1455 Summer Literary Festival - 2nd Annual - Opening Evening

Opening Evening - Agenda

7:00 PM
Day Eight Presents: A Reading by Winners of the DC Poet Project

Speaker(s):
Susan Meehan, John Johnson,
Kevin Wiggins, Mecca Verdell

Join DC Poet Project competition-winning poets Susan Meehan, John Johnson, Kevin Wiggins, and Mecca Verdell for a shared reading and discussion with attendees. The DC Poet Project is an annual open-to-all poetry competition designed to surface exceptional poets. The winner’s manuscript is published by the non-profit Day Eight. Day Eight was founded by Robert Bettmann. The 2020 DC Poet Project reading series and competition was funded by the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Wells Fargo Community Foundation.

7:30 PM
Writers For These Times: A Scoundrel Time Reading and Conversation

Speaker(s):
Rebecca Chace, Robert Gamble, Shane McCrae, Karen Outen, Dana Sachs, Sebastian Santiago, Clifford Thompson, Russell Thornsburg, Eric Wilson,
Qian Zhang, Paula Whyman,
Karen Bender, Daisy Fried

Scoundrel Time presents recent works of nonfiction and poetry from the journal, addressing the pandemic and racial justice. Writers Rebecca Chace, Robert Gamble, Shane McCrae, Karen Outen, Dana Sachs, Sebastian Santiago, Clifford Thompson, Russell Thornsburg, Eric Wilson, and Qian Zhang will be reading their work, and editors Paula Whyman, Karen Bender, and Daisy Fried will join in on a discussion of ways art can engage with the political world. A Q&A will follow the readings.

9:00 PM
1455's Open Mic Spoken Word

Speaker(s):
TBD