Around Town

Public Art Reston will take over Reston Town Square Park later this month with the return of its annual ChalkFest.

The centerpiece of Reston Town Center’s eARTh Day Celebration on Saturday, April 25, the event will celebrate the literary arts for the first time as well as visual arts with the addition of a public art poetry contest.


Around Town

As the calendar flips to April, organizers around Fairfax County are prepared to celebrate National Poetry Month.

With the support of ArtsFairfax, Fairfax County Poet Laureate Angelique Palmer is launching a “Poetry &” initiative that will bring a handful of events to the county throughout the month, with some starting as soon as next week.


Around Town

A school in Reston has been chosen to host the centerpiece event of this year’s nationwide Read Across America campaign.

Local author Kwame Alexander will visit Langston Hughes Middle School at 2:30 p.m. this Sunday (March 2) to celebrate Read Across America Day as well as the 10th anniversary of his 2015 Newbery Medal win for the bestselling novel “The Crossover.”


News

Angelique Palmer, a performance poet and teacher, has been chosen as Fairfax County’s new poet laureate.

ArtsFairfax announced yesterday (Monday) that Palmer will serve as its poet laureate from 2024 through 2027. Succeeding Danielle Badra, Palmer will be the third person to hold the title, which was created in 2020 to celebrate poetry and promote it to a wider local audience.


News

New interpretative signs are headed to Riverbend Park in Great Falls and Ellanor C. Lawrence Park in Chantilly next month as part of an initiative to promote poetry in Fairfax County’s park system.

Set to be unveiled next Friday, Nov. 1, the signs will showcase poems selected by outgoing Fairfax County Poet Laureate Danielle Badra for both of the locations.


Around Town

National Poetry Month has arrived, bringing a new slate of free poetry readings and other events at Fairfax County parks.

For the final year of her tenure, Fairfax County Poet Laureate Danielle Badra has organized a second “Poetry in the Parks” initiative, inviting community members to experience linguistic and natural beauty at the same time.


Around Town

The work of Reston’s master planner James Rossant is on display at George Mason University through June 30.

The exhibit, “Cities and Memory: The Visionary Architecture of James Rossant with Poetry by Juliette Rossant,” displays the work of Rossant alongside poems that reflect on his art by his daughter, Juliette Rossant.


Countywide

O, muse, send me your cleverest rhymes, your liveliest verses and most starry-eyed odes to nightingales.

So says Fairfax County Public Library, as time ticks down on its second annual poetry contest.


Countywide

Fairfax County has a new ambassador for poetry.

Danielle Badra will serve as the second Fairfax Poet Laureate through 2024, leading a program to bring poetry-related activities to local parks, ArtsFairfax shared yesterday.