Split This Rock

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Split This Rock Calling poets to a greater role in public life and fostering a national network of socially engaged poets.

The organizers of Split This Rock believe that as citizens and artists, our obligation has never been greater. We call on poets of conscience to move to the center of public life as we forge a visionary new arts movement for peace and justice. Poets have long played a central role in movements for social change. Today, at a critical juncture in our country’s history, poetry that gives voice to the voiceless, names the unnameable, and speaks directly from the individual and collective conscience is more important than ever. Split This Rock explores and celebrates the many ways that poetry can act as an agent for change: reaching across differences, considering personal and social responsibility, asserting the centrality of the right to free speech, bearing witness to the diversity and complexity of human experience through language, imagining a better world. Our first two festivals, March 20-23, 2008, and March 10-13, 2010, in Washington, DC, featured readings by some of the most beloved poets of our time, workshops, panel discussions on poetry and social change, youth programming, films, parties, walking tours, and activism—unique opportunities to hone our activist skills while we assess and debate the public role of the poet and the poem in this time of crisis. Our youth programming includes the DC Youth Slam Team, the 2014 Brave New Voices International Youth Poetry Festival Champions.

LAST CHANCE TICKETS FOR 10/20 WORKSHOP!Take $10 off your ticket purchase! When registering, enter the code: UNTRUEBLUERe...
10/13/2026

LAST CHANCE TICKETS FOR 10/20 WORKSHOP!
Take $10 off your ticket purchase! When registering, enter the code: UNTRUEBLUE
Register online: https://bit.ly/3UUQALn

All sales support our work & help keep Split This Rock alive in lean times. Invest in Split This Rock’s mission to preserve spaces for poetry toward social change!

About the Workshop:
Ekphrastic writing is often defined as a true-blue description of something, typically artwork. In this workshop, we will explore ekphrasis as a way of writing with rather than about images, including but not limited to visual art. How can ekphrastic writing tell stories that are less evident by contextualizing, interrogating, and elaborating beyond an image?

ACCESSIBILITY
Zoom auto-captions and written versions of poem prompts and poems used for discussion will be provided via screen share, the chat, or links. Split This Rock does not consent to the use of AI notetakers in our workshops. If this is an access barrier for you, please let us know.

Image Description: Split This Rock’s logo at the top. Over a light green background, highlighted text reads: "Untrue Blue: An Introduction to Ekphrastic Writing. A Virtual Writing Workshop. October 20, 2026, 6:30-8 pm ET. Tickets were $30, now $20! Featuring Tala Khanmalek aka mecca monarch. $10 Off Tickets." On the right, a photo of Tala Khanmalek reading from a piece of paper while speaking into a microphone.

UNTRUE BLUE: AN INTRODUCTION TO EKPHRASTIC WRITINGA Virtual Writing Workshop with Tala KhanmalekTues. Oct. 20, 6:30-8 pm...
10/07/2026

UNTRUE BLUE: AN INTRODUCTION TO EKPHRASTIC WRITING
A Virtual Writing Workshop with Tala Khanmalek
Tues. Oct. 20, 6:30-8 pm ET

REGISTER
Register online: https://bit.ly/3UUQALn

Tickets are offered on a sliding scale and start at $30. All sales support our work & help keep Split This Rock alive in lean times. If you have the means, now is the time to invest in Split This Rock’s mission to preserve spaces for poetry toward social change.

ABOUT THE WORKSHOP
Ekphrastic writing is often defined as a true-blue description of something, typically artwork. In this workshop, we will explore ekphrasis as a way of writing with rather than about images, including but not limited to visual art.

How can ekphrastic writing tell stories that are less evident by contextualizing, interrogating, and elaborating beyond an image?

If, as poet Andrea Abi-Karam writes, “ekphrasis is a way to talk to the dead,” how can we harness it to betray that which haunts us? We will explore these questions through discussion, readings, and generative writing.

ABOUT THE POET
Tala Khanmalek aka mecca monarch (all pronouns) is a writer, editor, and scholar with a PhD in ethnic studies from UC Berkeley. Tala is author of The Sun Planters (Asemana Books) and An Infinity of Traces (Blue Cactus Press) as well as the children's book My Name Means Free (Blue Cactus Press), among other titles in progress.

ACCESSIBILITY
Zoom auto-captions and written versions of poem prompts and poems used for discussion will be provided via screen share, the chat, or links. Split This Rock does not consent to the use of AI notetakers in our workshops. If this is an access barrier for you, please let us know.

Image Description: Over a light green background, text reads: "Untrue Blue: An Introduction to Ekphrastic Writing. A Virtual Writing Workshop. October 20, 2026, 6:30-8 pm ET. Tickets sliding scale: $30/$60/$100. Featuring Tala Khanmalek aka mecca monarch." Over a yellow arch, a photo of Tala Khanmalek reading from a piece of paper while speaking into a microphone.


This Fall, choose your own adventure with Split This Rock poetry events. We offer both virtual and in-person events in W...
10/02/2026

This Fall, choose your own adventure with Split This Rock poetry events. We offer both virtual and in-person events in Washington, D.C. Which will you choose?

🔹 October 20, 6:30-8 pm ET: Untrue Blue: An Introduction to Ekphrastic Writing with Tala Khanmalek aka mecca monarch (Virtual Workshop)
🔹 October 29, 6-8 pm ET: “Stubborn Roots” Book Launch with Shout Mouse Press at Planet Word (Washington, D.C. In-Person Event)
🔹 November 5, 6:30-8 pm ET: The Crooked Witness: Writing Lyric Instability in an Age of Polycrisis with A.D. Lauren-Abunassar (Washington, D.C. In-Person Workshop)
🔹 November 18, 6:30-8 pm ET: ASSEMBLAGE POETICS: What We Make Of It with Kay Ulanday Barrett (Virtual Workshop)

You can learn more and get tickets via the link in our bio. We hope to see you there!

VIRTUAL WORKSHOP ACCESSIBILITY: Zoom auto-captions will be provided. Written versions of poem prompts & poems used for discussion will be provided via screen share, the chat, or links. Accommodation requests accepted by registration form or email at least 2 weeks before workshop date.

D.C. WORKSHOP ACCESSIBILITY: Venue is wheelchair accessible. Hard copies of poem prompts & poems used for discussion will be provided. Accommodation requests accepted by registration form or email at least 2 weeks before workshop date.

BOOK LAUNCH ACCESSIBILITY: Planet Word is fully accessible to guests who use mobility aids and welcomes service animals. All media presentations are open captioned. ASL & interpreter services available with 14 days advance notice.

Image Descriptions:
(1) Over a black background, Split This Rock's logo at the top: three red slanted rectangles contain white capitalized and italicized text that reads "Split This Rock." Beneath the logo, a yellow heading: "Fall Virtual Workshops." The graphic features two upcoming virtual workshops: Untrue Blue: An Introduction to Ekphrastic Writing with Tala Khanmalek on October 20, and ASSEMBLAGE POETICS: What We Make Of It with Kay Ulanday Barrett on November 18. At the bottom, a URL: splitthisrock.org.

(2) Over a black background, Split This Rock's logo at the top: three red slanted rectangles contain white capitalized and italicized text that reads "Split This Rock." Beneath the logo, a yellow heading: "Fall Events in Washington, D.C." The graphic features two upcoming events: the free Stubborn Roots Book Launch on October 29, and a workshop: The Crooked Witness: Writing Lyric Instability in an Age of Polycrisis with A.D. Lauren-Abunassar on November 5. At the bottom, a URL: splitthisrock.org.


Split This Rock is proud to present six new virtual and in-person events for you to gather with other like-minded poetry...
09/24/2026

Split This Rock is proud to present six new virtual and in-person events for you to gather with other like-minded poetry lovers and writers while expanding the horizons of your creative possibility. This is your chance to share space with and learn from some of today’s most exciting poets writing toward social change!

Split This Rock’s 2026-2027 Program Dates:

🔹 October 20, 6:30-8 pm ET: Untrue Blue: An Introduction to Ekphrastic Writing with Tala Khanmalek aka mecca monarch (Virtual Workshop): https://bit.ly/3UUQALn

🔹 October 29, 6-8 pm ET: “Stubborn Roots” Book Launch with Shout Mouse Press at Planet Word (FREE Washington, D.C. In-Person Event): https://bit.ly/4xD3bAI

🔹 November 5, 6:30-8 pm ET: The Crooked Witness: Writing Lyric Instability in an Age of Polycrisis with A.D. Lauren-Abunassar (Washington, D.C. In-Person Workshop): https://bit.ly/4xswE04

🔹 November 18, 6:30-8 pm ET: ASSEMBLAGE POETICS: What We Make Of It with Kay Ulanday Barrett (Virtual Workshop): https://bit.ly/3T25ZsQ

🔹 February 23, 2027, 6:30-8 pm ET: Praise Song For the Body with Camisha L. Jones (Virtual Workshop): https://bit.ly/4yAfe2h

🔹 March 4, 2027, 6:30-8 pm ET: Disabling the Poem: Access as Revision with Rob Macaisa Colgate (Virtual Workshop): https://bit.ly/46qExrQ

You can learn more about these events and get tickets via the link in our bio. We hope you will join us for one or the whole series!

REGISTRATION: Most events are ticketed with sliding scale options. Every registration supports our work and helps keep Split This Rock alive in lean times. Find event descriptions and info about the poets on registration pages.

VIRTUAL WORKSHOP ACCESSIBILITY: Zoom auto-captions will be provided. Written versions of poem prompts & poems used for discussion will be provided via screen share, the chat, or links. Accommodation requests accepted by registration form or email.

D.C. WORKSHOP ACCESSIBILITY: Venue is wheelchair accessible. Hard copies of poem prompts & poems used for discussion will be provided. Accommodation requests accepted by registration form or email.

BOOK LAUNCH ACCESSIBILITY: Planet Word is fully accessible to guests who use mobility aids and welcomes service animals. All media presentations are open captioned. ASL & interpreter services available with 14 days advance notice.

Image Description: Over a black background, beneath Split This Rock’s logo, a white, glowing title reads “Event Calendar.” Below, six rectangles styled to look like tickets with dates, titles, and featured poet names. Two events will take place in Washington, D.C. Four events will be virtual. On the rectangle for the Stubborn Roots book launch on October 29th—there is an orange callout flag that reads “FREE.” At the bottom is a URL: splitthisrock.org.


Dear Community and Supporters, We’re thrilled to share the good news with you: Split This Rock successfully raised the r...
09/09/2026

Dear Community and Supporters,

We’re thrilled to share the good news with you: Split This Rock successfully raised the remaining $10,000 of our $68,750 fundraising goal! We are so grateful to everyone who responded to and shared our May fundraising update. Without you, this would not have been possible!

We cannot overstate our gratitude for the ways this community has mobilized to save Split This Rock. Your gifts and affirmations have fueled and invigorated us during one of the hardest years in the organization’s history.

Although we’ve reached our initial fundraising goal and have moved out of an acute crisis for the moment, challenges abound in the literary arts field’s funding landscape. We continue to see fewer grant awards and less investment in the arts, prompting expansive discussions about what’s next for the organization’s future. The next year will undoubtedly come with more difficult decisions, but we know: together is how we navigate tumultuous times.

Split This Rock remains open, but the staff team is still working at part-time capacity. Program offerings will continue to be limited to those that help us raise funds. Our process of developing a new sustainability model and defining Split This Rock’s future is ongoing. We continue to work at a pace aligned with our part-time capacity and our commitments to disability and labor justice.

Behind the scenes, staff are working hard on new program offerings. We’re excited to share them with you later this month, and hope they will feel joyful, inspiring, and full of connection. While you wait, check out some of our more recent projects:
2026 Sealey Challenge Book List: https://bit.ly/4ySbavz
Disability Pride Month Special Collection: https://bit.ly/4qXP1Z2
Trans Day of Visibility Special Collection: https://bit.ly/4x5dM6T

The 700+ poems housed in The Quarry: A Social Justice Poetry Database remain free and available at splitthisrock.org/poetry-database. It’s an incredible resource, and we hope its continued existence bolsters hearts and minds.

Thank you, community— for showing up, sharing resources, and continuing to affirm the need for Split This Rock, the only national organization with a mission to integrate poetry and social justice.

In poetry & resistance, and with deep gratitude,
Split This Rock Staff & Board of Directors

Image Description: Split This Rock’s red logo at the top with multi-colored falling confetti in the background. The first two paragraphs from the post caption are included in the graphic, along with an invitation to read the caption for the full fundraising update.

09/03/2026

Are you as excited as we are?! Join us for the launch of Stubborn Roots: Poems to Grow a Better World on October 29 at Planet Word ! We can’t wait to hear the youth authors read from this bold new collection of poetry.

And we are thrilled to share that Mahogany L. Browne — acclaimed writer, playwright, organizer and educator — will be our guest poet for the evening. Franky J | DJ | Content Creator will provide music throughout the event. You won’t want to miss this!

📍 Planet Word
📅 Thursday, October 29
🕡 6:30 - 8:00 PM
🎟️ FREE — RSVP required (link in bio)

This book was created in partnership with Split This Rock

We are immensely grateful for our event sponsors,
Artemis Ward and Planet Word.

NOW AVAILABLE FOR PREORDER: Stubborn Roots: Poems for a Better World! Last summer, Split This Rock and Shout Mouse Press...
08/13/2026

NOW AVAILABLE FOR PREORDER: Stubborn Roots: Poems for a Better World!

Last summer, Split This Rock and Shout Mouse Press collaborated to host a space for young people to gather for poetry and political education workshops, where they could explore their creativity as a means of building political power.

The result: this brilliant anthology of poetry and first-person essays by 18 young writers of color, published by Shout Mouse Press. Tender and green, vulnerable and wondrous, this singular book of poems illuminates today’s activist experience and serves as an urgent call to the transformative power of art.

As the best-selling writer and poet, and long-time Split This Rock community member, Clint Smith says of Stubborn Roots in his review: “The poems and essays in Stubborn Roots have changed me in ways I was unprepared for. The profundity of their observations of the world, and of themselves, left me in awe.”

While we wait for the book to come out in October, we invite you to preorder your copy today. Let’s support these 18 young writers and activists with a huge wave of preorder sales: shoutmousepress.org/bookstore/stubbornroots

Image Description: In the background, orange rays that extend from the lower center of the graphic. In the foreground, the book cover of “Stubborn Roots: Poems to Grow a Better World.” A quote from Clint Smith on the cover reads: “These poems and essays have changed me in ways I was unprepared for.” Along the bottom of the cover, text reads: “By the Young Authors of Shout Mouse Press. Foreword by Camonghne Felix.”


In honor of this year's Sealey Challenge, we've curated a list of 31 poetry books and 3 poetry anthologies on Split This...
08/05/2026

In honor of this year's Sealey Challenge, we've curated a list of 31 poetry books and 3 poetry anthologies on Split This Rock's Bookshop storefront. Check out the list: https://bit.ly/4ySbavz

All poets are published in The Quarry: A Social Justice Poetry Database, so you can preview their work for free as you make book selections.

31 books in a month feel like too much? Adapt the challenge! Read a poem a day online or in an anthology, listen to audio books, or read as much as you want weekly. Perfection isn't the point. Spending time with poetry is the heart of the challenge.

Split This Rock is a Bookshop affiliate, so when you buy books through our book list, we earn a commission (but it doesn’t cost you anything extra!). This is an easy way to support our work and we appreciate every purchase!

Featuring Books of Poetry By:
Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, Chen Chen, Natalie Diaz, No'u Revilla, Kay Ulanday Barrett, Alexa Patrick, Tatiana Figueroa Ramirez, Hazem Fahmy, Tatiana Johnson-Boria, Jason B Crawford, Khadijah Queen, TC Tolbert, Vievee Francis, Jorrell Watkins, Travis Chi Wing Lau, Kimberly Blaeser, Margo Tamez, Tarik Dobbs, Safia Elhillo, Danez Smith, Fatimah Asghar, Cameron Awkward-Rich, Franny Choi, heidi andrea restrepo rhodes, Dorsía Smith Silva, Ana Portnoy Brimmer, Quenton Baker, Golden, Ina Cariño, George Abraham, and Noor Hindi.

Image Descriptions:
(1-5) Split This Rock's logo with colorful highlighted text that reads "Sealey Challenge Reading List.” Each slide features books from the list. In the lower right corner, there’s a small graphic inviting you to swipe to preview the list.

(6) Split This Rock's logo with colorful highlighted text that reads "Sealey Challenge Reading List Adaptation: Read a Poem a Day.” An arrow points toward a subheading: “Anthologies are perfect for this!” Below are book covers for the 3 anthologies on the list: "Heaven Looks Like Us," "We the Gathered Heat," and "Every Place on the Map Is Disabled: Poems and Essays."

Disability Pride Month is coming to a close, but the work of Disability Justice is year-round. Disability Justice is an ...
07/31/2026

Disability Pride Month is coming to a close, but the work of Disability Justice is year-round.

Disability Justice is an intersectional, anti-capitalist framework that asks us to be interdependent and in solidarity with all oppressed people in our paths toward collective liberation.

At Split This Rock, we are committed to the everyday, year-round work of Disability Justice: hosting accessible spaces, creating opportunities to publish and perform for disabled poets, hiring disabled people and including them in our planning, learning from and listening to disability community, and resisting the erasure and suppression of disabled voices everywhere.

In honor of Disability Pride Month this year, we released a special video collection of poems housed in The Quarry: A Social Justice Poetry Database.

We’re proud to share the complete collection with you today, and invite you to share the poems far and wide all year long:

– “Of Beauty” by Tala Khanmalek
– “Summer Figs” by Ina Cariño
– “What Happens When the Matriarch Dies” by MT Vallarta
– “I’m rewatching the She-Ra episode where Glimmer gets sick for the first time” by Arianna Monet
– “I FEEL MOST DISABLED WHEN THROWN AGAINST A CLOCKWHITE BACKGROUND” by Amir McClam

Split This Rock originally featured these poets at the Sick & Disabled Showcase virtual poetry reading in February. We partnered with the incomparable and brilliant Kay Ulanday Barrett to curate and host the reading, and we remain deeply grateful for Kay’s partnership and curation. Thank you, Kay Ulanday Barrett!

Image & Video Descriptions:
(1) Over an abstract pastel blue, purple, and pink background, Split This Rock's red logo appears above bold text which reads: “Sick & Disabled Showcase Special Collection In Honor of Disability Pride Month. Featuring Arianna Monet, Ina Cariño, MT Vallarta, Amir McClam, and Tala Khanmalek.” Below, five photos of the featured poets with their names across the bottom of each photo. There is an arrow that invites the viewer to swipe through to experience excerpts of the poets’ performances.

(2-6) Split This Rock’s red logo and text that reads “Sick & Disabled Showcase Collection for Disability Pride Month.” The video excerpts from each poet’s performance include the poem title and poet name in the text caption. The videos are captioned.


07/29/2026

Amir McClam reads “I FEEL MOST DISABLED WHEN THROWN AGAINST A CLOCKWHITE BACKGROUND” for Split This Rock’s Sick & Disabled Showcase Collection. The full poem is captioned and available for free in The Quarry: A Social Justice Poetry Database. Tune in: https://bit.ly/3RiPtDQ

In honor of Disability Pride Month and Split This Rock’s commitment to Disability Justice, we are pleased to release this poem as part of a special video collection of poems housed in The Quarry: A Social Justice Poetry Database. Each Wednesday in July, we will spotlight a poem from the special collection.

Join us in celebrating and widely sharing poems by disabled poets! It is one way to resist the erasure of disabled voices and experiences.

Video description: Amir McClam, a Black person with dark brown skin, big Piscean eyes, a nose hoop, and a headwrap, reads an excerpt from their poem “I FEEL MOST DISABLED WHEN THROWN AGAINST A CLOCKWHITE BACKGROUND” for Split This Rock’s Sick & Disabled Showcase Collection in The Quarry: A Social Justice Poetry Database.


Address

1301 Connecticut Avenue NW, Ste 600
Washington D.C., DC
20036

Opening Hours

Monday 10am - 6pm
Tuesday 10am - 6pm
Wednesday 10am - 6pm
Thursday 10am - 6pm
Friday 10am - 6pm

Telephone

+12027875210

Website

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