About DC Poets Against the War

DC Poets Against the War is an informal group of Washington area writers and activists who came together during the winter of 2003 to protest the planned U.S. invasion of Iraq. Following Laura Bush's cancellation of a Day of Poetry at the White House, and the creation of Poets Against the War by Sam Hamill, DC poets organized our own protest readings. On February 12th, close to 200 people attended an open reading at the All Souls Unitarian Church, where poets shared their own work and classic anti-war poetry. A March reading at the DC Center for Activism and the Arts also drew many participants, and received coverage in the Washington Post.

With the escalation of US military force in Iraq, DC Poets Against the War held informal readings throughout the capitol. Meeting in groups of three to six, poets gathered in public spaces -- the Mall, the U.S. Department of Labor, McPherson Square -- to express dissent by reading poetry on the theme of peace. We have continued to hold readings throughout the area and to support engaged poetry and creative activism in Washington. We welcome your suggestions.

For more information, to join our email list, or to become involved in event planning, email us at: info@dcpaw.org.

Press Coverage:

DCGuide.com Profile by Afrika Midnight Asha Abney (Feb.12, 2007)

Eclectica Magazine Review of DC PAW anthology by Gilbert Wesley Purdy (Jan/Feb 2007)

Pens Not Swords, essay on poetry in wartime in Foreign Policy in Focus by Sarah Browning (September 21, 2006)

Interview by Lauren Harrison with DC PAW Founder Sarah Browning, The Potomac - Poetry and Politics Issue, Issue 4, April 2006

D.C. Restaurant Becomes Hub of Anti-War Activity, Voice of America, 9/23/05

Interview with DC PAW Founder Sarah Browning, divideDCity Magazine, Vol. 1, Issue 2 (PDF)

NewPages.com Review of DC PAW anthology, by Deborah Diemont

Midwest Book Review of DC PAW anthology by Laurel Johnson, June 2005 (scroll down)

Rice's Actions Would Mean More Than a Milestone, Donna Britt column in the Washington Post on Inauguration Day, 1/20/05, featuring a reading at Karibu Books the previous evening by D.C. Poets Against the War poets Esther Iverem, Camille Dungy, and E. Ethelbert Miller

Opposing the War, In Rhyme and Verse, Reston (VA) Connection, 10/7/04

In D.C., a Diverse Mix Rouses War Protest, Washington Post, 10/26/03

National Day of Poetry Against the War in DC, report on Indymedia of D.C. Poets Against the War's first event, with audio of the full program, February 12, 2003.

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