Please join us for an evening of poetry with Patricia Smith, 2008 National Book Award Finalist and champion slam poet, on Saturday, July, 8th 6-7:30 p.m., at the Bowery Poetry Club, 308 Bowery, (Between Houston and Bleecker). For more info please call 212-614-0505 or bowerypoetry.com.
The Summer Institute of Social Justice and Applied Poetics is a free seven week workshop for New York City teens. Contact Urban Word NYC for more information at info@urbanwordnyc.org.
Patricia Smith’s fifth book of poetry, Blood Dazzler (Coffee House Press) chronicles the human, physical and emotional toll exacted by Hurricane Katrina. Patricia is also the author of Teahouse of the Almighty (Coffee House Press), a National Poetry Series winner, and the Best Poetry Book of 2006 on About.com. Her poems have appeared in Poetry, The Paris Review, Harvard Divinity Bulletin, and other journals. Recognized as one of the world’s most formidable performers, Patricia has read her work at venues round the world. In the U.S., she’s performed at places such as Carnegie Hall and the Palm Beach Poetry Festival, and has previously shared the stage with noted writers such as Adrienne Rich, Allen Ginsberg, and “Lord of the Rings” star Viggo Morgensen. Patricia is a four-time national individual champion of the notorious and wildly popular Poetry Slam, the most successful competitor in slam history. She was featured in the nationally-released film “Slamnation,” and appeared on the award-winning HBO series “Def Poetry Jam.”
The Summer Institute of Social Justice and Applied Poetics is designed for young leaders, activists, poets, writers, emcees and scholars to engage the intersection between art, academics and activism. Students will explore and assess ways that critical social dialogue, the poetry of resistance, and social activism can ignite and incite change in their communities. By examining social movements from the past, and uncovering the issues that directly affect our communities, students will develop theories, poems and responses that will affect social change for today. The Summer Institute is produced by Urban Word NYC and Bowery Arts and Science.
The Cleave 