Roger Reeves @ South Dallas Cultural Center
When: Thursday, May 16, 7:30 pm
What: African Diaspora-New Dialogues, Season 5
Where: South Dallas Cultural Center, 3400 S. Fitzhugh Ave, 75210
Special Guest performance by RonAmber Deloney
Hosted by B. Randall
Books Available: Interabang Books – Thank You!
Photo: Beowolf Sheehan
Roger Reeves was born and raised in southern New Jersey, just outside Philadelphia. He earned a B.A. in English from Morehouse College, an M.A. in English from Texas A & M University, an MFA from the James A. Michener Center for Creative Writing and PhD from the University of Texas at Austin.His poems have appeared in Poetry, Ploughshares, American Poetry Review, Boston Review, Tin House, Best American Poetry, and the Indiana Review, among other publications, and he was included in Best New Poets 2009. Reeves has been awarded a 2015 Whiting Award, a 2013 NEA Fellowship, a 2013 Pushcart Prize, a 2008 Ruth Lilly Fellowship from the Poetry Foundation, two Bread Loaf Scholarships, an Alberta H. Walker Scholarship from the Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center, two Cave Canem Fellowships and a Hodder Fellow of Princeton University. Reeves is currently an assistant professor of poetry at the University of Illinois, Chicago.
B Randall
Host of the evening, B Randall is an author, director, poet, producer and visionary. Randall has served on the WordSpace Board of Directors since 2015, is the host of Poetry Smash at The Black Academy of Arts and Letters, and Verse & Rhythm at the Oak Cliff Cultural Center. B. Randall is host/producer of “In The Words Of A Sistah” now in its 11th season it is the longest running all female cast poetry show of its kind. In 2012, Randall launched her first touring show, “Poetry Is My Praise,” an inspirational, motivational, and spiritual poetry show. Randall was commissioned by the Multicultural Alumni Association of Texas A&M –Commerce to pen a poem commemorating the 50th Anniversary desegregation. Randall’s recorded work has been featured at 500X Gallery. Randall is the writer, producer, director of A Poets Tribute to Nina. In May 2017, B Randall was invited to present at the National Day of Prayer Luncheon Celebrating 40th year anniversary of Thanks-Giving Square. Randall continues to create works and encourage writers of all genres to produce work that touch moves and inspires.
When: Thursday, February 21, 7:30 pm
What: African Diaspora-New Dialogues, Season 5
Where: South Dallas Cultural Center, 3400 S. Fitzhugh Ave, 75210
Books Available: Interabang Books – Thank You!
Duriel Harris photo: Gina Sandrzyk
Poet, sound artist, and scholar, Duriel E. Harris is author of three print poetry collections including No Dictionary of a Living Tongue (2017), winner of the Nightboat Poetry Prize and finalist for the Publishing Triangle’s Audre Lorde Award. Current undertakings include the solo performance project Thingification, which has been featured at the Greenhouse Theater (Chicago), the Wild Project (NYC), and Babylon Cinema (Berlin). Recent writing is featured with Harriet Blog (The Poetry Foundation), the Academy of American Poets, and Letters to the Future: Black WOMEN/Radical WRITING (Kore Press 2018). The 2018 Offen Poet, Harris is an associate professor of English in the graduate creative writing program at Illinois State University and the Editor of Obsidian: Literature & Arts in the African Diaspora. Visit her website at https://durielharris.com.
About South Dallas Cultural Center: The South Dallas Cultural Center (SDCC) is a City of Dallas Office of Cultural Affairs owned community center with a wide variety of programs inspired by the vibrancy and diversity of the African Diaspora. The SDCC seeks to educate and inspire through the visual, media, literary and performing arts. SDCC has presented some of the most dynamic visual and performing arts in Dallas. Retired manager,Vicki Meek’s decades of service to promote art and racial equity have profoundly influenced the cultural life of Dallas and the development of a whole new generation of African American artists. She is the co-developer of The Institute for Creative Investigation in Puerta Viejo, Costa Rica; Board Chair of Friends of the South Dallas Cultural Center; serves on the Advisory Board of WordSpace and co-founder of African Diaspora–New Dialogues with Karen Minzer and Dee Mitchell of WordSpace. Marilyn Clark, SDCC’s Education Director arranges special DISD school visits for the visiting writers of this series. John Spriggins is the manager of SDCC. Daniel Hanchett, SDCC Theater Director, produces the technical presentation.
About WordSpace: WordSpace (WS) is a nonprofit literary arts organization made up of artists that support artists. Our board and team are comprised of volunteer working writers, educators and artists. WS presents world-renowned performers, supports artistic development in Dallas and prioritize programs for cultural equity. Since 1994, WS has presented and paid honoraria to over 2,000 artists. Many award winning writers had their start reading for WordSpace. In addition to African Diaspora- New Dialogues series, WS provides a variety of programming in Dallas. ArtSpeak series pairs local writers with gallery openings. Poets on X+ feature reading series and open mic provides a monthly platform for local poets and musicians. Oral Fixation: an Obsession With True Life Tales brings community together with amateur and professional storytellers. TransNational Impressions is partnered with Latino Cultural Center. Artists have included Natalia Toleda Paz, Natalie Diaz, Yuri Herrera-Gutierrez, Tim Z Hernandez and Rosemary Catacalos. WS hosts an annual literary festival. Other writers who have participated in WS programs include Nikki Giovanni, Andrei Codrescu, Sandra Bernhard, John Waters, Anne Waldman, Dan Savage, Walter Mosley and Laurie Anderson.
Partial funding for this program is made possible by City of Dallas Office of Cultural Affairs, Ben E. Keith, National Endowment for the Arts and Moody Fund for the Arts.
