Day Eight is excited to share several opportunities to experience Rebecca Bishophall and Dwayne Lawson-Brown, the authors of the poetry collection Breaking the Blank, reading from their book.
Breaking the Blank is a spirited dialogue between poets—and a meditation on love, parenting, gentrification, money, and the literary life. A recent review by Alex Carrigan in Quail Bell Magazine, says, “The poems in Breaking the Blank are about being alive and finding pleasure in life, and with the alternating perspectives, this shows two different points of view and how they run differently and what similarities emerge.”
Sistah Joy, Poet Laureate of Prince George’s County, Maryland, wrote, “Breaking the Blank is a contemporary treasure.”
And Reuben Jackson, author of fingering the keys and Scattered Clouds: New & Selected Poems, described Breaking the Blank, “Crisp, riveting, and often tender meditations on love, parenting, and—to paraphrase the title of a National Public Radio program—This African American Life.”
View and purchase the book from our online bookstore here.
If you are interested in booking the authors for an event, contact Sarah Katz at sarahbea89 <at> gmail.com.
Wednesday, February 15, 7 pm: A Breaking the Blank reading & discussion at The Writer’s Center (4508 Walsh Street, Bethesda, MD 20815. RSVP here.
Tuesday, February 28, 2 pm: A Breaking the Blank reading & discussion with an African American Literature class at Marymount University (2807 N Glebe Rd, Arlington, VA 22207).
Saturday, March 25, 5:30 pm: A reading by the Breaking the Blank authors alongside others for the Reston Reading Series at Reston Used Bookshop (Village Center, 1623 Washington Plaza North Lake Anne, Reston, VA 20190).
Saturday, April 22, 2:00 pm: A Breaking the Blank reading, discussion, and Q&A at Quince Orchard Library (15831 Quince Orchard Rd, Gaithersburg, MD 20878).
Sunday, June 4, 2:00 pm: A reading & discussion event for Breaking the Blank and I’d Rather Be Called a Nerd (by Dominic “Nerd” McDonald) at Rhizome DC (6950 Maple St NW, Washington, DC 20012).
Sunday, June 25, 2:00 pm: A Breaking the Blank reading & discussion at Rockville Library (21 Maryland Ave, Rockville, MD 20850).
Their tour began on Wednesday, November 23, 8:00 pm, at Busboys and Poets on K Street in DC, followed by a podcast recording at Solid State Books on Tuesday, January 3, 7:00 pm. And on Saturday, January 21, at 5 pm, Day Eight hosted a book launch party for Breaking the Blank at Marcellino, a Michelin-starred restaurant in a new residential development in Union Market called The Gantry (300 Morse Street NE, Washington, DC 20002).
We hope to see you at these events and thank you for supporting Day Eight and its authors.