the e-poets network Newswire: June 2005

news and analysis from the e-poets network

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Kelly Tsai performs in New York in June

An arresting artist with gravity and sensitivity, Kelly Tsai has demonstrated new turns in the Chicago school of performance poetry throughout her career. She's trekked from Illinois to New York and back, accumulating new stories and skills along the way. Chicago locals will remember her from Mental Graffiti and PolyRhythmic series readings. TV audiences will remember her from HBO's Def Poetry. New Yorkers will remember her as the new kid on the block with a heckuva left hook, metaphorically speaking. And if you haven't seen her yet, you'll remember her for a good long time after her set. Recommended!

Wednesday, June 29, 3rd APIA Spoken Word Summit, NYC Fundraiser with Mango Tribe, Mahina Movement, Taiyo, Chirag Menon from Himalayan Project, Lisa Ascalon from Girlstory, and Mas Yamagata, 8:00-10:00 PM, Junno's, 64 Downing Street, New York, NY, $12-15 sliding scale, 1st drink on the house!

Vietnamese Artist-in-Residence Program at Cave Gallery: Ly Hoang Ly

Ly Hoang Ly presents New York is Inside Rodney’s House. Ly Hoang Ly is a Vietnamese artist and creative collaborator with Anida Yoeu Esguerra, an e-poets.net contributor, performance poet, and Mango Tribe member with Kelly Tsai (see above), among others. She has incorporated installation works with performance poetry in Vietnam and the United States, and participated with Esguerra in 2004 with a project called "Pushing Through Frontiers", presented in Ho Chi Minh City. Even though her installations are sufficient on their own, Ly Hoan Ly's art can create an expanded stage for verbal works.

The artist says, "Not the same magnificent metropolis as I saw in my last two flashing trips, the New York through my arts residency is entirely inside the modest home of Rodney Dickson, an artist based in Brooklyn. Here I experience perhaps a true New York life. In my eyes, New York was no more a place of imposing skyscrapers, busy streets and crowded squares that sometimes make foreigners feel lost, but a tiny cozy place that is familiar. Here I discovered real materials from my everyday life. It was the life of a young mom dedicating herself to her first-born baby and breathing the pure air of the artist’s life..."

The installation art work is made of "used" diapers, sanitary napkins, charcoal, photos, acrylic paint, and fish net. The exhibit is open June 4 to July 3, 2005. At Cave Gallery, 58 Grand Street, Brooklyn, NY 11211. This exhibit is funded by Ford Foundation.

Rattapallax presents Perdomo live, & Hamad in print

Rattapallax's reading during the Republican National Convention last year was featured in a new documentary produced by the Sundance Channel. The film is called The First Amendment Project and is directed by John Walter (who previously directed "How to Draw a Bunny." Other film-makers include Mario Van Peebles and Chris Hegedus & Nick Doob (The War Room).

Join Rattapallax for a poetry reading featuring Willie Perdomo. Tuesday, June 21 at 7:00 p.m. in the little theatre. Poetry in the Branches at Port Richmond Library, 75 Bennett Street, Staten Island, (718.442.0158), NYC. The event is free.

Rattapallax has created a new imprint dedicated to Spoken Word called Cypher. The first collection we are publishing is "Zaatardiva" by Suheir Hammad. More info at the Rattapallax website.

Fresh from her Tony-Award winning stint in Def Poetry Jam on Broadway and a subsequent 51-city tour, Suheir Hammad has written her first collection of poetry since Born Palestinian, Born Black, published when she was just 22 years old. Zaatardiva is poetry about love, politics and art, all coming out of Hammad's bag of zataar. The poems in this collection are at once seductive and dangerous; they are possessed by a singular lyricism and wareness, and her call to action has a major presence in her work. The collection will include a CD and available in October 2005.

Tha Jump Off!

Attend the Hip-hop Playwriting Workshop involving group exercises and active writing for those who'd like to start a new play or find new material for a play in progress, facilitated by Claudia Alick.

Claudia Alick plays have been seen on the stages of The Kennedy Center, Woolly Mammoth Theatre, LaMama ETC, 45 Bleeker, Chashama Experimental Theatre, New Perspectives Theatre, and PS 122 in the 2002 and 2003 NYC Hip Hop Theatre Festivals. Her play "6 Hits" won the audience award in the Downtown Urban Theatre Festival. Other performance credits include 2 seasons of the Peabody award winning series HBO's Def Poetry Jam, and features in the documentaries "WordJunky" (dir. Audrey Colcannon) and Ladies on the Mic's project on Women in hip-hop (dir. Jessica Habie). Claudia guest lectures at Universities, runs workshops for teachers on integrating hip-hop and spoken word techniques into their curriculums, and teaches poetry, playwriting and drama workshops for children and adults

This is a one-day workshop, on June 18 from 1:00 to 4:00 PM. At NYU Tisch, 721 Broadway, 2nd Floor, Studio 3. $10. Take N or R trains to 8th Street/NYU or 6 to Astor. Attendees should RSVP by phone 718-756-1155 or by e-mail to smokin@smokinword.com. You MUST RSVP before the 18th to attend.

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