Welcome to WordSpace
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People are Talking
From Artists, Educators, and Media:
“I did my first public reading at a WordSpace event in 2002 and the thriving literary community centered around WordSpace has been an essential part of my development as a writer.”
Ben E. Fountain, National Book Critics Award Winner
“Since the WordSpace organization has relocated to Oak Cliff, the subsequent heightened interest in literature and creative writing here has proven to be both inspirational and enlightening. WordSpace’s presence here genuinely feels like a gift to the neighborhood.”
Jeff Liles, Artistic Director, Kessler Theater
“Thank you for such a fine time and soul cleansing experience in Dallas.” Andrei Codrescu
“…in addition to its willingness to blur the lines between written word and other art forms, WordSpace has remained a source of support across a broad spectrum of local literary interests.”
Peter Simek, D Magazine
“The effect of WordSpace programs and the role they play in the positive development of young people is invaluable. These programs deserve your support.”
Scott Davison, Booker T. Washington School for the Visual and Performing Arts
WordSpace has presented programs with thousands of poets, prose writers, songwriters, playwrights, performance artists, storytellers and scholars across the broadest possible spectrum. Ongoing series include ArtSpeak, Pegasus, First Hearings, African Diaspora: New Dialogues, Salons, Next Generation, WordSpace at The Kessler, Oral Fixation and Dallas Poetry Slam Features.
They Say The Wind Made Them Crazy @ ArtSpeak
When: Saturday, January 23, 9 pm
Where: Mighty Fine Arts, 409A North Tyler St, 75208
Hosted by: Steve Cruz
Wordspace presents the first Artspeak of 2016 with a rare performance by “They Say the Wind Made Them Crazy”. Guitar virtuoso grand master Gregg Prickett and musical partner vocalist Sarah Ruth Alexander expand the notions of music and poetics with stunning soundscapes and atmospheric improvisations. Sheer brilliance will prevail as your third ear will unfold and your sonic horizons enhanced! This performance is in conjunction with the art reception for ‘Shabby Saints and The Rusty HooDoo Blues” featuring new work by the legendary Andy Don Emmons! Art Reception 6-9 and performance around 9ish! Mighty Fine Arts is located at 409A N.Tyler in Historic North Oak Cliff 75208.
WordSpace @ Chalet Dallas
When: Sunday January 31, 2-5 pm
What: WordSpace @ Chalet Dallas
Where: The Nasher Sculpture Center
Admission: Adult: $10, Seniors 65 and over: $7, Military with ID: $7, Student with ID: $5,Children under 12: FREE, Members: FREE WordSpace is honored to partner with The Nasher Sculpture Center to present literary programming during Piero Golia’s Chalet Dallas.
Piero Golia is a conceptual artist, architect and myth maker. For Chalet Dallas, he has collaborated with architect Edwin Chan to completely transformed the Nasher’s Corner Gallery into a luxurious gathering space that integrates architecture, entertainment, and works of art by Pierre Huyghe, Mark Grotjahn, Jeff Wall, and Christopher Williams.
The Naples-born, Los Angeles-based artist Piero Golia has been described as a mastermind of monumental gestures and precise orchestration. In 2013 he opened Chalet Hollywood, arguably the most radical and ambitious representation of this characterization. Working with architect Edwin Chan, Golia transformed a storage area off of Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles into agesamtkunstwerk, or total work of art, integrating architecture, entertainment, and works of art by Pierre Huyghe, Mark Grotjahn, Jeff Wall and Christopher Williams. Golia’s intent was to create a space of rare beauty that would gather visitors from the vast reaches of L.A. to meet in a luxurious environment that encouraged interaction and led to a more developed sense of community. For over a year on select evenings, Golia opened the Chalet to friends and visitors for gatherings that ranged from extravagantly large-scale to quiet and intimate. Golia designed these evenings with an unpredictable structure, mingling artists and celebrities, as a way to build a mythology around theChalet and encourage meaningful interactions between visitors united by their shared experience in the space. After sixteen months of operation, Chalet Hollywood closed November 3rd, 2014.
With the help of the Nasher Sculpture Center, Golia was able to resurrect the Chalet and bring it to Dallas in an effort to extend his utopian idea of community building through carefully orchestrated social gatherings. Again, Golia worked with Chan to reconfigure the architectural elements of theChalet Hollywood to its new environment in the Nasher Corner Gallery. Reusing nearly all of the original elements from the Hollywood version, Chan has recreated the feeling of Chalet Hollywoodinto a space that is unique to Dallas, transforming the gallery into a warm and convivial environment with modular white oak furnishings, Venetian plaster walls, and textiles designed by Johnson Hartig.
Also from Chalet Hollywood, Golia has included Pierre Huyghe’s aquarium—an ecosystem of crabs and floating rocks; Mark Grotjahn’s painting Untitled (My Beautiful Brother Eric Baboon Face 43.30)of 2011; Jeff Wall’s photograph A Sapling Supported by a Post of 2000; and Christopher Williams’ piano, handed down from generations at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf and rumored to have been played by Joseph Beuys, the father of social action as art, during his tenure as professor there in the 1960s.
Chalet Dallas follows a similar structure to its Hollywood predecessor. On certain evenings, it operates akin to a salon, where a wide range of guests and performers meet to experience whatever entertainment Golia has arranged for the evening. In addition, the Chalet will be accessible during the daytime as a place for museum visitors to gather, view the works of art, and experience the environment. On select Saturdays, public tours will highlight certain aspects of the evening gatherings, providing a sense of Chalet Dallas as not only a physical structure but also a space for myth-making and social engagement.
Clancy Manuel, Laney Yarber, Chaitra Lineham at MFA Gallery
What: ArtSpeak
When: December 12, around 9 ish
Who: Clancy Manuel and Laney Yarber perform in conjunction with Chaitra Lineham’s opening
Where: Mighty Fine Arts, 409A N. Tyler Street, 75208
Wordspace presents the last Artspeak of 2015 with Mighty Fine Arts in Historic North Oak Cliff 75208.
“Blurred Vision Meets Ambient Noise” with performance and music by Clancy Manuel and “Psych Lights” by Laney Yarber! Starts around 9ish!
Mighty Fine Arts presents “Menagerie” featuring new work by Chaitra Linehan. This show opens Dec 12 with a reception for the artist from 6-9pm and will run till Jan.17. Chaitra Linehan’s animal pictures aren’t meant as empirical portrayals but are subjects engaged in her own interpretive narrative. Though she is considerably knowledgable about the birds and beasts she renders her intentions aren’t steeped in accuracy but are more inclined toward poetic homage. The collage plummage of her bird portraits imbues them with immediacy and personality as well as aesthetic virtuosity. Her paintings of wild beasts and critters are steeped in darker implications and dilemnas. The “Menagerie” that Ms. Linehan conjures is meant to inveigle delight and wonder but with decided undertones of menace. Also on Opening Night, “Psyche Lights”, featuring spoken word and music by Clancy Manuel and light show created by Laney Yarber.
Obbie West @ Dallas Poetry Slam
What: WordSpace @ Dallas Poetry Slam
When: Friday, May 20, 8 pm
Where: Heroes Lounge, 7402 Greenville Avenue
Hosted by: GNO, Candy, and RockBaby for Dallas Poetry Slam
Obbie West is a male poet originally from Los Angeles, CA, Been married to Poetry since 2011. Versatile Poet gifted in delivering verbal pictures thru metaphor and sensational word manipulation. Targets a wide range of subjects from relationships, love to social issues. Poetry has become his release valve, a means to inspire and broadcast for those who have a message but no outlet. If you need to know anything about him…..LISTEN.
ICON @ Dallas Poetry Slam
What: WordSpace @ Dallas Poetry Slam
When: Friday, April 15, 8 pm
Where: Heroes Lounge, 7402 Greenville Avenue
Hosted by: GNO, Candy and Rockbaby for Dallas Poetry Slam
SHA’CONDRIA “iCON” SIBLEY is a nationally-acclaimed, award-winning, viral sensation poet/spoken word artist/performer whose individual titles include 2009 LIPS (Louisiana Individual Poetry Slam) Champion, 2014 Bayou City Slam Co-Champion, 2015 Southern Fried Regional Poetry Slam Indie Runner-Up; and she recently became the first woman to ever win the largest poetry competition in Texas, the 2015 Texas Grand Slam as well as the winner of the first ever 2015 Rouge Roulette regional poetry slam. She is a founding member of two-time National Poetry Slam Champion team, Team SNO (Slam New Orleans), and she also featured on the third season of the NAACP Award-nominated, national hit TV show, Verses and Flow (TV One). Her work has been acknowledged and featured on various viral sites such as Upworthy, For Harriet, Fusion, The Washington Post, and Huffington Post. In addition to her many accolades, iCon is a teaching artist and founder of The Little Girls Big Names Project.
Amir Safi @ Dallas Poetry Slam
What: WordSpace @ Dallas Poetry Slam
When: Friday, March 18, 8 pm
Where: Heroes Lounge, 7502 Greenville Avenue
Hosted by: GNO, Candy and RockBaby for Dallas Poetry Slam
Amir Safi is from College Station, Texas. His poetry is the result of a collision between his Iranian culture and his Texan upbringing. He is a graduate of Texas A&M University where he received a degree in Biology. “What better subject to study than the science of life?” While in school, he co-founded 501(c)3 poetry non-profit Mic Check and the Texas Grand Slam Poetry Festival. Upon moving to Houston, Amir founded Write About Now Poetry, a weekly poetry slam and open-mic that meets every Wednesday. Amir is a 2015 Southern Fried Poetry Slam Champion, the 2013 Southern Fried Poetry Individual Slam Champion, a 2013 National Poetry Slam semi-finalist and his work has been featured on Upworthy.
Bri Blue @ Dallas Poetry Slam
When: Friday, February 19, 8 pm
Where: Heroes Lounge, 7402 Greenville Avenue, 75231
Hosted by: GNO, Candy, and RockBaby for Dallas Poetry Slam
Bri Blue is an Author, Orator, Spoken Word Artist, Event Host/MC, Orator, Women’s Rights Advocate, and Motivational Speaker hailing from Berkeley, CA. A UC Berkeley graduate, Blue’s unique and emotionally charged performances connect emotion, entertainment, and inspiration to the goals, vision, and experiences of her audience. Blue has been invited to lend her creative, captivating brand of story telling to events across the US and on the national stage for TV One’s broadcast performance show ‘Verses and Flow’. A three time published author, Blue has an online following of over 10,000, is the creator of Speak Easy- a widely popular weekly Open Mic Showcase in Northern CA, and the founder of the ‘Unapologetically You’ Awareness Campaign designed to educate, uplift, and empower women.
As the Best Female Spoken Word Artist in the 2015 & 2014 Bay Area Black Music Awards, The Most Inspiring Writer in the Bay Area in the 2014 H.O.P.E. (Helping Others Pursue Excellence) Awards, and a member of the 2015 Oakland Slam Team, Bri Blue brings a commanding voice, a welcome presence, fresh talent, and a welcoming personality to engage an audience and give them the emotional push to take their success a step further.
D.E.E.P. @ Dallas Poetry Slam
Where: Heroes Lounge, Greenville Avenue, 7402 Greenville Ave, Dallas, TX 75231
When: Friday, January 15, 8 pm
Hosted by: GNO, Candy and RockBaby for Dallas Poetry Slam
2015 Houston Poet Laureate Finalist, D.E.E.P. has established herself as a notable nationally-known poet and author. Ranked the #2 Best female poet in the world in 2008 and Finalist for the 2015 Individual World Poetry Slam, she has been a force of power in the poetry community for over a decade. She published her first collection of poetry, “Heartstrings and Lamentations,” at the tender age of 19. She went on to compete in her first national poetry slam in her senior year of college as a member of the 2004 Collegiate Poetry Slam Team for the University of Michigan.
After falling in love with the National poetry slam team she moved to Houston and became a member of the 2007 Houston Poetry Slam and 2008 H-Town National Poetry Slam Teams. She served as the Slammaster and seven-time member of the Houston VIP Slam Team. Currently, she is the three-time Grand Slam Champion of the Houston VIP team. In 2011, she coached the National Team to Group Piece Finals where they were ranked 6th in the nation. In 2012, under her coaching, the VIP team was ranked 4th in the Southwest at the Southwest Shootout Regional Slam. Her team then found its way to 11th place overall and the Best ranked team in the state of Texas in 2014.
She has had the honor of being chosen as one of the Juried Poets for the 2012 Houston Poetry Fest She has been a finalist at the 2013 Southern Fried Poetry Slam and the Champion of the 2014 Counter Current Ekphrastic Poetry Slam. She holds the title of Last Chance Slam Champion at the 2014 Women of the World Slam. Most recently she was a finalist for the Individual World Poet Slam in Washington D.C.
Her work can be seen in the 2012 Houston Poetry Fest Anthology, the 2014 Survival Issue published by Wicked Banshee Press, And the Alight Collection of women’s poetry.
FIRST HEARINGS WITH DAVID LANGLINAIS
FIRST HEARINGS: David Langlinais
WHEN: December 10, 7:00pm
WHERE: The Wild Detectives, 314 West Eighth St, Dallas, 75208
HOSTED BY: Charles Dee Mitchell
David Langlinais is a Dallas author who was born and raised in Abbeville, Louisiana. Duck Thief, his first collection of short stories, is part of the Louisiana Writers Series distributed by the University of Louisiana at Lafayette Press. David’s stories feature characters making sense of their lives in a world where tradition and change exert equal pull.
“Duck Thief and Other Stories is a stunning collection by a fine new voice in Southern literature. David Langlinais comes from that great tradition of American storytellers that gave us Ernest Hemingway, Raymond Carver, and Richard Ford. The people who populate his stories are our friends and neighbors, and they live, work, and play where we do. His language is spare and unpretentious, and the rhythms of his prose lead us from moments of simple beauty to profound revelation. Haunting, compassionate, heart-breaking…these are some of the best stories I’ve read in a long time.”
–John Ed Bradley, author of It Never Rains in Tiger Stadium
