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The Carrying by Ada Limon

Year End Reads

As the official winter season gets closer, the weather slows things down and instills a heaviness that really makes us feel ourselves in our bodies. When we are not as frenetic, books are a great companion to the new (but cyclical) rhythm. It’s a vista from which to take stock, particularly with a new year on the horizon line. The books below offer characters or writers who are speaking to a centeredness, steadiness, or timeliness.

A Year in Rock Creek Park

DC's Wild, Wondrous Heart

Ecological, Historical & Poetic Explorations of Rock Creek Park

When many people think of our nation's capital, they focus on its political life. Yet residents here know our city environment encompasses much more than federal politics. At its heart lies my favorite area, Rock Creek Park. Over double the size of Central Park, it includes forests, streams, hills, fields, recreational and historical sites. Here residents and tourists can escape from urban stress, slow down, engage in recreation, and commune with nature.

Bernardine Watson and Abasi Johnson performing

More Than a Drum Percussion Ensemble

A Celebration of Music, Dance and the Spoken Word featuring Writer and Poet Bernardine 'Dine' Watson

Join us for a celebration of music, dance and the spoken word. More Than a Drum Percussion will perform at the Takoma Park Library. Performance features four artists: Writer/Poet Bernardine 'Dine' Watson, Percussionist Abasi Johnson, Instrumentalist/Vocalist Wallace Edwards and Actor/Vocalist Kathy English Holt. For more information, contact the Takoma Park Library at (202) 576-7252.  This Summer Challenge 2018 event is sponsored by the Takoma Park Friends of the Library.

#poetshare logo.

Calling All Poets #poetshare

Join in a community celebration of National Poetry Month.

Celebrate the last day of National Poetry Month by meeting other local poets and sharing your work at the Southwest Library on Monday, April 30, at 6:30 p.m. Every participant is invited to read from their original poetry. Published poets are welcome to bring in bookmarks, business cards, flyers or postcards with information (but no pricing) on how the public can purchase their works.  No books will be sold at the event. Join us in the Meeting Room for tea and celebration.

DCC

Poetry Reading and Open Mic Competition

Open Mic Competition with E. Ethelbert Miller and Alan

Are you a poet? Come read at the open mic Saturday, April 14, from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. for a chance to be selected as a finalist in the DC Poet Project.  Listen to poets E. Ethelbert Miller and Alan King read their work, and stay to read your own poetry or listen to other local poets read theirs. At the end, Mr. Miller and Mr. King will select one open mic reader as “the winner” and award a $100 dollar cash prize.  

DCC

Poetry Presentation with Regie Cabico

Poetry through the power of autobiography

In her poem, “Power,” Audre Lorde wrote,  "I am lost without imagery or magic  trying to make power  out of hatred and destruction."

Advice from 1 Disciple of Marx to 1 Heidegger Fanatic by Papasquiaro cover

Challenge Accepted: Read Harder 2017

Challenge #23: Read a collection of poetry in translation on a theme other than love

A new year means new year resolutions and challenges. One reading challenge that I love to do is Book Riot’s 2017 Read Harder challenge. Instead of having people focus on a specific number of books, Read Harder challenges people to read different genres or authors that they may overlook.

Chester XYV 5000 by Jess Fink

Challenge Accepted: Read Harder 2017

Challenge #21: Read a book published by a micropress

A new year means new year resolutions and challenges. One reading challenge that I love to do is Book Riot’s 2017 Read Harder challenge. Instead of having people focus on a specific number of books, Read Harder challenges people to read different genres or authors that they may overlook.

Art All Nigt Logo

Art All Night

Made in D.C.

Join us as local businesses and public spaces along Wisconsin Avenue transform into pop-up galleries and performance stages for an evening of art in all its forms. Tenleytown’s artistic future is on display at the library as some of tomorrow’s brightest artists and performers from local schools showcase their paintings, sculpture, and ceramics. The award-winning Wilson High School poetry club hosts an invitational poetry slam.

American Nations

What it Means to be American

This eclectic mix of books features different genres, perspectives, and approaches to answer the question: "What does it mean to be an American?" Some are memoirs, some are histories, some social science and poetry thrown in for good measure. While none of these books by themselves or even as a collection completely answer the complex question, they do begin to describe the multiple facets of what it means to call oneself an American.

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