Good Things Happening in AZ

I went with my kids to the candlelight vigil and protest against AZ's immigration law held last night at the state capitol building in Phoenix. Rev. Al Sharpton led a march from Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church to the capitol where several hundred people were already gathered with signs, candles, American flags, collage art, makeshift jail cells. A woman I didn't know thanked me for coming and said that she really appreciated the support of my family. Local writers were up in the crowd. I saw the efforts of poets Mark Haunschild and Fernando Perez who have provided a space for children and adults at the protests to use paint and markers to leave handprints and visual artwork against SB 1070.

I saw the Los Suns jerseys that the Phoenix Suns wore last night in their game against the Spurs. Sharpton was wearing a jersey when he spoke last night.

This week the city councils of Tucson and Flagstaff have voted to sue the state over SB 1070.

Last Friday, the documentary "9500 Liberty" premiered at Harkins Valley Art Theater on Mill Avenue in Tempe. According to the filmmaker's press release, "the documentary is about a Virginia county's short mandate requiring officers to question people they had cause to suspect were undocumented immigrants. The Prince William County mandate was repealed in two months due to negative economic, legal and public safety impacts." The documentary is playing all this week.

Speaking of documentaries, on Saturday, May 8th from 5:30-7:30 pm at Civic Park Space, 424 N. Central in downtown Phoenix, there's a screening of the film "A Village Called Versailles." From the press release:

Welcome to Versailles, New Orleans––home to the densest ethnic Vietnamese population outside of Vietnam. For over 30 years, its residents lived a quiet existence on the edge of New Orleans. But then came Hurricane Katrina, the immense garbage piles and the shocking discovery of a toxic landfill planned in their neighborhood. Watch as they fight back, turning a devastating disaster into a catalyst for change and a chance to build a better future. Independent Lens is like an independent film festival that introduces new documentaries and dramas made by independent thinkers: filmmakers who are taking creative risks, calling their own shots and finding untold stories in unexpected places.

And today at Civic Park Space I will be taking part in Poetry Central where several Phoenix Union High School students will get the opportunity to write poetry on themes of war and peace in response to paintings created by Vietnamese Children. It's part of the Vietnamese Children's Art Project that you can read about here.

Events + Happenings

Arizona State University YAWP 2009 presents, "That Different Yield: A Reading by the Young Adult Writing Project," Wednesday, June 24, 7:00 p.m. at Changing Hands Bookstore. Sponsored by the ASU Deptartment of English, the Young Adult Writing Project is a summer writing program based on a creative journaling approach for students in grades 8-12.

For more information about YAWP go here

Congratulations to Indigo Moor who won the 2009 Cave Canem Northwestern University Press Poetry Prize. His winning poetry collection, Through the Stonecutter's Window will be published by Northwestern University Press.

The Dangerous Shirt + Book Fair

The Leimert Park Book Fair takes place this Saturday, June 6, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Leimert Park Village in south Los Angeles. The event will feature readings by noted authors including poet Al Young and speculative fiction writer Tananarive Due. There's a tribute to Octavia Butler scheduled and a sampling of food prepared by healthful cookbook author and chef Bryant Terry. For more information go here. (photo of drum circle at Leimert Park shown above).

And next Wednesday, June 10, in Tempe AZ, poet Alberto Rios will read at Changing Hands Bookstore. He'll be reading from his new poetry collection, The Dangerous Shirt (Copper Canyon Press 2009).

Workshops and Readings

"Writing Across Cultures": Fifteen Cave Canem alum read on Friday, May 1 at 6 p.m. at Adelphi University Manhattan Center in New York.

"All That's Gone: A Katrina Elegy" - a presentation of poems and photographs responding to Hurricane Katrina followed by a discussion by artists and project participants who relocated from Louisiana to Arizona. Monday, May 4, 7-8:30 p.m. at Tempe Public Library in Arizona.

"Writing the Coming of Age Story": A workshop led by Tayari Jones at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown June 14-19. Scholarships are available.

Adam Bradley is reading from his book, "The Book of Rhymes: The Poetics of Hip Hop" at Changing Hands Book Store in Tempe, AZ on May 18th at 7 p.m.

Pulitzers + Oranges + Interviews + More

The 2009 Pulitzer Prizes were announced this week. Elizabeth Strout won for her story collection Olive Kitteridge about an overweight, unglamorous, middle American woman.

The Orange Prize nominees were announced. The Orange Prize is a UK literary award given to a woman who has written the best novel in the past year. Three American writers were named including Marilynne Robinson who was nominated for her novel Home.

Novelist and professor of creative writing Tayari Jones talks about revision and the young writer.

Maud Newton interviews The Book of Night Women author Marlon James.

And I'm wishing good luck to Erik Hollis from Tucson who competes in the Poetry Out Loud nationals this weekend and Want Chyi who defends her MFA thesis, a novel, today at ASU.

John Hope Franklin Commemoration

On April 20 from 6-8 pm, several Arizona scholars, activists, and practitioners will share their thoughts on the life and work of scholar John Hope Franklin. This commemoration is sponsored by the African and African American Studies department at ASU. A symposium sponsored by the department will happen in Fall 2009. For more information contact Dr. Lisa Aubrey at cadaghana@yahoo.com or Dr. Abdullahi Gallab at abdullahi.gallab@asu.edu

Happenings. Links.

A few upcoming events in Phoenix...

* This Wednesday, April 8 @ 7 PM, the Poetry in April Series continues at the Tempe Center for the Arts. The authors are Elizabyth Hiscox and Douglas Jones. Their bios can be read here. Tempe Center for the Arts really is a beautiful building. A photo of the exterior of the Lakeside Room, where the readings take place, is here.

* I’m glad to see that The Black Theater Troupe’s still performing "Revenge of a King," its hip-hop version of Hamlet. On Thursday, April 23 @ 7:30 p.m., it will perform at Playhouse in the Park on Central Ave. in Phoenix. The next day, April 24 from 8:15 a.m. to noon there will be performances and panel discussions about "shaking up Shakespeare" at the Lyceum Theater at ASU. Panelists include actor Harry Lennix and ASU professor Ayanna Thompson.

And finally this....

New York Times critic, A.O. Scott wrote a piece about the necessity and resurgence of the short story titled "In Praise of the American Short Story." I’m not sure that I was convinced though I’d like to think people love short stories the way that I do.

Aracelis Girmay @ Tempe Poetry in April

I was happy to see that Aracelis Girmay will be in Tempe next Wednesday, April 1 at 7pm as part of the Tempe Poetry in April reading series. Girmay is the author of a book of poetry, Teeth, that's beautiful in every way. She is also the author of a children's book, Changing, Changing that's based on Ovid's tales of metamorphoses. Aracelis is the real deal. Don't miss her reading if you're in town.

About Last Weekend

Sorry for the slow posts which I'll blame on my long list of assignments at work and on my darling kids who are home for two weeks on spring break. Anyway, I've been meaning to post about two events I attended last weekend. I left each one feeling inspired but for slightly different reasons.

The first was Sue Chenoweth's "Predator and Prey" show at Bragg's Pie Factory in Phoenix. It was stunning. Although Chenoweth is an abstract artist (there is no realistic depiction of predatory violence in her work) her artistry is imbued with pathos that communicates this violence anyway. I'm not a visual artist so I can't explain how she does this. I will tell you what I saw. There were blobs of shiny red paint that looked like fresh blood, smears and shapes that resembled body matter. Shark teeth were used to frame one painting. There was the depiction of a cartoon character being force fed in a mental institution, lots of patterns and textures (like those creepy, miniature and crunchy craft store trees used in dioramas). And in some of the pieces there were glimpses of architectural drawings and maps that felt like man's attempt to control the violent forces in nature.

I left this event thinking about the show's title and wondering specifically about humans who prey on other humans. Are some of us natural predators and others, natural prey? I also wondered which came first for Sue, the obsession or the paintings? Did she find the connective theme after she'd created several pieces or was it the other way around? I thought about the similarities between an art exhibition and a collection of short stories.

The second event was the Indian Fair & Market at the Heard Museum in Phoenix. This is an annual event where hundreds of artists and artisans display Native American art. There were traditional dances and storytelling, fry bread, tons of jewelry, sculpture, paintings.

I began to feel uneasy as I watched the dancing. The dancers were children and adults dressed in traditional clothing and the audience clapped for them in between bites of hot dogs and Sno Cones. It was carnivalesque. Many people in the audience looked well-heeled and they wore expensive pieces of native jewelry made of silver, turquoise and coral.

I felt uneasy, too, as I walked around the booths. A good portion of the art had themes of oppression, nationalism, genocide, "otherness". So my question is this--How does an artist from a community that has been marginalized and unfairly treated celebrate the traditions of her culture without being romantic or essentialist? How does she deal with the violence perpetrated against her community in a new way? And when does she get to think about broader issues like the forces of predator and prey in the natural world?

It may be unfair to compare these events. One was at a gallery while the other was set up outside with vendor booths. But the difference was striking to me. It was the difference between decorative arts and artistic innovation. I felt pushed to do better in my own work.

An Art Show Not to be Missed

Sue Chenoweth's show, "Predator and Prey," opened on Friday, February 20th at Bragg's Pie Factory in Phoenix. In a New Times review, the reviewer wrote, "Chenoweth's art assails the senses to the point that you want to look away from the eye-searing colors and grotesque, bloody shapes. But you just can't. And the artist has complete power over the audience. She is the predator, and the audience is the prey, struggling to excape from the emotional hold her works have on the viewer."

The show is open this weekend at Bragg's Pie Factory on Friday, March 6th from 6:00-10:00 p.m.; Saturday March 7th from 10:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m.; Sunday March 8th from 12 noon - 6:00 p.m.

The 2002 piece above, "Splendid" is acrylic, ink, graphite, and letroset on panel. It's from her website www.schenoweth.com. I hope to have Sue post on this blog in the future about her process and life as an artist and teacher.

Elizabeth Alexander at Busboys & Poets in D.C.

If you get a chance, go hear the inaugural poet read her work on Wednesday, February 25th at Busboys & Poets in D.C. More info on the event here.

Elizabeth is fierce. Lucille Clifton once said that Elizabeth is so fierce, she could have stopped writing after publishing The Venus Hottentot. Here's a cute video of a young woman reading the title poem from that book.

Barnes & Noble Bookfair

If you have time, come to the Barnes & Noble Bookstore at Chandler Fashion Center next Tuesday, February 17th. I'll be reading my work and talking about writing outreach. For more information and a poster of the Bookfair events click here. Hope to see you there!

The President's Verse + Art going on in L.A.

Okay, so Maud Newton links to a NYT post on Obama's poetry. It's on the right side of her site under "Remainders." The NYT found poems that the president published years ago in a now defunct literary magazine. How can you not love this man?

If I get the time, I'd love to go to L.A. for two events: The Pan African Film Festival and Raymond Shurtz's play, "Bohemian Cowboy," which begins running this month.