Showing posts with label NYC poetry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NYC poetry. Show all posts
Sunday, February 15, 2015
Why Is a Poem...? -- Poem by NYC Poet Luis "Storyteller" Cordova
Why Is A Poem...
Why is a poem the only form of therapy we poets cling to when expressing our loss of a loved one?
As if a stanza can ever wipe my tears for the life of my daughter.
Syllables will never know the breath I would give to hear her laughter once more.
I wish I knew the answer.
The answer to why sonnets are the closest thing to a rhythm of her heartbeat.
She used to grab my fingers like pens and I would tickle her into stories for my journal.
I used to keep a journal.
I stopped once I noticed my fingers would get shaky every time I opened it.
Her eyes were either green or blue, but I'm certain it was green.
It's hard to remember when photos kissed a flame after the tragedy, and I'm looking at 6+ years without even a glance of her marble shaped eyes.
I'm afraid to fall asleep because I'm afraid of forgetting more.
Do you remember when I said her eyes were green?
She had the radiance of a horizon brown sunset no haiku could ever fathom.
What does that have to do with green?
Absolutely nothing, I just want to make sure to never forget the color that often stared at me.
Even though I'm choosing to write this in poetry form and share it with you, I'm actually doing this for me.
I happen to be one of those poets who finds comfort in the morgue of a poetry piece.
From loved ones to ideas.
Dreams and emotions.
Expectations and desires.
If the graveyard is said to be the richest place, then poetry is the one who lives in it.
We are the ones who come when rent is due.
It pays us in reminiscing on tragedies more often than laughter.
A poem is a dirty cracked mirror we can't help but use to see how we look before stepping on stage or writing on page.
And I swear, I can still see my daughter's smile when I blink for just a second longer than a tear whenever I stand in front of that very mirror.
When you read or hear a poem, remember that it is always a confession.
We admit more in poetry than we do when thinking to ourselves.
Why do you think that happens?
It's because we are too afraid to speak it aloud; we use poetry as a gateway into honesty and admittance and it's sad.
When you can know about the lost of my daughter sooner than knowing my full name.
I ask you again, why is a poem the only form of therapy we poets cling to when expressing the loss of a loved one?
Brooklyn, New York's Luis "Storyteller" Cordova is a spoken word poet who blends classical style of poetry with modern display of performance. Claiming to be the illegitimate poetic child of Maya Angelou and Walt Whitman, he says he "breathes metaphors in the ribs of personification" to bring about imagination to everyday situations.
Labels:
Da Storyteller,
Luis Cordova,
Maya Angelou,
NYC poet,
NYC poetry,
poem,
poet,
poetry,
Walt Whitman
Tuesday, February 10, 2015
NYC Poetry Night @ Hauser & Wirth Art Gallery (Ozbolt Exhibition) - FREE
The InspiredWordNYC open mic series and the Hauser & Wirth Manhattan art gallery present a poetry night on the occasion of the Djordje Ozbolt exhbition More paintings about poets and food (which is a play on the album title "More songs about buildings and food," by the Talking Heads).
Hosted by Poetry Teachers NYC founder/poet Megan DiBello.
When: Thursday, Feb. 12, 2015
Time: 7pm
Where: Hauser & Wirth
http://www.hauserwirth.com/
32 East 69th Street
Manhattan, NY
Doors open at 7pm, open mic begins at 7:30.
Please dress appropriately. RSVP REQUIRED for entrance into the event via http://artgallerypoetryopenmic.eventbrite.com/.
There will be refreshments and a variety of hors d'oeuvres.
Hauser & Wirth is a contemporary art gallery with locations worldwide. ‘More paintings about poets and food’ is the gallery’s first New York exhibition devoted to the internationally admired London-based artist, Djordje Ozbolt. The exhibition includes new paintings, sculptures and works on paper by the artist, and is on view at Hauser & Wirth’s 69th Street location through 21 February 2015.
Ozbolt is influenced by poetry, and incorporates stream of consciousness and free association play into his practice, while addressing varied themes of pop culture, politics, fantasy, and self-exploration. The night is a celebration and cross-pollination of art forms. Poets and spoken word artists will perform in the gallery space, surrounded by the surrealist, absurd, and humorous works of Djordje Ozbolt. Join us for an exciting evening of poetry, art, and conversation.
The Ozbolt exhbition runs from Jan. 14 to Feb. 21, 2015.
http://www.hauserwirth.com/exhibitions/2361/djordje-ozbolt-more-paintings-about-poets-and-food/view/
Open mic produced by Mike Geffner Presents The Inspired Word
http://InspiredWordNYC.com
Labels:
exhibition,
Hauser & Wirth,
NYC art gallery,
NYC open mic,
NYC poetry,
open mic,
Ozbolt,
poetry
Saturday, January 17, 2015
Sí.Nik Productions - Sponsor/The Inspired Word's 5-Year Anniversary Extravaganza
Honored that Simone Nikkole’s Sí.Nik Productions signed on as one of the sponsors for The Inspired Word's 5-Year Anniversary Extravaganza. Simone is a wonderful poet as well as a loyal supporter of the arts. Her company's mission statement, "Feed Your Soul, Inspire Your Mind," gives you a glimpse into what she is all about. Freedom of Expression, Creativity, Sensuality, Empowerment, Inspiration and Positivity are Sí.Nik's guiding principles. For more info, check out https://www.facebook.com/Si.NikPro. You can also email sinikpro@gmail.com and follow on Twitter @sinikpro/Instagram @azucarpoetisa205.

Tuesday, July 29, 2014
Thursday, July 31st! 3Po3try NYC Presents Hot House: A Summer Poetry Extravaganza
3Po3try NYC Presents Hot House: A Summer Poetry Extravaganza @ Organic Modernism - The Dawning of a New Era in Big Apple Poetry.
Purchase tickets @ http://3po3trynycsummer.eventbrite.com/.
3Po3try NYC is a ground-breaking alliance between three of New York City’s most prominent poetry influences – great weather for MEDIA http://greatweatherformedia.com/(poetry publishing, events, open mics),Poetry Teachers NYC http://www.poetryteachersnyc.com/ (poetry workshops, readings, festivals) and The Inspired Word http://inspiredwordnyc.com/ (poetry open mics, slams, showcases).
Hosted by Aimee Herman.
When: Thursday, July 31
Time: 7-10pm
Where: Organic Modernism
203 North 11th Street
Williamsburg, Brooklyn
General Admission: $10 (you can pay online or at the door)
Donations: Anything you'd like to give
Doors Open at 6:30PM
This event was funded in part by Poets & Writers, Inc., with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.
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Feature Bios:
A poet, playwright, and musician, Cornelius Eady was born in Rochester, NY, in 1954, where he attended Monroe Community College and Empire State College. He has published seven books of poetry, including Victims of the Latest Dance Craze, which won the 1985 Lamont Prize from the Academy of American Poets, and Brutal Imagination, a finalist for the 2001 National Book Award in poetry. Running Man, a music-theatre piece Eady co-authored with jazz musician Diedre Murray, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in drama in 1999. In 2002, Eady’s stage adaptation of Brutal Imagination won the Newsday Oppenheimer Award for the best first play written that year by an American Playwright. Eady is also the co-founder and Vice President of Cave Canem Foundation, an organization dedicated to the advancement of young African-American poets. He has taught poetry and literature at Sweet Briar College, The College of William and Mary, SUNY Stonybrook, Sarah Lawrence College, NYU, The New School University, the 92St Y, City College, American University and The University of Notre Dame, where he also directed its Creative Writing Program. In the fall of 2010, he will join the faculty at the University of Missouri-Columbia as Professor of English and the Miller Family Endowed Chair in Literature and Writing. His band, Rough Magic, can be found @ http://www.corneliuseadyandroughmagic.com/.
Amber Godfrey is an award-winning performer who has worked professionally across Canada and in New York. She has written a short one-woman solo show entitled “DipKid” about her experiences as a Diplomat’s daughter traveling the world. Currently she is exploring ways to expand the format and content of the piece. Theatre credits include: Fires in the Mirror (dir. Jesse Freedman),Mr. Kolpert (Preview of the Arts), RICH (MTYP), Smokescreen (MTYP); And By the Way, Miss...(Theatre Direct - Dora Award), A Streetcar Named Desire (ATF), The Miracle Worker(ATF), The Hobbit (ATF), The Heidi Chronicles (ATC) and The Other Side of the Closet(Montreal Youtheatre). Amber holds a BA in Theatre from Acadia University and is a member of Actors’ Equity.
Najee Omar, a Brooklyn-based writer and performance artist, uses the language of theatre, music, and poetry to create a socially conscious dialogue through interdisciplinary art. He has read and featured at the 2013 Harlem Arts Festival, DUMBO Arts Festival, Performa 13, Au Chat Noir (Paris), and at colleges and universities across the United States. As a teaching artist, he’s turned classrooms into stages by conducting poetry and theatre workshops for inner city teens and high-need youth in schools across the greater New York City and Los Angeles areas. In 2013, he began instructing poetry/creative writing workshops with incarcerated youth on Rikers Island, an initiative that changed the breadth of his work beyond imagination. Najee's mission is to cultivate an audience of deep thinkers and inspire the next generation of change agents, one word at a time.
Anton Yakovlev (http://redwheelbarrowpoets.wordpress.com/anton-yakovlev/) grew up in Moscow, Russia, but moved to the United States in 1996. He studied filmmaking and poetry at Harvard University. Anton lives in Ridgewood, NJ and works as a college textbook editor. His poems have appeared in The Rutherford Red Wheelbarrow and are forthcoming in 823 on High and Instigatorzine.
Nichole Acosta is a multicultural, Brooklyn-based poet heavily influenced by rappers Narubi Selah, Eve, and Missy Elliot, spoken word poets Lemon Andersen, Beau Sia, and Amiri Baraka and comedian Bo Burnham. Though she hated writing as a kid, her English teachers pushed her to love it. She's been performing since the age of 11, and in 2006, she finished in the top 15 out of 500 youth poets in the Urban Word Slam. She's known for both her cutting and positive words, taking on human nature, popular culture, and the challenging nexus between love and relationships. She is the founder/producer of Epic XII, a unique quarterly performance event featuring 12 collaborations between musicians and poets, and is the Director of Community Relations for The Inspired Word. Her first book of poetry, Field of Fireflies, was released in October 2013. Her website can be found @ http://nicholeacosta.wix.com/poetry. Visit Epic XII on Facebook @ https://www.facebook.com/TheEpic12.
Infinitely curious and hell-bent on painting her world in the brightest colors possible, Audrey Dimola is a born and raised Queens writer/poet/curator, cross-genre collaborator, and ever-intrepid literary explorer. She is the author of "Decisions We Make While We Dream," a poetry and prose collection spanning 2000 to 2012, guerrilla sticker poet of the Compass Project, and founder of reading/live writing series Nature of the Muse. A crusader for Queens culture since her college years, Audrey's local efforts include organizing the first ever Queens Literary Town Hall at Queens Council on the Arts, bringing together the brightest literary lights in her home borough, as well as hosting and curating the nearly 5-hour "MEANWHILE, BACK IN QUEENS…" local program of the Queens Poet Laureate's ETERNiDAY festival at Queens Museum. She devotes her life to the power of artistic expression, aiming always to stay wild and stay grateful. She's a host for The Inspired Word'sWednesday night open mic in Long Island City, Queens. Check out Audrey's website @ http://audreydimola.com/.
Angelo Daniel Giokas is a hybrid painter and aesthetic voyager from Queens, New York. His raw and unique style is the result of his combination of appropriation, collage, mixed media, and visual poetry. He enjoys exploring the synergistic relationships between images, prints, photographs, and magazines, and works in effort to associate artistic process with product, and insight with magical thinking. Though he graduated Cum Laude from Siena College, his artistry and theories were mostly self-taught. His experience studying intermedia art at University of London, Goldsmiths College was the most enriching and inspirational time in his young career. He is an independent artist who has never having been represented by any gallery. Found out more about his interests at www.artbyangelogiokas.com, and follow his work on Instagram @artbyangelogiokas.
A product of the streets of South Philadelphia, Phillip Giambri aka “The Ancient Mariner” obtained his deviant perspective on life listening to Jean Shepherd on WOR radio back in the ‘50s. Fleeing Philly at seventeen, he served in the military, has been an actor, hairstylist, stoner, janitor, writer, drifter, recording engineer, hired hand, poet, traveling salesman, barfly, banker, biker, bronco buster, announcer, mail-order minister, photographer, and “Computer Guru." He arrived in NY City in ’68, joined the Hippie pilgrimage to St. Marks Place, and never left. He’s attended too many schools to mention, studying nearly everything, without ever attaining a degree in anything. He produces and hosts a popular monthly spoken word/poetry event, Rimes of The Ancient Mariner as well as special collaborative events with other artist/performers; most recently the very successful, Barflies & Broken Angels. His website “Ancient Mariner Tales” offers bored web surfers a glimpse into his futile search for self-discovery and meaning. He can be found in downtown NYC, regularly spinning yarns and telling tall tales anywhere that will tolerate him.
The Haiku Guys are a traveling duo of poets who want to write you a haiku, anytime, anywhere. They have turned a hobby of writing #freehaiku for the people they meet on the streets of Brooklyn into a bigger mission of making haiku a thing. Erick Szentmiklosy and Daniel Zaltsman, who met at college orientation and turned from friends to brothers to business partners, want to help people communicate in a more mindful way in their everyday lives and think haiku is the means for attaining this shift in the way we intercourse with people every day. They do this by getting hired to write at parties around the U.S. The more parties they attend, the more people they reach face-to-face and write custom haiku on the spot for. Just give them a topic and they'll channel your vision through them into a typewritten haiku. You go home with a poem. Wheather it's a wedding, festival, company party or just a gathering of friends at home, they want to be there, sharing their story and haiku with you and your guests.
Hala Alyan is a Palestinian-American poet whose work has appeared in several journals, including Copper Nickel, Third Coast, and The Journal. Her first full-length poetry collection, “Atrium,” was published by Three Rooms Press in New York City, and was recently awarded the 2013 Arab American Book Award in Poetry. She resides in Manhattan.
Mary McLaughlin Slechta is the author of Wreckage on a Watery Moon (FootHills) and two chapbooks. She’s recently published in The Understanding Between Foxes and Light, Black Magnolias,Worker’s Write, and Red Savina Review. Her adventure series with Night Owl Press is planned for release in 2014. She is the 2014 guest prose editor for I Let Go of the Stars in My Hand.
John Paul Davis is a curator of Page Meets Stage. He was a founding member of Real Talk Avenue, and is the former editor of Bestiary Magazine and Em Literary. His poems have appeared in MUZZLE, WordRiot, Radius, Rattle, The Four Way Review, The Columbia Poetry Review and others. He currently lives in Brooklyn. His website is www.johnpauldavis.org.
Ellen Stedfeld sketches live performances and special events throughout the city. She also writes and illustrates for comics, picture books, and various narrative forms. Keen to encourage others in the arts, Ellen has taught drawing workshops at Enigma Bookstore, and Carmine Street Comics – where she initiated the Storefront Artists Program. You can find her partaking in open mics including The Inspired Word, offering late-night portraits at Rudar Club, or wherever she is welcomed next. For art and updates, visit http://www.ellesaurarts.com/.
Julia Simoniello is an artist and illustrator from Staten Island, New York. She is currently a BFA Illustration student at the School of Visual Arts.
Host Bio:
Aimee Herman is a performance artist, poet and teacher with an MFA in Creative Writing from Long Island University in Brooklyn, as well as a longtime Inspired Word host. She teaches at Bronx Community College and is a faculty member with Poetry Teachers NYC, offering affordable poetry workshops and creating spaces for other performers to lift their words off the page. She has been published in various journals and anthologies such as:Troubling the Line: Trans and Genderqueer Poetry and Poetics (Nightboat Books) and The Understanding Between Foxes and Light (great weather for MEDIA). Her full-length book of poems to go without blinking was published in 2012 by BlazeVOX books. She can be found wrapped in caution tape in Brooklyn or at aimeeherman.wordpress.com.
https://www.facebook.com/3po3trynyc
https://twitter.com/3Po3tryNYC
Monday, July 14, 2014
Interview with 3Po3try NYC Poet Audrey Dimola - July 31 Summer Poetry Extravaganza
Audrey Dimola will be one of the featured poets in Hot House: A Summer Poetry Extravaganza on Thursday, July 31 @ Organic Modernism in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, produced by 3Po3try NYC (https://www.facebook.com/3po3trynyc).
Infinitely curious and hell-bent on painting her world in the brightest colors possible, Dimola is a proudly born-and-raised Queens writer/poet/curator, cross-genre collaborator, and ever-intrepid literary explorer. She is the author of "Decisions We Make While We Dream," a poetry and prose collection spanning 2000 to 2012, guerrilla sticker poet of the Compass Project, and founder of reading/live writing series Nature of the Muse. A crusader for Queens culture since her college years, Audrey organized the first ever Queens Literary Town Hall at Queens Council on the Arts, bringing together the brightest literary lights in her home borough, and has curated arts events for Queens Museum and LaGuardia Performing Arts Center. She is one of the hosts of the Inspired Word's Wednesday night open mic @ COFFEED in Long Island City, Queens, and is currently finishing up work on her second book, "Traversals," set for release in Fall 2014.
Find out more about Audrey @ http://audreydimola.com and follow her on Twitter @ audreydwrites and Instagram @ audreyleopard.
The following is our quick interview with Ms. Dimola (who, like a lot of poets, eschews capitalized words and is particularly playful with punctuation):
What’s your definition of poetry?
poetry is the heart speaking – and the heart doesn’t always work with logic, with rationale, within limits. poetry – it’s mesmerizing, it’s lyrical, it’s useful, it’s abstract, it’s mystical, it’s profound. revelatory. poetry is trying to put the infinite onto a page. convey the ache, the joy, the longing.. break a shaft of light into a series of words. remember a summer evening. a first kiss. a last embrace. play with form, play with meaning, play with possibility. that’s the thing about it i love most – you can PLAY.
What one word describes your writing style?
"electroluminescent" - luminescence produced electrically! which for me translates to two hugely important forces in my world, my being, my work: light and energy! that, or just straight-up "ache" - because ache is intensity of FEELING, both beautiful or terrible. unbearable - you can ache for what's lost or ache from pure joy..
Does your poetry have a central theme? And if so, what is it?
it’s definitely the immortal in the mortal frame. there is a mysticism about it but it’s always tied to emotion. longing, ache in every sense of the word, nostalgia, freedom. tangling with god, with the beyond, with limits, with our memories. it churns out in images.. the natural world is always a mirror for me.
What's your idea of the perfect poem?
an explosion in the heart.. a dead-on suckerpunch and a sloppy, lingering kiss afterwards. ha! honestly - it's something you can't forget. it's something that hits you hard, lifts you up, makes you thankful you read it, or wish you could be that brave - something people from all backgrounds can appreciate and grasp onto, not just poetry fans or lit lovers. i love flowery words and visceral images, but also poems that are deceivingly simple but profound - something you can take with you, something you can USE.
What's your best writing moment? What's your worst writing moment?
best is letting it flow. the words that come over me like a mystic sensation - that just tumble out of me, and i let them be. i feel like they're coasting off from the current of the universe..
worst is trying too hard, judging myself.
If you could steal one line from any poem, what would it be?
such an amazing and difficult question! the line i have in my email signature is from kabir: "if you don't break your ropes while you're alive, do you think ghosts will do it after?" wow.
What’s your favorite place to write?
writing always comes out of restlessness for me. either an excitement bursting out of bones, a shock of resonance from the universe, a sense of ennui i can’t shake. it’s always coming out of that motion – either pacing the sidewalk with no shoes, scribbling on the train, sprawling in the grass, lurking in the memory of someplace somewhere else. i love writing outside or against a window. i love physically writing on everything (vandalism, shhh) – but i always come back to a good ol’, battered up, sticker-covered notebook. you always do, with a mind that never stops. i find that movement informs my writing – words come to me while doing yoga, riding my bike, swimming.. i have to stop and find ways to capture the words before they dart away!
What's the weirdest place you ever wrote?
honestly i don't think any place is weird, necessarily - writing is like breathing and it happens all the time, everywhere.. in bed next to your sleeping lover, in the car, in the bathroom! i CAN tell you a strange place some words of mine ended up - stuck in the form of a poetry sticker (from my compass project http://tinyurl.com/compassproject), on a bulldozer!
What's the weirdest thing you ever wrote on?
this immediately makes me think of writing all over everything with sharpie. the world is my notebook! just the other day i wrote on a broken lamppost.
What comes easy to you with poetry?
sometimes nothing! ha. i like that it’s a dance. it’s an entanglement. it’s mind and word and pen swirling and marveling at how they resolve. sometimes it’s a fight from beginning to end, and other times it all spills out and i don’t edit at all. it’s strange, how inspiration blesses and damns us! the process is an exhuming, an excising, a breaking open and bringing out into the light. often, it hurts.. always, it’s necessary.
What time of the day do you mostly write?
all times. words usually start flowing when i'm doing other things - i'm constantly inspired, soaking up everything.. when the muse strikes, you have to catch it - whether that means getting out of the shower to grab a pen, recording it onto your phone, scrawling it in the dark as you're falling asleep, squeezing out your notebook on a crowded train, or using WHATEVER is around to write on - receipts, napkins, etc.!
What do you do to get into your writing sessions?
my writing sessions are always organic - they just happen. sometimes it feels like just giving myself over to something greater - trusting in it, letting it take over. i'm writing all the time, whether it's journal-style entries, quick observations, poems, prose - or with sharpie all over the place. strangely, as i'm going through life, i kind of know what's going to end up in a piece - i feel that ZAP of inspiration, almost like i'm watching a movie, taking silent notes of every detail.. i'll notice some incredible expanse of sky, or the way the light hits someone's face, or the way it feels to ride my bike in the street at twilight - and i know, oh man - THAT's going to be a piece, sometime soon.. there ARE times when i sit down and say "okay, time to write" - but they're much rarer. no matter what, i do love being in some kind of environment that opens me up.. and i LOVE the feeling of pounding out words on my old underwood typewriter - everything about it just feels right.
Do you have any writing superstitions?
i used to get really hung up on the inspiration going dry, or the muse leaving me - if i was in a groove, scribbling fervently, there would always be this voice in the back of my head - when's it going to stop? how am i going to finish this? or, in times when writing was difficult for me, i would often compare myself to the writer i "used to be" - the way it once flowed, seemingly so much more easily. either that, or comparing myself to others - my peers, the greats, everyone and anyone else who had a stronger voice. what did i have to SAY? and why couldn't i put it together? there was a period towards the end of high school and into early college in which i either wasn't writing at all, or writing about the fact that i COULDN'T write. i was stabbing into the dark - and it was devastating and bewildering to me, like i was suddenly robbed of all purpose.. looking back, now i know - i was just holding on too tight, stifling myself. how often we get in our own way..
How do you deal with your writing superstitions?
it took some time of existing in those fears, pushing through them, beginning to share my work again, and peeling back my own anxieties, expectations, guilt, conceptions, comparisons.. and realizing that - i am a writer. i will always be a writer. and, like with so very many things in life - i just have to LET. GO. it came out in the intro to my book, "decisions we make while we dream," when i self-published it in 2012 - "whether i write with wild abandon or through gritted teeth, this is what i do - it will always be mine." when it comes to creativity, the muse, being brave enough to expose yourself and your feelings - there has to be this intense level of trust. you have to trust yourself, you have to trust the craft, you have to trust the universe - live your life wildly and with gratitude, enjoy everything, learn from everything, FEEL everything - and your work will come. even if it's not always easy, even if you think it's awful as it hits the page, or it won't make sense to anyone but you.. keep going. keep trying. keep writing. it will all reveal itself. at the end of the day - this is the love of my life. i've been writing for as long as i can remember, and i know in my blood and bones - this is what i'll always do. this will always be HOME.
What book changed your writing forever?
"the great gatsby" is the first book that brought me to my knees. i've read it over and over since 8th grade and my god, every time i marvel at it. fitzgerald is just so skilled at what he does - the kind of sentences, images he comes up with.. timeless. and the definition of "ACHE"! aside from that first love - emerson is my all-time favorite writer. in college when we started reading his essays, i felt one of the first of many SHOCKS of resonance from the universe. he was writing about michel de montaigne and said of his writing: "cut these words, and they would bleed; they are vascular and alive." i can't remember anything hitting me so hard. from that moment on i knew THAT's what i had to devote myself to - to write in that way, to KEEP writing in that way.
What poet, dead or alive, would you like to be friends with?
my 2 "r's" - rumi, because of his ecstatic experiences of the divine, of mad love.. i feel so close to his words.
and rilke because he captures the beauty and terror of this existence - because he pretty much seems to have "channeled" the duino elegies and sonnets to orpheus from the universe, from some kind of greater power. that feeling - it's thrilling, humbling - and the kind of magic that happens with this craft, when you crack yourself open and let it all pour out.. blood, guts, divinity.
What are you hoping to accomplish with your poetry?
to remind everyone that they have a voice. that every voice is worth hearing. everyone can do this, everyone can try. that there are things we should look at again, things we should be thankful for, things we should release back out into the world in our own way. my favorite writers always help me feel like i’m not alone – they make me see so clearly the mystic beauty in everyday life. they make me look again. they make me feel familiar even when i feel out of place. i hope so much to bring that to my readers or listeners. to comfort them, to hit them hard, to do justice to these memories i can’t honor in any other way.
To purchase advance tickets to Hot House: A Summer Poetry Extravaganza, go to http://3po3trynycsummer.eventbrite.com.
Photo credit: Jay Franco (http://jayfranco.co/).
Labels:
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Monday, July 7, 2014
Interview with 3Po3try NYC Poet Nichole Acosta - July 31 Summer Poetry Extravaganza

Nichole Acosta will be one of the featured poets in Hot House: A Summer Poetry Extravaganza on Thursday, July 31 @ Organic Modernism in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, produced by 3Po3try NYC (https://www.facebook.com/3po3trynyc).
Acosta is a multicultural, Brooklyn-based poet heavily influenced by rappers Narubi Selah, Eve, and Missy Elliot, spoken word poets Lemon Andersen, Beau Sia, and Amiri Baraka and comedian Bo Burnham. Though she hated writing as a kid, her English teachers pushed her to love it. She's been performing since the age of 11, and in 2006, she finished in the top 15 out of 500 youth poets in the Urban Word Slam. She's known for both her cutting and positive words, taking on human nature, popular culture, and the challenging nexus between love and relationships. She is the founder/producer of Epic XII, a unique quarterly performance event featuring 12 collaborations between musicians and poets, and is the Director of Community Relations for The Inspired Word. Her first book of poetry, Field of Fireflies, was released in October 2013. Her website can be found @ http://nicholeacosta.wix.com/poetry. Visit Epic XII on Facebook @ https://www.facebook.com/TheEpic12.
The following is our quick interview with Ms. Acosta:
What’s your definition of poetry?
Poetry is a self-expressive rhythm broken into lines and stanzas.
What’s your favorite place to write?
On the subway.
Does your poetry have a central theme? And if so, what is it?
Love, in all its shapeshifting forms. It's something that every topic imaginable can return.
What one word describes your writing style?
Mostly lyrical these days, but with a purpose.
What's your idea of the perfect poem?
One that isn't afraid to bare some battle scars and really resonates with people from all walks of life.
What's your best writing moment?
When the poem feels finished, the story is told, and the message is locked in.
What's your worst writing moment?
When my pen runs out of ink and I'm alone without another pen.
If you could steal one line from any poem, what would it be?
When I was a kid I used to think "impossible" was short for I am Possible. - Lemon Anderson. Or...Craziness is no act. Not to act is crazy. - Amiri Baraka
That second one gave me my poetry-is-what-I want-to-do moment.
What time of the day do you mostly write?
When I open my eyes to start the day. That's when the best stuff comes out of me.
What book changed your writing forever?
Spencer Johnson's Who Moved My Cheese? It really changed my perspective on how to handle and adapt to a lot of change that was happening in my life at the time and pulled me out of a black hole I wasn't sure I was ever going to get out of.
What poet, dead or alive, would you like to be friends with?
Amiri Baraka.
Do you have any writing superstitions? If so, what are they and how do you deal with them?
I have to have the right notebook. Lucky enough, I have friends and family have gotten me really nice ones over the years.
What comes easy to you with poetry?
Saying what's really on my mind.
What are you hoping to accomplish with your poetry?
I'm just learning how to love myself and others better, telling my stories and hoping people find empowerment, truth and inspiration in what I have to say, that it sparks a real positive change in as many people as possible.
To purchase advance tickets to Hot House: A Summer Poetry Extravaganza, go to http://3po3trynycsummer.eventbrite.com.
Photo credit: Jay Franco (http://jayfranco.co/).
Thursday, July 3, 2014
Interview with 3Po3try NYC Poet Phillip Giambri AKA The Ancient Mariner

Phillip Giambri aka “The Ancient Mariner” will be one of the featured poets in Hot House: A Summer Poetry Extravaganza on Thursday, July 31 @ Organic Modernism in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, produced by 3Po3try NYC (https://www.facebook.com/3po3trynyc).
Giambri obtained his deviant perspective on life listening to Jean Shepherd on WOR radio back in the ‘50s. Fleeing Philly at seventeen, he served in the military, has been an actor, hairstylist, stoner, janitor, writer, drifter, recording engineer, hired hand, poet, traveling salesman, barfly, banker, biker, bronco buster, announcer, mail-order minister, photographer, and “Computer Guru." He arrived in NY City in ’68, joined the Hippie pilgrimage to St. Marks Place, and never left. He’s attended too many schools to mention, studying nearly everything, without ever attaining a degree in anything. He produces and hosts a popular monthly spoken word/poetry event, Rimes of The Ancient Mariner as well as special collaborative events with other artist/performers; most recently the very successful, Barflies & Broken Angels. His website “Ancient Mariner Tales” offers bored web surfers a glimpse into his futile search for self-discovery and meaning. He can be found in downtown NYC, regularly spinning yarns and telling tall tales anywhere that will tolerate him.
The following is our quick interview with Phillip:
What’s your definition of poetry?
Painting pictures with words that are absorbed and felt in the heart or the gut rather than the head.
What’s your favorite place to write?
My cabin in the Catskills.
Does your poetry have a central theme? And if so, what is it?
My work is either reflections on childhood memories or stories of my adult life in dive bars, recording relationships and encounters in that environment.
What one word describes your writing style?
Nonintellectual.
What's your idea of the perfect poem?
An easily communicated story, with universal appeal, told in as few words as possible.
What's your best writing moment?
My best work has come to me during that “twilight time” when I’m almost but not quite asleep. Stories, memoirs, and visual film-like images appear in these moments.
What's your worst writing moment?
When I try sitting at the computer to meet some imagined writing deadline, stare at the screen for long periods, and nothing happens.
If you could steal one line from any poem, what would it be?
“To dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free” - Bob Dylan
What time of the day do you mostly write?
Sunday afternoons.
What do you do to get into your writing sessions?
Have a drink or two, play background music that reflects the mood of the piece I’m working on, or pick a piece of music that will bring out the words I’m looking for.
What's the weirdest place you ever wrote?
500 feet underwater on a submarine.
What's the weirdest thing you ever wrote on?
My hand and arm, when a bar napkin wasn't available.
What book changed your writing forever?
A Coney Island of the Mind by Lawrence Ferlinghetti.
What poet, dead or alive, would you like to be friends with?
Lawrence Ferlinghetti.
What comes easy to you with poetry?
Nothing with poetry. But technical writing and intellectual comedy or cynical writing are a breeze; that stuff comes from my head easily. Writing from the gut is much harder for me.
What are you hoping to accomplish with your poetry?
Effectively communicate my view of the world, people, and relationships, bypassing intellect and pushing directly for an emotional connection.
To purchase advance tickets to Hot House: A Summer Poetry Extravaganza, go to http://3po3trynycsummer.eventbrite.com.
Photo credit: Jay Franco (http://jayfranco.co/).
Labels:
3Po3try NYC,
Lawrence Ferlinghetti,
NYC,
NYC poetry,
Phillip Giambri,
poem,
poems,
poet,
poetry,
The Ancient Mariner
Location:
New York, NY, USA
Thursday, May 29, 2014
New & Exciting Inspired Word Weekly Schedule! Manhattan AND Queens!
The following is our official schedule/event page links:
EVERY Monday Night - Open Mic @ Tammany Hall, 152 Orchard Street, downstairs lounge, Manhattan. 7pm start time. 21+ age limit. http://mondaymictammany.eventbrite.com
EVERY Tuesday Night - Open Mic @ Funkadelic Studios (inside Chinatex Building), 209 West 40th Street (near 7th Avenue), 5th floor, Manhattan. 7pm start time. No age limit. http://tueopenmicnyc.eventbrite.com
EVERY Wednesday Night - Open Mic @ COFFEED LIC, 37-18 Northern Boulevard, Long Island City, Queens. 7pm start time. No age limit. http://coffeedopenmic.eventbrite.com
1st 2 Fridays EVERY Month - Open Mic @ Funkadelic Studios (inside Chinatex Building), 209 West 40th Street (near 7th Avenue), 5th floor, Manhattan. 7pm start time. No age limit. 1st Friday http://openmicfunknyc.eventbrite.com and 2nd Friday http://funkadelicopenmicnyc.eventbrite.com
3rd Friday EVERY Month - Erotica Open Mic @ The Gallery at LPR (Le Poisson Rouge), 158 Bleecker Street, Manhattan. 7pm start time. 21+ age limit. http://eroticaopenmicnyc.eventbrite.com
4th Friday EVERY Month - We Heart NYC Writers + Open Mic @ The Gallery at LPR (Le Poisson Rouge), 158 Bleecker Street, Manhattan. 7pm start time. 21+ age limit. http://weheartnycwriters.eventbrite.com
3rd Saturday EVERY Month - Poetry Slam ($1000 in year-end prize money)@ Funkadelic Studios (inside Chinatex Building), 209 West 40th Street (near 7th Avenue), 5th floor, Manhattan. 7pm start time. No age limit. http://newyorkpoetryslam.eventbrite.com
For all things Inspired Word, check out our website @ InspiredWordNYC.com
Also find us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook @ InspiredWordNYC.
Sunday, May 18, 2014
PTNYC Founder Megan DiBello Debuts as Inspired Word Host + Q&A Interview
This Wednesday, May 21, Poetry Teachers NYC founder Megan DiBello joins The Inspired Word family as one of the regular hosts of the new Wednesday night open mic @ COFFEED in Long Island City, 7pm-10pm.
We've already collaborated with Megan and PTNYC - quite successfully - on our new 3Po3try NYC project (along with great weather for MEDIA) and we're delighted to bring her deeper into the fold.
Here's her impressive bio:
Megan DiBello founded Poetry Teachers NYC in 2010. She holds a M.F.A from Naropa University, in Writing & Poetics and a B.A. from Marymount Manhattan College. She has been published in Fact-Similie, Flanour Foundry, The Bathroom, & Monkey Puzzle Press. Megan has performed at the White Box Gallery, The Bowery Poetry Club, The HOWL Festival, The Socrates Sculpture Park, The Center of Book Arts, Metropolitan Pavilion, Columbia University, and the DUMBO Arts Festival. Her first hybrid book is entitled, Voyeur Without A Title. You can find Megan/PTNYC on Twitter @poetryteachnyc and @megandibello. And PTNYC's website is http://www.poetryteachersnyc.com/.
The following is a brief but revealing Q&A interview we did with Megan:
How did you come to found PTNYC?
When I moved back to New York after graduating from Naropa’s MFA program in the summer of 2010, I wanted to teach poetry as a full-time job. Coming from an entrepreneurial family, I knew that I wanted to create something outside of standard academia. With encouragement from someone I knew who lived his life teaching his own tango school, I decided to channel that energy along with the great words Anne Waldman once told me, “Don’t Wait To Be Discovered, Discover Yourself.” So I did. And Poetry Teachers NYC formed. Daniel Dissinger, (now co-founder) and Aimee Herman (faculty) found me a year or so after I had the original concept. Since then, we have been teaching workshops and producing events. We're planning on growing this school and one day, perhaps in the not so distant future, open a space.
What is its core concept, mission?
Teaching adults poetry. Employ poets (any maker or doer) so they can teach as a job and do their art as a career.
What one word describes your writing style?
Song.
What's your idea of the perfect poem?
One that layers song and poetry.
What's your best writing moment? What's your worst writing moment?
Best— where I forget what I am singing or saying, but believe in myself to know the words and melody are there to guide me.
Worst— defining the difference (if there is one) between my poems versus my lyrics.
If you could steal one line from any poem, what would it be?
Walt Whitman - “Ah Lover and Perfect Equal” from, Among the Multitudes.
What time of the day do you mostly write?
I write in motion. On trains or walking or in airports. I call it my Kinetic Poetics.
What do you do to get into your writing sessions?
Take a shower to practice my vocal techniques.
What's the weirdest place you ever wrote?
A salt cave
What's the weirdest thing you ever wrote on?
Electronic eulogies.
What book changed your writing forever?
Joan Didion’s The White Album.
What poet, dead or alive, would you like to be friends with?
Joan Didion or Joanne Kyger.
Do you have any writing superstitions?
When I write, so does the truth. I let recordings of my voice tell the real story.
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
NEW Inspired Word Host Audrey Dimola - Q&A Interview
In May, a Queens-proud poetic force of nature named Audrey Dimola joins The Inspired Word family as one of the regular hosts of the new Wednesday night open mic @ COFFEED in Long Island City. She will also be the showcase feature on debut night, Wednesday, May 7.
Can't tell you how honored and excited we are to bring Audrey into the fold.
Here's her impressive bio:
Infinitely curious and hell-bent on painting her world in the brightest colors possible, Audrey Dimola is a born and raised Queens writer/poet/curator, cross-genre collaborator, and ever-intrepid literary explorer. She is the author of "Decisions We Make While We Dream," a poetry and prose collection spanning 2000 to 2012, guerrilla sticker poet of the Compass Project, and founder of reading/live writing series Nature of the Muse. A crusader for Queens culture since her college years, Audrey's local efforts include organizing the first ever Queens Literary Town Hall at Queens Council on the Arts, bringing together the brightest literary lights in her home borough, as well as hosting and curating the nearly 5-hour "MEANWHILE, BACK IN QUEENS…" local program of the Queens Poet Laureate's ETERNiDAY festival at Queens Museum. She devotes her life to the power of artistic expression, aiming always to stay wild and stay grateful.
Find out more about Audrey @ http://audreydimola.com/ and follow her on Twitter @ audreydwrites and Instagram @ audreyleopard
The following is a brief but revealing Q&A interview we did with Audrey (who, like a lot of poets, eschews capitalized words and is particularly playful with punctuation):
What one word describes your writing style?
"electroluminescent" - luminescence produced electrically! which for me translates to two hugely important forces in my world, my being, my work: light and energy! that, or just straight-up "ache" - because ache is intensity of FEELING, both beautiful or terrible. unbearable - you can ache for what's lost or ache from pure joy..
What's your idea of the perfect poem?
an explosion in the heart.. a dead-on suckerpunch and a sloppy, lingering kiss afterwards. ha! honestly - it's something you can't forget. it's something that hits you hard, lifts you up, makes you thankful you read it, or wish you could be that brave - something people from all backgrounds can appreciate and grasp onto, not just poetry fans or lit lovers. i love flowery words and visceral images, but also poems that are deceivingly simple but profound - something you can take with you, something you can USE.
What's your best writing moment? What's your worst writing moment?
best is letting it flow. the words that come over me like a mystic sensation - that just tumble out of me, and i let them be. i feel like they're coasting off from the current of the universe..
worst is trying too hard, judging myself.
If you could steal one line from any poem, what would it be?
such an amazing and difficult question! the line i have in my email signature is from kabir: "if you don't break your ropes while you're alive, do you think ghosts will do it after?" wow.
What time of the day do you mostly write?
all times. words usually start flowing when i'm doing other things - i'm constantly inspired, soaking up everything.. when the muse strikes, you have to catch it - whether that means getting out of the shower to grab a pen, recording it onto your phone, scrawling it in the dark as you're falling asleep, squeezing out your notebook on a crowded train, or using WHATEVER is around to write on - receipts, napkins, etc.!
What do you do to get into your writing sessions?
my writing sessions are always organic - they just happen. sometimes it feels like just giving myself over to something greater - trusting in it, letting it take over. i'm writing all the time, whether it's journal-style entries, quick observations, poems, prose - or with sharpie all over the city (shhh). strangely, as i'm going through life, i kind of know what's going to end up in a piece - i feel that ZAP of inspiration, almost like i'm watching a movie, taking silent notes of every detail.. i'll notice some incredible expanse of sky, or the way the light hits someone's face, or the way it feels to ride my bike in the street at twilight - and i know, oh man - THAT's going to be a piece, sometime soon.. there ARE times when i sit down and say "okay, time to write" - but they're much rarer. no matter what, i do love being in some kind of environment that opens me up - writing by a window, in the grass, on the waterfront, on a fire escape.. and i LOVE the feeling of pounding out words on my old underwood typewriter - everything about it just feels right.
What's the weirdest place you ever wrote?
honestly i don't think any place is weird, necessarily - writing is like breathing and it happens all the time, everywhere.. in bed next to your sleeping lover, in the car, in the bathroom! i CAN tell you a strange place some words of mine ended up - stuck in the form of a poetry sticker (from my compass project http://tinyurl.com/compassproject), on a bulldozer!
What's the weirdest thing you ever wrote on?
this immediately makes me think of writing all over everything with sharpie. the world is my notebook! just the other day i wrote on a broken lamppost..
What book changed your writing forever?
"the great gatsby" is the first book that brought me to my knees. i've read it over and over since 8th grade and my god, every time i marvel at it. fitzgerald is just so skilled at what he does - the kind of sentences, images he comes up with.. timeless. and the definition of "ACHE"! aside from that first love - emerson is my all-time favorite writer. in college when we started reading his essays, i felt one of the first of many SHOCKS of resonance from the universe. he was writing about michel de montaigne and said of his writing: "cut these words, and they would bleed; they are vascular and alive." i can't remember anything hitting me so hard. from that moment on i knew THAT's what i had to devote myself to - to write in that way, to KEEP writing in that way.
What poet, dead or alive, would you like to be friends with?

my 2 "r's" - rumi, because of his ecstatic experiences of the divine, of mad love.. i feel so close to his words.
and rilke because he captures the beauty and terror of this existence - because he pretty much seems to have "channeled" the duino elegies and sonnets to orpheus from the universe, from some kind of greater power. that feeling - it's thrilling, humbling - and the kind of magic that happens with this craft, when you crack yourself open and let it all pour out.. blood, guts, divinity.Do you have any writing superstitions?
i used to get really hung up on the inspiration going dry, or the muse leaving me - if i was in a groove, scribbling fervently, there would always be this voice in the back of my head - when's it going to stop? how am i going to finish this? or, in times when writing was difficult for me, i would often compare myself to the writer i "used to be" - the way it once flowed, seemingly so much more easily. either that, or comparing myself to others - my peers, the greats, everyone and anyone else who had a stronger voice. what did i have to SAY? and why couldn't i put it together? there was a period towards the end of high school and into early college in which i either wasn't writing at all, or writing about the fact that i COULDN'T write. i was stabbing into the dark - and it was devastating and bewildering to me, like i was suddenly robbed of all purpose.. looking back, now i know - i was just holding on too tight, stifling myself. how often we get in our own way..
How do you deal with your writing superstitions?
it took some time of existing in those fears, pushing through them, beginning to share my work again, and peeling back my own anxieties, expectations, guilt, conceptions, comparisons.. and realizing that - i am a writer. i will always be a writer. and, like with so very many things in life - i just have to LET. GO. it came out in the intro to my book, "decisions we make while we dream," when i self-published it in 2012 - "whether i write with wild abandon or through gritted teeth, this is what i do - it will always be mine." when it comes to creativity, the muse, being brave enough to expose yourself and your feelings - there has to be this intense level of trust. you have to trust yourself, you have to trust the craft, you have to trust the universe - live your life wildly and with gratitude, enjoy everything, learn from everything, FEEL everything - and your work will come. even if it's not always easy, even if you think it's awful as it hits the page, or it won't make sense to anyone but you.. keep going. keep trying. keep writing. it will all reveal itself. at the end of the day - this is the love of my life. i've been writing for as long as i can remember, and i know in my blood and bones - this is what i'll always do. this will always be HOME.
Labels:
Audrey Dimola,
COFFEED,
LIC,
Long Island City,
NY,
NYC open mic,
NYC poet,
NYC poetry,
Poetry Open Mic,
Queens
Thursday, November 1, 2012
SPECIAL EVENT - Patricia Smith Presents Staten Island Noir: Dark Tales from the Forgotten Borough - Thursday, Nov. 8
An Inspired Word SPECIAL EVENT: Patricia Smith Presents Staten Island Noir: Dark Tales from the Forgotten Borough, featuring award-winning writers Patricia Smith and Bruce DeSilva, former criminal defense attorney Eddie Joyce (who published his first story in this anthology), and acclaimed poets Marguerite Rivas, Eric Alter and Thomas Fucaloro - all Staten Island natives who will read original work created and set in New York's most maligned and underrated borough.
Signed copies of Staten Island Noir will be available!
*****
BIOS:
Patricia Smith is the author of six books of poetry, including "Blood Dazzler" and the recently released "Shoulda Been Jimi Savannah." This is her first published short story.
Bruce DeSilva is the author of the Mulligan novels, including the Edgar Award-winning "Rogue Island" and his latest, "Cliff Walk." He is a former editor for the Associated Press and a master's thesis advisor at the Columbia University School of Journalism.
Staten Island native Eddie Joyce was a criminal defensive attorney for 10 years. This is his first published story.
Thomas Fucaloro is the author of "Inheriting Craziness," from three rooms press, and is editor of Great Weather for Media. He is pursuing his MFA in creative writing at The New School. His team came in 21st at this year's 2012 Poetry Slam Nationals in Charlotte NC.
Eric Alter is a 33.4 ton M4 Sherman Tank. His work focuses on family, space, Staten Island and can be found at the bottom of a whole bunch of garbage cans.
A native Staten Islander, Marguerite María Rivas’s essays and poems have been published in such journals as The Americas Review, Earth’s Daughters, Medicinal Purposes, Acentos Review, and The Más Tequila Review, and her first full-length collection, Tell No One: Poems of Witness, was recently published by Chimbarazu Press. A recipient of numerous grants and awards, including the Marg Chandler Memorial Award from A Room of Her Own Foundation, Rivas was cited by the New York State Assembly as a Staten Island Woman in History for her contribution to the literary arts and is widely regarded as the de facto Poet Laureate of Staten Island. She is an Associate Professor of English at Borough of Manhattan Community College.
*****
Staten Island Noir, an anthology edted by Patricia Smith and published by Akashic Books (http://www.akashicbooks.com/), contains stories from B-BOYS and Staten Island natives to Edgar Award–winners, bringing Staten Island front and center as a borough that's bellowing and boisterous and insisting on identity. Staten Island may be the last New York borough to be represented in the Noir Series, but that’s only because no one knows it. This introduction will be intriguing, addictive, and not totally comfortable.
*****
About the Editor:
Patricia Smith is the author of six acclaimed poetry volumes, including Blood Dazzler, a finalist for the 2008 National Book Award, and Teahouse of the Almighty, a National Poetry Series selection. Shoulda Been Jimi Savannah was published by Coffee House Press in the spring of 2012. Her work has been published in Poetry, the Paris Review, Tin House, TriQuarterly, and other literary journals and anthologies, including the 2011 editions of both Best American Poetry and Best American Essays. In addition to her poetic works, Smith is also the author of Africans in America, a companion volume to the groundbreaking PBS documentary, and the children’s book Janna and the Kings, which won Lee & Low Books’ New Voices Award. She is currently is a professor at the City University of New York’s College of Staten Island, and serves on the faculties of Cave Canem and the MFA programs at Stonecoast/University of Southern Maine and Sierra Nevada College.
*****
Where: One and One Bar/Restaurant
Downstairs Nexus Lounge
76 East 1st Street (corner of 1st Avenue)
Manhattan, New York
(917) 703-1512
By subway, take the F train to Second Avenue and exit the 1st Avenue side.
Doors open for open mic sign-up @ 7pm
Show starts @ 7:30pm
Cover charge: $12 for general seating, $20 for front row reserved.
No age limit.
*****
Produced by Mike Geffner Presents The Inspired Word
http://inspiredwordnyc.com/.
Monday, October 22, 2012
Comedians Kareem Green & Mark Hayes, Poet Anna Mwalagho + Open Mic - Wed, Oct. 24
The Inspired Word presents rising-star comedian Kareem Green, celebrated spoken word poet Anna Mwalagho (from Kenya), Irish comedian Mark Hayes + our amazing 20-slot open mic open to all types of artists. Hosted by Mike Brown.
*****
BIOS:
Kareem Green recently taped Russell Simmons’ Presents The Ruckus on Comedy Central in 2011; and, executive produced, wrote and performed his own 1-hour comedy special, Kareem is Oh So Hilarious. Thus, the title of his hour debut. As a three-time champion on Showtime at the Apollo, Kareem is a multi-faceted entertainer and comedian whose talents include Stand-up, Improv, Acting and Writing. Kareem’s relatable comedic style has earned him television appearances on BET Comic View and TV One’s Bill Bellamy’s Who’s Got Jokes. His wittiness keeps audiences in stitches throughout the U.S., Europe and the Caribbean Islands about his experiences in foster care, fresh air fund, dating and having an extremely unsuccessful criminal career.
Kareem has worked with Tracy Morgan, Bill Bellamy and Bill Burr, to name a few. As well as being an accomplished comedian, He is a skilled actor and has had key roles in the independent films Gold Digger Killer, Holla If I Kill You and Comedy In The Hood. His headliner appearances at colleges and comedy clubs prove Kareem is soon to be a household name. Kareem has been featured at New York’s top comedy clubs, including Carolines on Broadway, Standup New York, Gotham Comedy Club and the Comic Strip.
He has received national recognition in nationwide comedy competitions such as Comedy Central’s Laugh Riots and The Salem Orb Contest and in 2009, Kareem was crowned Winner of the Bay Area Black Comedy Competition and the top finalist in NBC’s Stand Up for Diversity. Since then, Kareem’s online sketch comedy show (AnotherSketchComedyShow.com) screened at the San Diego Black Film Festival and on the websites on such sites as: BET.com, VH1Access.net, Bossip.com, Sister2SisterMagazine, WorldStarHipHop and more.
*****
Born and raised in Kenya, East Africa, Anna Mwalagho began performing at the tender age of 8. She is a true remarkable renaissance woman, an internationally recognized actress, poet, dancer, singer/songwriter and storyteller. Since the launch of her career in the United States, Anna has become one of the most sought after African Spoken Word Afrobeat artist. She has shared the stage with the international South African Jazz legend HUGH MASEKELA in Washington DC and another African musical legend OLIVER MTUKUDZI.
Not only has she entertained dignitaries such as Nobel Laureate Wangari Maathai, but she has graced the stages of high profile venues including: The Kennedy Center, The World Bank, US Army Material Command, UNAIDS, America’s 400TH Anniversary, US Africa Business Conference, Embassy of Kenya, Washington Convention Center, Zanzibar on the waterfront restaurant and club, Smithsonian Museum of African Art, State Department and many more. She has been featured on MHZ-TV, WHUR 96.3 FM, WETA 90.9FM, Voice of America, CBS TV/WUSA9 TV, XM Satellite Radio, Harold Channer TV and many more. Anna takes her one woman show to scholastic institutions, organizations, civic groups, festivals and specials events, with an aim of educating, entertaining and uniting humanity. She was recently appointed an Ambassador for peace by the Inter-Religious and International Federation for Peace. Her philosophy is “dance, sing, laugh and truly love, as this is the joy of life,” and her CDs surely attest to her philosophy. To view excerpts of Anna’s work, please visit www.annamwalagho.com and www.facebook.com/mwalaghoanna.
*****
Mark Hayes is an Irish comedian, writer and author now living in L.A. Featured in many magazines and he is the author of two books, RanDumb (#1 on Amazon Humour) and the sequel RanDumber, which are the first two books in a seven part trilogy. He performs at The Comedy Store, Improv, Laugh Factory and UCB in Hollywood.
*****
Produced by: Mike Geffner Presents The Inspired Word
http://inspiredwordnyc.com/
*****
When: Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2012
Where: 116
116 MacDougal Street
(between Bleecker Street and Minetta Lane)
New York, NY 10012
Phone: (917) 703-1512
Doors open for open mic sign-up @ 7pm
Show starts @ 7:30pm
Cover Charge: $10
NO AGE LIMIT.
"It's not just a series...it's a movement."
Labels:
Anna Mwalagho,
Kareem Green,
Kenya,
Mark Hayes,
NY open mic,
NYC comedy,
NYC open mic,
NYC poetry,
poet
Friday, September 28, 2012
Performance Artist Shonnese C.L. Coleman & Poet NuNuu + Open Mic - Oct. 3
The Inspired Word presents two powerhouses, performance artist Shonnese C.L. Coleman and spoken word poet NuNuu + our amazing 20-slot open mic open to all types of artists. Hosted by comedian Mike Brown.
*****
BIOS:
Shonnese C.L. Coleman, a graduate of New York University's Tisch School of the Arts and The American Musical & Dramatic Academy is an Actor, Writer and Performance Artist. Her written work has been commissioned by numerous organizations including Deeply Rooted Chicago Dance Theatre and The Harlem School of the Arts. She was most recently seen on stage as the Narrator in Def Dance Jam Workshop's production of "Versed in Forgiveness" and in Bay Street Theatres production of "To Kill A Mockingbird" in the role of Calpurnia. Her published books "The Stride of Our Walk...The Root of Our Stand" A Collection of Performance Poetry and "Revelation Art" Poems are available on-line at www.everflowingpoetics.info and stay-tuned for a Winter 2012/2013 release of her poetry CD titled "Precious Time."
Ms. L. Smith aka NuNuu, of Connecticut, is many things: spoken word poet and actress, model and hostess, public speaker and publisher. She’s been writing since childhood, but in 2004 decided the power of words was too important to not share her own. Guided by the Kiswahili words NuNuu (to praise, to glorify, to extol), Safi (pure) and Yah (God), she strives to let the God shine through her words and in her life. A passionate, dynamic artist, she has been featured along the East Coast, in such events as the Springfield Indie Soul Fest (Springfield, MA), the Trinity International Hip Hop Festival (Hartford, CT), and 4 My Sweetz (Brooklyn, NY). She is also the Founder/Editor in Chief of S.L.A.M.M. (Support Local Artists Movement Magazine). For more info, please visit her website at http://www.nunuu.info/.
*****
Produced by: Mike Geffner Presents The Inspired Word
http://inspiredwordnyc.com/
*****
When: Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2012
Where: 116
116 MacDougal Street
(between Bleecker Street and Minetta Lane)
New York, NY 10012
Phone: (917) 703-1512
Doors open for open mic sign-up @ 7pm
Show starts @ 7:30pm
Cover Charge: $10
NO AGE LIMIT.
"It's not just a series...it's a movement."
Saturday, September 22, 2012
Actor/Spoken Word Poet D-Black Headlines + Miss Quote + Open Mic - Sept. 26
The Inspired Word presents two dynamic spoken word poets, D-Black and Miss Quote + our amazing 20-slot open mic open to all types of artists. Hosted by Nathan P.
*****
BIOS:
David Roberts aka D-Black is a Bronx-native who has been writing and performing poetry for the past 10 years. By blending his social/psychological awareness with his urban/Afrocentric flavor he tries his best to express issues that promote Black awareness and unity. He has been doing so successfully at such venues as the Apollo, NJPAC (New Jersey Performing Arts Center), the African Burial Grounds, Nuyorican Poets Café, Urban Juke Joint, Barnes & Nobles, MOCAs in Harlem, the Knitting Factory, the Bowery Poets Café, Harlem’s Children’s Zone (TRUCE), and various “Spoken Word Showcases” hosted by Hottest Poets, Inc. and For the Love of Poetry. He has been named a Regional Grand Slam Spoken Word Champion for The Great Debaters Slam 2007, Nubian Heritage Slam 2007, and an opening–act for Phyllis Yvonne-Stickney at Symphony Space in Harlem. He is also the three-time winner of the Manhattan Monologue Slam for August – November ’08 (www.mmslam.com). He was featured in R ‘n B star Tiffany Evans’ music video, “I’m Grown” and is currently starring in the off-Broadway production “Black Angels Over Tuskegee” (www.blackangelsovertuskegee.com).
Miss Quote is a feminist force of unique talent and poise. Hailing from Montego Bay, Jamaica, which she regards playfully as her heartbeat, she is many things - singer, songwriter, actress, author. Yet, her definition remains rooted in her spoken word persona, Miss Quote. She first appeared at open mics in South Florida under the mentorship of the late Will “Da Real One” Bell, a celebrated community activist and HBO Def Poet alumni. She can be found these days performing in cities around the globe – with great passion and thoughtfulness, wanting nothing more than to empower her audience. Her voice will speak to your mind and sing to your soul.
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Produced by: Mike Geffner Presents The Inspired Word
http://inspiredwordnyc.com/
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When: Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2012
Where: 116
116 MacDougal Street
(between Bleecker Street and Minetta Lane)
New York, NY 10012
Phone: (917) 703-1512
Doors open for open mic sign-up @ 7pm
Show starts @ 7:30pm
Cover Charge: $10
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