STAGE: Chicago City Limits on Tour This improv comedy revue is based in New York, and not Chicago at all, but got its start in the Midwest, founded by actors in a Second City workshop. In New York for nearly 30 years, the show has developed a reputation for staying fresh even after more than 8,500 shows. The troupe takes its cues from the crowd with magic and music. The show visits the Barns at Wolf Trap for two nights of shows beginning tomorrow. $22. Tomorrow at 8 p.m., Saturday at 7:30. The Barns at Wolf Trap, 1635 Trap Rd., Vienna. 877-965-3872.

Saturday

ON STAGE: Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company Led by choreographer and dancer Jones, this Harlem-based company (well known for the AIDS-inspired work "Still/Here") tackles difficult subjects such as crime and guilt in "Chapel/Chapter," a solemn performance inspired by mourning. Music and a script taken from real news clippings and interviews help Jones and company tell the tales of the slaying of a family, patricide and suicide. The troupe performs the piece at George Mason University's Center for the Arts on Saturday at 8 p.m. $22-$44. 4400 University Dr., Fairfax. 888-945-2468.