Acentos at the Split This Rock Festival in Washington, DC: March 13, 2010.

PLEASE share with any and all interested parties...


Greetings, DC familia and Gente from all quarters!

The Acentos Foundation is proud to be a part of the Split This Rock Poetry Festival: Poems of Provocation and Witness, in Washington, DC, taking place this Wednesday through Saturday, March 10-13.

Split This Rock invites poets, writers, artists, activists, dreamers, and all concerned world citizens to Washington, DC, for poetry, community building, and creative transformation as our country continues to grapple with two wars, a crippling economic crisis, and other social and environmental ills. You'll be hearing from these visionary voices and many others: 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, and Bruce Weigl.

On Saturday afternoon, March 13th, the AQUI ESTAMOS reading and panel (2pm at the True Reformer Building—1200 U Street NW in DC) celebrates the first annual Acentos Poetry Festival, which itself slated for April 17th at Casita Maria Center for Arts and Education in the Bronx, NYC. Scheduled to appear on Saturday are Acentos festival co-organizer Rich Villar, poet and translator Marie-Elizabeth Mali, and the festival's keynote speaker, Martín Espada.

And maybe...YOU.

Here's the thing. Split This Rock actually BUILT a community involvement clause into its panel proposal process. As a community-based organization ourselves, we plan to take full advantage of this.

If you are a Latino/Latina poet, whether you plan to join us in the Bronx in April or not, we invite you come to the True Reformer building, poem in hand, and be ready to share that piece with us on Saturday afternoon. There will be a signup sheet!

If you are a lover of poetry, and you believe that the Latino/a voice of American letters has a vibrant history, present, and future, we invite you to come listen as well. (Cave Canem and Kundiman fellows...THIS MEANS YOU!)

Be ready to share some ideas, thoughts, and discussion points on the state of Latino/a poetry and literature, its representation (or lack thereof) in the culture and academia, and what we as writers and human beings have to look forward to.

For further details on the Split This Rock Festival, go to www.splitthisrock.org and have a look all the events and venues slated for Wednesday through Saturday. Details on the Acentos event can be found below.

A special note of thanks to Francisco Aragón and Letras Latinas at Notre Dame for their generosity in co-sponsoring this reading.

See you in DC, gente. Pa'lante.
Rich Villar
for the Acentos Foundation


Saturday, March 13, 2010 @ 2pm
SPLIT THIS ROCK POETRY FESTIVAL: POEMS OF PROVOCATION AND WITNESS
AQUI ESTAMOS: A Sampling of Poetry From the Inaugural Acentos Poetry Festival

Featuring poets Martín Espada, Marie-Elizabeth Mali, and Rich Villar, plus many invited guests. Group discussion to follow.

Cosponsored by Letras Latinas, the literary program of the Institute for Latino Studies at the University of Notre Dame.

True Reformer Building
1200 U Street NW
Washington, DC

FOR COSTS AND ALL INFORMATION ON SIGNING UP FOR THE FESTIVAL ACTIVITIES, GO TO WWW.SPLITTHISROCK.ORG.