Archive for the ‘Events’ Category
Pegasus Reading Series: Bruce Bond, Fowzia Karimi, Robin Turner
What: Pegasus Reading Series
When: February 22, 7 pm
Where: Kettle Arts Gallery, 2650 Main St. (Deep Ellum)
Hosted by: Sebastian Paramo and Courtney Marie
Pegasus Reading Series is a monthly series presented by WordSpace showcasing writers in the North Texas area and beyond. Named Best Poetry Night by the Dallas Observer in 2015, Sebastian Paramo and Courtney Marie host.
Doors open at 7PM and show starts at 7:30PM.
This month, Courtney Marie and Sebastian Paramo host Bruce Bond, Fowzia Karimi, and Robin Turner.
Bruce Bond is the author of fifteen books, most recently For the Lost Cathedral (LSU Press), Black Anthem (Tampa Review Prize, University of Tampa Press), Gold Bee (Crab Orchard Open Competition Prize, University of Southern Illinois Press), Sacrum (Four Way Books), The Other Sky (poems in collaboration with the painter Aron Wiesenfeld, intro by Stephen Dunn; Etruscan Press), and a book of literary criticism: Immanent Distance: Poetry and the Metaphysics of the Near at Hand (University of Michigan). He has won numerous recognitions for his poems, including the Allen Tate Award, the TIL Best Book of Poetry Prize, the Colladay Award, the Richard Peterson Prize, the Knightville Poetry Award, and fellowships from the NEA and the Texas Institute for the Arts. At UNT, he has won the Kesterson Award for Graduate Teaching, the Toulouse Scholars Award, the Creative Impact Award, and the inaugural Eminent Faculty Award. Presently he is poetry co-editor for American Literary Review and co-judge for the annual Rilke Book Award.
Fowzia Karimi has a background in Visual Arts and Biology. She has an MFA in Creative Writing from Mills College. In her work, she combines the written and visual arts to tell stories. She is a recipient of The Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers’ Awards — 2011. She lives in Denton, Texas.
Robin Turner brings poetry and zine-making to Dallas-area youth shelters, arts camps, and community centers, and serves as project director for The Writer’s Garret’s Write to Heal programs. Her work has appeared in numerous journals, anthologies, and public poetry projects. A member of Cloudwerks Poetry Workshop, she is an original contributor to the White Rock Zine Machine. Her 2016 chapbook, bindweed & crow poison (from Porkbelly Press), is available at Deep Vellum Books.
Lyn Lyric “A Poets Tribute To Nina Simone”
When: Saturday, February 18, 8 pm
Where: Margo Jones Theatre
Starring: Lyn Lyric
Directed by: B Randall
Admission: $15, WordSpace Members $10
Lyn Lyric Smith is a native of Dallas who has touched stages from Dallas to New York.
Lyn Lyric is a Singer, Songwriter, Poet, and Actress. In March of 2015 Lyn Lyric released her long awaited poetry and music CD entitled “Of Verse & Song” at The Black Academy of Arts and Letters. This versatile performer has landed rolls in productions such as Love Doesn’t Hurt, Behind The Cotton Curtain (a Tribute to Medgar Evers), The Black Nativity, The Book of Queens, and Just Call Him to name a few. Lyn Lyric is a crowd favorite at The Black Academy of Arts And Letters Poet’s N Jazz, Poetry Smash and the longest running all female poetry show in Texas: In The Words Of A Sistah. In February of 2016 Lyn Lyric Smith graced an a sold out crowd with the One Woman Show “ A Poet’s Tribute To Nina Simone”. Lyn Lyric Smith’s style, grace, vocal and word symmetry has made her a staple on area stages and beyond.
NICOLE DENNIS-BENN @ THE SOUTH DALLAS CULTURAL CENTER
Who: Nicole Dennis-Benn
What: African Diaspora: New Dialogues with Nicole Dennis-Benn
Where: The South Dallas Cultural Center, 3400 S Fitzhugh Ave, Dallas, TX 75210
When: February 2, 2017, 7:30 pm
Hosted and Facilitated by Author Sanderia Faye, Winner, 2016 Wright / Hurston Award for Debut Fiction
2017 will also feature:
March 2: Kiese Laymon, April 6: Tyehimba Jess
WordSpace and the South Dallas Cultural Center are pleased to kick off the 2017 season of African Diaspora: New Dialogues with the Jamaican author Nicole Dennis-Benn. Ms. Dennis-Benn published her debut novel, Here Comes the Sun, in July 2016. Marlon James, Ms. Dennis-Benn’s fellow countryman and Man Book Prize winning novelist, has said of Here Comes the Sun “… [it] stuns at every turn, especially when you think you have it figured out. It’s about women pushed to the edge, Jamaica in all its beauty and fury, and, more than anything else, a story that was just waiting to be told.”
Ms. Dennis-Benn will read from her novel and discuss her own journey from Jamaica to New York City.
Please join us for what promises to be an exceptional evening.
Sanderia Faye is an award winning writer, born and raised in Gould, Arkansas. She is the author of Mourner’s Bench (University of Arkansas Press, September 2015).
About Nicole Dennis-Benn
Nicole Dennis-Benn is the author of the highly acclaimed debut novel,HERE COMES THE SUN (Norton/Liveright, July 2016), which has received a starred Kirkus Review and is deemed one of the best books to read this summer and beyond by New York Times, NPR, BBC, BuzzFeed, Book Riot, Bookish, Miami Herald, Elle, O Magazine, Marie Claire, Entertainment Weekly, Flavorwire, After Ellen, BookPage, Cosmopolitan, Brooklyn Magazine, among others. New York Times Book reviewer, Jennifer Senior describes HERE COMES THE SUN as a “lithe, artfully-plotted debut”; Pulitzer Prize finalist, Laila Lalami, as well as Booklist have deemed it a “fantastic debut”; and Man Booker Prize winner, Marlon James says “[Here Comes the Sun] is a story waiting to be told”. Dennis-Benn has also been recently nominated for the 2016 Center for Fiction First Novel Prize. Her work has appeared in ELLE Magazine, Electric Literature, Lenny Letter, Catapult, Red Rock Review, Kweli Literary Journal, Mosaic, Ebony, and the Feminist Wire. Nicole Dennis-Benn has an MFA in Creative Writing from Sarah Lawrence College and has been awarded fellowships from MacDowell Colony, Hedgebrook, Lambda, Barbara Deming Memorial Fund, Hurston/Wright, and Sewanee Writers’ Conference. Dennis-Benn was born and raised in Kingston, Jamaica. She lives with her wife in Brooklyn, New York.
About African Diaspora: New Dialogues:
Three years ago, WordSpace met with Vicki Meek, the Manager of the South Dallas Cultural Center. SDCC had recently helped us promote Nikki Giovanni’s appearance at The Kessler and we realized a deeper partnership and think tank might just be the thing to do. Dee Mitchell and Vicki came up with the title: African Diaspora: New Dialogues. From there, we partnered in thought with folks like Sanderia Faye and are honored to have brought some of the best of new writing by the brightest stars of African Diaspora artists. Highlights have included Chris Abani, Mitchell Jackson, and Vievee Francis. These are important writers we want you to know about!
As Vicki Meek retired from 20 years of service from her position as Manager of South Dallas Cultural Center, we are now delighted to enjoy the same level of excitement in working with new SDCC manager, Harold Steward, to collaborate and bring this profound series.
Since its inception, thanks to local writer/educators, these writers have appeared Dallas schools offering meaningful visits and readings.
Sponsored by WordSpace and South Dallas Cultural Center
Special Thanks, Harold Steward and Vicki Meek
Dan Savage @ The Kessler Theater
Oh Boy! He’s Back!
In 2010, WordSpace was honored to present Dan Savage in one of the most profoundly thought provoking and simultaneously entertaining evenings we’ve ever experienced. His combination of wit, ability to think on his feet while drawing from an encyclopedic brain makes any chance to experience this brilliant pundit a MUST SEE EVENT. Ask anyone.
Thank you, Dan, for returning to champion equal rights and benefit WordSpace.
When: Thursday, May 11
Where: The Kessler Theater
TICKETS: $35 SRO - $800 (Box Seating for 8)
WordSpace Premium Members Code:
[email protected], 214-838-3554
RESCHEDULED FROM FEBRUARY 23 TO MAY 11
Melania-luisa @ Dallas Poetry Slam
WordSpace is honored to partner with Dallas Poetry Slam to produce Feature Readers on 3rd Fridays of every month at Heroes Lounge, 7402 Greenville Ave, Dallas, TX 75231. Hosted by Slam Master, Candy.
Admission: $5 or Buy a VIP Season Pass
WordSpace Members Free: RSVP appreciated
Melania-luisa is a first generation American. Her first language was spanish, thanks to her Dominican parents. She is a poet, writer and founder of She-Is-Americana, A movement centered on intersectional feminism, culture and politics. To learn more go to www.sheisamericana.com or follow her on Instagram as the self-proclaimed @feministmami.
