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POETRY & POWER

The BreakBeat Poets: Monday, February 8, 6:30 pm

1/31/2016

2 Comments

 
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Sponsored and hosted by the Center for Africana Studies at Johns Hopkins University, join poets Quraysh Ali Lansana, Tony Medina, and Safia Elhillo and DJ Daniel Kisslinger for an interactive performance and reading from THE BREAKBEAT POETS, discussing the anthology's genesis, impact, and the role of BreakBeat poetics in contemporary literature. 

ABOUT THE ANTHOLOGY:
Hip-Hop is the largest youth culture in the history of the planet rock. It has produced generations of artists who have revolutionized their genre(s) by applying the aesthetic innovations of the culture. THE BREAKBEAT POETS features 78 poets, born somewhere between 1961-1999, All-City and Coast-to-Coast, who are creating the next and now movement(s) in American letters. This is the first poetry anthology by and for the Hip-Hop generation. It is for people who love Hip-Hop, for fans of the culture, for people who've never read a poem, for people who thought poems were only something done by dead white dudes who got lost in a forest, and for poetry heads. This anthology is meant to expand the idea of who a poet is and what a poem is for.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS: 
Quraysh Ali Lansana is the author of the poetry collections mystic turf, They Shall Run: Harriet Tubman Poems, and Southside Rain; his chapbooks include reluctant minivan, bloodsoil (sooner red), Greatest Hits: 1995-2005, and cockroach children: corner poems and street psalms, and other works. Recent books include The Walmart Republic, with Christopher Stewart and The Breakbeat Poets: New American Poetry in the Age of Hip Hop. He has been a literary teaching artist and curriculum developer for over a decade and has led workshops in prisons, public schools, and universities in over 30 states. He is a former faculty member of the Drama Division of The Juilliard School, and served as Director of the Gwendolyn Brooks Center for Black Literature and Creative Writing at Chicago State University from 2002-2011, where he was also Associate Professor of English/Creative Writing. Currently, Lansana is on faculty in the Creative Writing Program of the School of the Art Institute in Chicago and the Red Earth MFA Creative Writing Program at Oklahoma City University. 

Safia Elhillo is Sudanese by way of Washington, DC. A Cave Canem fellow and poetry editor at Kinfolks Quarterly, she received an MFA in poetry from the New School. Safia is co-winner of the 2015 Brunel University African Poetry Prize. Her work appears in several publications, in the anthologies “The BreakBeat Poets: New American Poetry in the Age of Hip-Hop” and “Again I Wait for This to Pull Apart.” She has shared her work at venues such as the New Amsterdam Theater on Broadway, the Kennedy Center, the South African State Theatre, and TEDxNewYork. 

Tony Medina, two-time winner of the Paterson Prize for Books for Young People, is the author/editor of eighteen books for adults and young readers, the most recent of which are I and I, Bob Marley (2009), My Old Man Was Always on the Lam (2010), finalist for the Paterson Poetry Prize Broke on Ice (2011), An Onion of Wars (2012), The President Looks Like Me & Other Poems (2013) and Broke Baroque (2013), finalist for the Julie Suk Book Award. He has received the Langston Hughes Society Award; the first African Voices Literary Award; and was nominated for a Pushcart Prize for his poem, “Broke Baroque”. Medina is a Professor of Creative Writing at Howard University.

Copies of the anthology will be for sale at the event, courtesy of The Ivy Bookshop.


RSVP for the performance on Facebook here!
Arellano Theater is located on the lowest level of Levering Hall under the Glass Pavilion. To the right of the Levering Hall's main doors there is a small brick staircase, with a set of glass doors at the bottom.  The theater is straight through these doors.
2 Comments
Rolonda Payne
2/5/2016 12:26:52 pm

Hello, my name is Rolonda Payne and I am a faculty member from Johns Hopkins University, School of Education, Talent Development Secondary (TDS). I have a student (recent high school grad from Homestead High School in Miami) that, due to the recent death of her father and financial strain, is not able to go to college to pursue her goal to develop her craft as a poet. During a TDS business trip to her school, I witnessed her recite several of her poems and she is amazing! She is absolutely phenomenal!!!
Considering how talented she is, I do not want her passion and talent to fall to the wayside since she can not attend college right now. My question to you/everyone, what can be done to encourage, engage, and motivate this young lady to stay focused on going to college and not let the stresses of her life stop her from being great? (And believe me, she can possible be one of the greats). I know this may not be the time or space to ask for this kind of recommendation but I can't and don't want this young girl to be another statistic. Can you/anyone help?
I will be at your set on Feb. 8 at Johns Hopkins University.
Also, her email is attached below:

Hello Ms.Payne ,
This is Chanel from Homestead Sr. high, I met you through Mrs.Mariafe Arteaga-Rivera and presented some of my work to you and your colleagues. I was just writing you to update you on my most recent milestones in life. On Thursday April 9th I performed my last show for Homestead Senior High. On May 2nd I gave the testimonial for The annual Communities and Schools Gala where I met some amazing people. Lastly, Monday June 1st I became a Highschool graduate. Before I met you and your colleagues l, graduation wasn't a big deal and college was barely an option and I want to thank you for your inspiration, it wasn't in my plans to even attempt to go straight to a university but it became an option. Although after months of consideration I have decided to attend Tallahassee Community College (Tcc) and after 2 years I will transfer to Florida A&M University. It was in my plans to start my college journey during the spring semester in January but unfortunately my dad passed away in October. Nothing in this world could ever prepare you for the loss of a parent no matter your relationship. Besides the financial strain it put on my family I decided to put my journey on hold to focus on my emotional well being. I'm doing great so far and I'm finding peace in the mist of all my turmoil. I hope all is well with you and your family.
Blessings,
C

Reply
Dora Malech
2/10/2016 12:34:32 pm

Hi Rolonda! I will be sure to email you about this young writer. Thanks for getting in touch.

Reply



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