Spoken Word Artist Kevin Coval to Perform, Screen Film April 18 at Washington College

CHESTERTOWN, MD—Spoken-word phenom Kevin Coval, founder of the Louder than a Bomb youth poetry slam, will bring his distinctive style to Washington College later this month. He will offer workshops and readings on campus and at a Rose O’Neill Literary House co-sponsored event in Washington, D.C.

On April 17 at 4 p.m., Coval will perform at Busboys and Poets (14^th and V streets N.W.). The D.C. Youth Slam Team will open the show.

He will visit Washington College on Monday, April 18 for a 4:30 p.m. performance in Tawes Theatre, the Daniel Z. Gibson Center for the Arts, and a 7:30 p.m. screening of the award-winning documentary film Louder Than a Bomb in Norman James Theatre (the film also screens on April 15 and April 17). Both events are free and open to the public. Coval will also meet with students in Professor Mark Nowak’s “Living Writers” class and Professor Robert Earl Price’s “Performance Poetry” class.

Coval is known for his four appearances on Russell Simmons’ hit HBO series “Def Poetry” and his acclaimed poetry books Everyday People and Slingshots. Legendary Chicago author and radio star Studs Terkel once described Coval’s poetic voice as “our hope for a new world of peace, grace, and beauty.”

Coval founded Louder than a Bomb in 2001 as an annual performance competition to encourage the voices of aspiring high-school-aged poets. It is now the largest youth poetry festival in the world. Filmmakers Jon Siskel and Greg Jacobs created their acclaimed documentary about the festival in 2010.

For a clip from the Louder Than a Bomb film and more information on this and other Lit House events, visit http://lithouse.washcoll.edu and click on “Blog.”