Tuesday, 8/25: 6:30-8:30pm, PDT.
Socially Distant Verse, Coast to Coast
Guest host, Patrice Hill, https://us04web.zoom.us/j/7638733462 password: spcsdv2020
Special Guest Host
Patrice Hill, Director: Sacramento Area Youth Speaks
Patrice Hill is a community-based educator who has over a decade of experience teaching in urban classrooms and writing and performing spoken word poetry. Born and raised in Fresno, CA. Patrice uses her background as an urban, inner-city, public school educated student to develop curriculum that is culturally relevant and meaningful to the lives of young people. Ms. Hill received her BA degree in Pan-African Studies from California State University Sacramento (CSUS). She began her career as a TA for several Ethnic Studies Professors at CSUS.
Cloudy-Sacramento Youth Poet Laureate
Cloudy is a 17 year old performance poet from Sacramento California. She has been writing for 6 years and performing for 3. Cloudy graduated from Sacramento High School and will be attending UC Riverside as a Creative Writing Major in the fall. Cloudy self-published her first book, Receipts of Ungiven Gifts in November of 2019; which you can find on Amazon. One of Sacramento’s 2020 Youth Poet Laureates and a member of The Black Artists Fund’s advisory board in Sacramento. Cloudy was also a Street Team Member with the Crocker Art Museum’s community outreach program, Block by Block.
Alexandra Huynh – Sacramento Youth Poet Laureate
Alexandra Huynh is a 17 year old Vietnamese-American poet from Sacramento, CA. She has performed at venues including the UC Davis SAYS Summit, the California Environmental Justice Alliance Congreso, & the Crocker Art Museum as an ambassador of youth voice. Alexandra earned a place on the 2019 Sacramento Area Youth Speaks Slam Team and is currently one of Sacramento’s 2020 Youth Poet Laureates. This fall, she will be attending Stanford University where she hopes to combine her passions for chemistry, creative writing, and civic engagement.
Special guest Appearance
ANDRU DEFEYE, SACRAMENTO POET LAUREATE
Whether sharing stages with legendary beat poets or your favorite Hip Hop emcees, Andru Defeye’s unorthodox writing and performance style has made him a fixture behind microphones around the country. 2020 saw the release of his critically acclaimed Frequency album followed shortly after by his crowning as the youngest Poet Laureate in California capitol history. From Sacramento to Staten Island and SXSW, Andru Defeye served as the Director of Communications for Sol Collective from 2009-2020. In 2014 Defeye founded Zero Forbidden Goals, a support system for creatives dedicated to innovating arts equity, experiences, and education. ZFG’s guerrilla art activations including National Guerrilla Poetry Month, Chainlink Poetry, and The Intersection have been covered and recreated around the globe.
Spoken Word Legends
Christopher Johnson
Timely, relevant, honest, unapologetic, personal and political, Christopher Johnson’s work commands in a way that is uncomfortable and arresting. Educated in performance art through experience and mentor-ship, it has been said that his pieces touch the heart with feathers and barbed wire alike, speaking uncomfortable truths, invoking the best and worst of human emotions. Christopher’s presence demands attention in a way that leaves people captivated and eager to hear more his published work includes When Home is not an Option; Signifyin Harlem, 2002. Big Bang Praise Song; Elephant Journal, 2014. Broken Mends, Forgiveness, Untitled “I am Broken Water”, and Monster; Not Dead yet, 2014. What if Jesus; Providence Journal, 2017. A sandwich is not a gun; this is Not a Gun, 2020. More of his work can be viewed at TheNcredibull.com
Ryk McIntyre
Ryk McIntyre has been a presence on the New England poetry scene for decades. He has toured extensively around the continental United States and Canada, appearing on stages as varied as NYC’s New School, Boston’s ICA, Portsmouth NH’s Music Hall, Lollapalooza and the very first “Legends of The Slam” Showcase, at the National Poetry Slam in 2006 in Austin, TX. He has also appeared at countless poetry venues, festivals and house parties. He has been published widely, most notably, in The Worcester Review, Off the Coast, Short Fuse- An Anthology of New Fusion Poets, and Aim for the Head – An Anthology of Zombie Poetry. He has two collections of poetry “After Everything Burns” (2013 Sargent Press) and The Man at the Door (2018 Broken Head Press). He is currently pursuing a degree, and a second life.
Tues., August 25: 7:30-9 pm
SPC Tuesday night workshop, hosted by Danyen Powell. Bring a poem for critique.
Contact mostoycoff@gmail.com for availability and Zoom info.
Wednesday. August 26: 1:00-2:30 pm
Pandemic//Planet//Protests: Poetry of Place
A Free 8 Week Zoom Writing Workshop with Califragile Editor Wren Tuatha
Wednesdays, 8/19-10/7/2020 1-2:30pm Pacific; 4-5:30pm Eastern
To Register: Email Wren at mexicoroad@consensus.net
Sponsored by Sacramento Poetry Center
How is our Western Sense of Place serving us in our time of change? How do we as poets shepherd our urgent messages in such cacophony? “Place” is more than creating a setting for your story. We’ll explore writing and reading poetry through a holistic filter of Place, blending approaches from literature and other fields.
We’ll visit several forms of contemporary poetry and examine work by well-known writers—Claudia Rankine, Bhanu Kapil, Joy Harjo, Gary Snyder, Jericho Brown, Sandra Cisneros, Solmaz Sharif, Terry Tempest Williams, Natalie Diaz, and more. We’ll share our own work from prompts and receive supportive feedback.
FOR MORE INFO OR TO REGISTER, EMAIL WREN AT:
mexicoroadATconsensusDOTnet
Wren Tuatha is author of Thistle and Brilliant (FLP) and founding editor of Califragile, Journal of Climate and Social Justice. Wren and her partner, author/activist C.T. Butler, are survivors of Hurricane Sandy and the Paradise Fire. She was artist-in-residence at Heathcote Center, where she directed the nature-and-arts-based Open Classroom. Her poetry has appeared in The Café Review, Canary, Lavender Review, California Fire & Water: A Climate Crisis Anthology, and elsewhere. She’s a frequent guest poet on KZFR. Wren studied Education at University of Louisville, and Film, Poetry, and Gay and Lesbian Studies at Towson University. She received grants to perform her poetry from TU’s Women’s Center and Office of Diversity. She is an alum of Community of Writers, where she studied poetry with Camille Dungy, Robert Hass, Brenda Hillman, Major Jackson, Ada Limón, and Matthew Zapruder. Wren is pursuing her MFA at Goddard College. Her thesis, Terrariumville, is a collection of poetry and essays on Sense of Place during crisis. This workshop is a teaching practicum for her degree.
Wed., August 26: 6:00 pm
MarieWriters – Write to a prompt and share a poem in a supportive group
led by Ann Michaels. https://zoom.us/j/671443996
Fri., August 28: 4 pm
Writing from the Inside Out, weekly prompt writing course facilitated by Nick LeForce, Register and receive a weekly writing prompt on Monday and then join a read-around group on Fridays at 4 to share your work. To register: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/upwkde-opjkpnyQECAVBKolY4hKCdl61uA
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing zoom instructions.
