Duke Ellington Hosts Youth Open Mic

Spread the Word 2009

In its third year, Spread the Word is a growing event that seeks to promote and connect young writers in the District. Educators may register up to five youth per adult attendee. Participants should be selected on the basis of their interest in and experience with the poetic craft. It's a free event, but registration is required.

artBeat Collective, Inc.
WVSA ARTiculate Gallery
Lannan Literary Programs, Georgetown University

present:

Spread the Word 2009

Thursday, April 30, 2009 4:30-7pm
WVSA ARTiculate Gallery
1100 16th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20036

Gathering youth under 25 years of age from across the DC-Metro area
to share their original poetry and network with other young writers.
Participants will also have the opportunity to engage with poet and translator Carolyn Forché.
We will also launch Pocket Poems youth literary magazine, an anthology of Spread the Word 2008.

Dinner will be served.
The exhibit on display in the ARTiculate gallery is "Going Green" by SAIL youth.

To register your students, please contact:
Montana Ray - montana.artbeat@gmail.com

Calvin Coolidge High School Youth Poems

Posted below are two poems by Melanie Agnew's 10th graders at Calvin Coolidge High School generated in a workshop with Montana Ray.

Procrastination Sonnet
by Alexa Dickens

Be my washcloth as it brushes
across my face, hard enough
to clean but soft enough not
to damage the skin
wash away the worries and the to do's
the am i going to pass this test and the wash
the dishes.
maybe I'll just sleep on it and
start over again tomorrow, but I think
I said that yesterday


final exams
by Jamar Brown

My life in school for final exams:

a mouse, Running to protect himself,
confused, don't know which way

Upstairs, Downstairs, left, right, zigzag,
I still don't get the problem which
answer should I choose

A. zigzag
B. left
C. right
D. in a crack of a door

Don't know

My final exams are like a mouse
confused

Youth Poetry Call Out

Poetry Out Loud

Thanks to a generous stipend from the DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities, artBeat offered 20 hours of "Aspects of Performance" workshops to DC schools preparing for, Poetry Out Loud, a national poetry recitation contest. Poetry Out Loud (POL) encourages high school students to memorize and perform great poems and invites the dynamic aspects of slam poetry, spoken word, and theater into the English class. artBeat was drawn to the project out of a shared belief that memorizing poetry leads to a deeper understanding of these texts and our artistic heritage. In schools where drama programs may be limited, offering performance opportunities also helps youth to develop confidence and body awareness.

Montana Ray, artBeat Director of Education, developed creative exercises based on criteria in the POL judging packet such as articulation, tone, and stage presence. Youth then translated their chosen POL poem into their own vocabulary to demonstrate evidence of understanding and discussed best strategies for memorization. Montana, finally, worked individually with class and school winners to help students find the voice and rhythm inherent in each poem.

In addition to these performance workshops, Montana worked with several classes to develop original creative writing pieces in emulation of works by established authors in the POL anthology. "I am always impressed by the quality of work generated by reading and copying the work of great writers," says Ray. "Great writing has a timeless and accessible quality. A great poem allows each reader to step inside the piece in recitation and evokes images and ideas to be completed by the mind or pen of the student."

To DC Poetry Out Loud participants holding their school-wide recitation contest today: You, OWN that stage!

Pocket Poems

Currently, artBeat is editing submissions we've received for "Pocket Poems," a pocket-sized literary  magazine showcasing the work of D.C. youth under the age of 25. The goal of the magazine is to celebrate youth creativity and self-expression and to create an avenue of literary exchange between young poets; literally, we are binding your work together to form a window into D.C. youth writing.  Our audience includes youth, ranging from 7th grade at Friendship Edison Blow Pierce Junior Academy to recent graduates of the Lannan Fellows program at Georgetown University. But the audience will also be educators and administrators at schools/ organizations who create the space for this work. Some themes that have surfaced from the work of young poets are: "neighborhoods,""space in the place," "imitation," and "the war poem." We're also including an interview with awesome activist/ poet ammiel alcalay. But really, it's a youth-focused thang. We're going to print in late July 2008, but there is still time to submit your work. Young poets can submit up to three poems to Montana: montana.artbeat@gmail.com. Please attach a bio including your neighborhood and a detail about you that you'd like to share with other young writers. And contact Montana with any questions via email or phone: 617.448.4337.