It's a Wrap! 2009 Big Read - D.C.

The month of May ended with a grand finish for the 2009 Big Read - D.C. as the newly published poets from Coolidge High School and Model Secondary School for the Deaf shared their poems and experiences from the writing/publishing workshop leading up to the publication of "BRIDGES". Students signed copies of their book in the Langston Room at Busboys and Poets, named for Harlem Renaissance poet Langston Hughes who was discovered while working as a busboy in a Cleveland Park hotel.

Teachers, parents, school administrators, and friends celebrated the young writers' achievements during this book launch. The poems published in the volume reflect themes of this year's city book THE HEART IS A LONELY HUNTER by Carson McCullers. "BRIDGES: Hearing and Deaf Students Connect Through Poetry" is a Book-in-a-Day project, a hands-on writing and publishing program created by poet and publisher Kwame Alexander. It was the perfect "Final Chapter" for the 2009 Big Read - D.C.


Copies of BRIDGES are available from the Humanities Council of Washington, DC. The price is $10/per book plus $5 for postage. Checks and money orders are preferred.

Write to: Humanities Council of Washington, DC (attn: Bridges), 925 U Street, NW, Washington, DC 20001; or call 202-387-8391.

For on-line orders, visit www.wdchumanities.org.

And stay tuned. An announcement will be made about the 2010 Big Read later this month.