Simon Phx at Dallas Poetry Slam
What: Simon Phx at Dallas Poetry Slam
When: March 1, 2013 at 8pm
Where: Heroes, 7402 Greenville Ave., Dallas, TX 75231
Admission: $5
Hosted By: Rock Baby and Alexandra Marie
Simon Phx is three time member of the Dallas Slam team and has been writing and performing poetry in Dallas since 2008. He has been dubbed “the Future” by his peers for his carefully crafted poems and passionate performances. Simon is also a father and freelance visual artist.
Princess McDowell at Dallas Poetry Slam
What: Princess McDowell at Dallas Poetry Slam
When: May 17, 2013 at 8pm
Where: Heroes, 7402 Greenville Ave., Dallas, TX 75231
Admission: $5
Hosted By: Rock Baby and Alexandra Marie
The first poem Princess wrote as an adult came after her financial aid was cut in college. She was upset, but the poem definitely helped cull the desire to take out her frustrations in other, more destructive ways.
That was 2007. Princess hasn’t done too much since then. She’s performed on street corners and living rooms, open mics and parking lots. Normally, she writes about life experiences and fleeting moments she doesn’t want to forget. There’s a good chance that, one day when she’s bored, she’ll write a poem about writing this bio, since it can be incredibly hard to write about yourself.
She’s inspired by the love we give and show to each other, and describes her poetry as her life wrapped in metaphors. Her favorite poets are usually authors and friends, or authors she wishes could be friends, or friends who would be great authors.
Last August, Princess released her first album of poetry, entitled Not A Storybook <3. It’s the most personal thing she’s ever done by far. She’s working to do it again, sometime soon. You can read some of her poetry at soulfulpoeticlicense.blogspot.com.
Dallas Poetry Slam Youth Series
What: Dallas Poetry Slam Youth Series
When: Jan. 5, 4pm
Where: Half Price Books, NW Highway, Program Room
Hosted by: Alexandra Marie, Rock Baby and Joaquin Zihuatanejo
Admission: FREE
WordSpace partners with Dallas Poetry Slam to bring Poetry and Slam outreach to area youth. Dallas Poetry Slam’s Alexandra Marie and award-winning Rock Baby join World Cup Winner, Joaquin Zihuatanejo to host workshops and performance with young area writers.
Zubair Ahmed
What: Zubair Ahmed Reading and Book Signing: “City of Rivers” (McSweeney’s Publishing, 2012)
When: Friday, January 4, 7:30Where: Lucky Dog Books, 10801 Garland Road, Dallas, TX 75218Hosted by: WordSpace and Lucky Dog BooksAdmission: FREEMore Info and Contact: Karen@wordspace.us, 214-838-3554Directions: 214-827-4860 and Google Maps
Zubair Ahmed was born in 1988 and raised in Dhaka, Bangladesh. In 2005, his family won the Diversity Visa Lottery, which granted them the opportunity to immigrate to the US. During the year-and-a-half before moving, Ahmed dropped out of school and became a professional video gamer. In 2005, Ahmed’s family moved to Duncanville, Texas, where he finished high school. Ahmed now studies mechanical engineering and creative writing at Stanford University. He is a member of the Stanford Solar Car Team, president of the Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honors Society, and has recently delved into business and startups.
City of Rivers by Zubair Ahmed (December 2012)
The poems in CIty of Rivers— the first full-length collection from 23-year-old wunderkind Zubair Ahmed– are clear and cool as a glass of water. Grounded in his childhood in Bangladesh, Ahmed’s spare, evocative poems cast a knowing eye on the wider world, telling us what it’s like to be displaced and replaced, relocated and dislocated. His poems are suffused with a graceful, mysterious pathos– and also with joy, humor, and longing– with the full range of human emotions. City of Rivers is a remarkable and precocious debut.
“This is a kind of art that can’t be faked or manufactured, a poetry derived only of witness, impulse, and vision. City of Rivers is a triumph by any standard.” — Michael McGriff
“When reading Zubair Ahmed I feel as though I am both witnessing and taking part in an ecstatic, lyric experience. Ahmed’s work is not just a blues forged out of the Bangladesh landscape, these poems are also a celebration of the world as a whole– a sometimes complicated, dark celebration, but a celebration all the same.” — Matthew Dickman
Zubair Ahmed « McSweeney’s – YouTube
La-Love at Dallas Poetry Slam
What: La-Love at Dallas Poetry Slam
When: February 15, 2013
Where: Heroes, 7402 Greenville Ave., Dallas, TX 75231
Admission: $5
Hosted By: Rock Baby and Alexandra Marie
La-Love started writing at an early age but became a spoken word artist in 2002. Her inspiration to write her first slam poem was the death of her father in 2003. Since then she has published a chapbook titled “Last Night the Mic Saved my Life” and is the creator and producer of the quarterly spoken word competion/showcase in Austin, TX titled “The Make it Wet Spitfest”. 2012 marked her 8th year of the successfully running event.
La-Love is the former hostess of Austin’s Neo Soul Poetry Lounge currenty located at 11th Street Bar and Grill and The “Evolution”, formerly at Nuno’s and Jovitas. Love is also currently a member of the 2012 Neo Soul Slam Team and the Xenogia Spoken Word Collective.
She is a teacher, mother of 2, and activist in her community while juggling her passion as a writer, producer and performer. For upcoming Spitfest events, Spitfest DVD orders, booking or other information contact 512-903-8027 spitfest@yahoo.com www.spitfest.com.
Ebony Stewart at Dallas Poetry Slam
What: Ebony Stewart at Dallas Poetry Slam
When: Friday, January 18, 2012, 8pm
Where: Heroes, 7402 Greenville Ave., Dallas, TX 75231
Admission: $5
Hosted By: Rock Baby and Alexandra Marie
With lips from any ghetto you choose and words spoken to save her own life, this Gully Princess by the name of Ebony Stewart, is the only adult female Three Time Slam Champion (2007, 2009, 2011) in Austin, TX. Ebony was also one of the leading members of Austin Neo-Soul in 2010 ranking 4th in the Nation. Adding another accolade, Ebony coached the 2012 Neo-Soul slam team, taking them all the way to first place in Group Piece Finals. The Austin Chronicle stated “Ebony is a wide-eyed and physically fluid young woman.” While The Austin American Statesman describes her personality and spoken word style as “beasty.” Poetry is where Ebony Stewart goes to make things right.
Book Signing: Lonesome Knob by Kay Cole and McKenna Vaughn
What: Author/Illustrator Book Signing for Lonesome Knob
When: Thursday, November 8th, 7 pm
Where: LUCKY DOG BOOKS, 10801 Garland Rd
Contact: Phone (214) 827-4860
Hosted by: Suzie Riddle of Children’s Story Time
Join us for refreshments and meet Kay Cole, author of Loneome Knob (Steve Davis Publishing) and 12 year old illustrator, McKenna Vaughn. Kay will read a few passages from the book. Refreshments will be served and books will be for sale at Lucky Dog Books.
From Lonesome Knob: Roberta hates her name almost as much as she hates being taunted for her bright red hair and freckles. She can never please Mother, who thinks she’s just too inquisitive for her own good, but Daddy seems to like her curious, mischievous, and rebellious nature. Roberta proves that a young girl can find trouble, adventure, or happiness just about anywhere — even at the end of a dusty road, on a remote and desolate West Texas farm known as Lonesome Knob.
Andrei Codrescu
What: An Evening with Andrei Codrescu
When: Thursday, March 28, 8 pm (Meet/Greet Tickets, 7:00)
Where: The Kessler Theater
Admission: $20 Gen, $37.50 Reserved, $200 Tables VIP/Meet-Greet, $400 Suites VIP/Meet-Greet
Members: From $15
Sponsored by: Half Price Books
BUY TICKETS
Andrei Codrescu (codrescu.com) has published two new books: “So Recently Rent a World: New and Selected Poems, 1968-2012” and “Bibliodeath: My Archives (with Life in Footnotes)”. Codrescu was born in Sibiu, Transylvania, Romania, and emigrated to the United States in 1966 at the age of nineteen. His first poetry book in English License to Carry a Gun won the Big Table Poetry award in 1970. In 1983 he founded Exquisite Corpse: a Journal of Books & Ideas (corpse.org). From 1984 until his retirement in 2009 he taught Creative Writing and Comparative Literature at Louisiana State University (LSU) where he was MacCurdy Distinguished Professor of English. He has been a regular commentator on NPR’s All Things Considered since 1983. Codrescu has received a Peabody Award for writing and starring in the film Road Scholar. (1991). He has covered the fall of Romania’s Ceausescu regime for National Public Radio (NPR) and ABC News, an experience chronicled in The Hole in the Flag: an Exile’s Story of Return and Revolution. He has also reported from Cuba and Martinique, and is the winner of several Lowell Thomas awards for travel journalism. Among his many books are, The Posthuman Dada Guide: Tzara and Lenin Play Chess, (2009; The Poetry Lesson (2010), and whatever gets you through the night: a story of sheherezade and the arabian entertainments (2011). He lives in the Arkansas Ozarks near the Buffalo River National Park.
WordSpace Student Readings: SMU Literary Festival
What: WordSpace Student Readings @ SMU Literary Festival
Who: Hockaday, Yavneh Academy, Greenhill School, Texans CAN, Academy, Booker T. Washington School for the Visual and Performing Arts and Dallas Poetry Youth Slam
When: Wednesday, March 20, 6 pm
Where: McCord Auditorium
Friday, March 22, 6 pm at DeGloyer: Reception honoring WordSpace, followed by readings by Tatjana Soli and Vievee Francis.
2013 SMU Lit Fest Presenters: Deborah Spark, Alix Ohlin, Natalie Serber, Tatjana Soli, Matt Olzmann, Vievee Francis, Allan Michael Parker, Camille T. Dungy MCs: David Haynes, Paul Otremba, and Gabriel Calvocoresi
WordSpace’s is honored to participate in the 2013 SMU Literary Festival by presenting talented area students. These young writers bring with them the enrichment and inspiration of their educators who are also recognized as accomplished writers: Scott Davison of Booker T. Washing School for the Visual and Performing Arts, Farid Matuk of Greenhill School, Tim Cloward of Yavneh Academy, Kyle Vaughn of Hockaday School, Sanderia Smith and Dorris Coleman of Texans CAN Academy, and the new WS/Dallas Poetry Slam’s Youth Series project, mentored by Alexandra Marie and Joaquin Zihuatanejo. Google any of these amazing writers to get a clue of their accomplishments. Imagine being in high school and having the opportunity to be mentored by these poets, playwrights and songwriting musicians.
SMU Literary Festival creates an atmosphere of support, dignity, and recognition, as well as an opportunity to interact with the Festival’s featured performers. This year, special prizes will be awarded by the SMU’s Tale of One City Project.
WordSpace has incorporated area student readings into programming since its inception. The annual readings have been renamed from “Do You Hear Me?” to “ConSpiracy” (the breathe together definition) to “Gerald Burns Student Readings” (after the late poet), to its present association with SMU Lit Fest. Past annual readings have taken place at Paperbacks Plus, Dallas Center for Humanities and Cultural and The Kessler Theater. We’d like to thank all those folks and our writer/educator friends for their years of support to WordSpace and young Dallas writers.
