Archive for the ‘Events’ Category
The Poet Experience at the Dallas Festival of Books & Ideas
WordSpace Presents at Dallas Festival of Books & Ideas
When: Saturday, June 1, 11:00 a.m.
What: The Poet Experience, presented by WordSpace
Listen to local poets B Randall and Opalina Salas read from their work, talk about how they got started, what inspires their poetry, the experience of hosting poetry events, and more. Moderated by Monika Bell.
Where: J. Erik Jonsson Central Library
1515 Young St. 75201
B Randall 
Opalina Salas
| B Randall, is an Author, Director, Host, Poet, Producer, and Visionary. B Randall 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. She currently serves on the board of directors for WordSpace. 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. Opalina Salas is a poet, a former Oak Cliff bookstore owner, an editor of femme lit zine, Let It Bleed, and creator and host of Poets on X+ reading series held in her beloved home of Oak Cliff TX. She serves as Vice President on the board of WordSpace Dallas. She is a regular contributor to The Mad Swirl, and was a featured performer at The Texas Beat Poetry Festival 2012, Forest Fest in Lamesa TX in 2011, and a participant in the first annual New Orleans Poetry Fest of 2016. Her Poem was featured in CITY OF ____________: DISPATCHES FROM 16 DALLAS POETS, she has been a performer for OPP: Other People’s Poetry, and has featured at Pandora’s Box and Arte y Pan Dulce a PoC Art Show. She is a host and co- conspirator for ATTACK OF THE POETS, an annual multi day festival hosting poets from around the US, bridging the gaps between various literary communities far and wide. She has been writing and performing in and around the DFW area for 20 years with her comrade, partner and fellow poet, Carlos Salas, and got her start at the legendary Club Clearview Dallas Poetry Slam. Her collection of work, Black Sparrow Dress from Mad Swirl Press was released this April. Photo Credit Dan Rodriguez |
CJ Critt @ Poets on X+
When: Friday, March 22, 8 pm
Where: Mighty Fine Arts, 409A N. Tyler St.
Hosted by: Opalina and Carlos Salas
Open Mic to follow: Sign up at 7:30 pm
Join us for the thrilling CJ Critt! An award winning creative artist and producer, educator: writing, audio, performance and promotion projects. Her audio narration workshops are among the most popular in the metroplex. You can check out more about CJ here.
Poets on X+ is a reading series founded and hosted by Opaline and Carlos Salas.
Martha Heimberg Salon: Robert Bly w/ special guest Laney Yarber
What: Martha Heimberg Salon
Topic: Robert Bly
When: Thursday, May 23, 7 pm
Where: Private residence
RSVP: Wordspace@wordspace.us
Special Guest Performance! Laney Yarber presents her latest work Pedestrian Dance.
Former long-time WordSpace Board Member Martha Heimberg facilitates an evening of analytical review and comparative investigations of works by Robert Bly. All with her inimitable warm hospitality and refreshments provided by WordSpace.
Martha Heimberg has been writing about theater, the arts and historic preservation for over 40 years for numerous Texas newspapers and magazines, including, D Magazine, Texas Monthly, and The Texas Tribune. She currently is a contributing theater critic and arts writer for Theater Jones and Dallas Weekly, and is a member of the American Theater Critics Association. She has won multiple awards from the Dallas Press Club and the Texas Historic Commission and is a founding member of the Dallas Fort Worth Theater Critics Forum, WordSpace, and the Historic Preservation League (now Preservation Dallas). Founder and coordinator of DART’s Poetry in Motion program, she currently serves on the board of directors of Junius Heights Historic District Association and Friends of Aldredge House. Her degrees in English and comparative literature are from Southern Methodist University. For over 40 years, she taught English and creative studies at Richland College, Southern Methodist University and Northwood University. She retired from full-time teaching in 2015, and now teaches a twice-weekly adult literacy class at Literacy Instruction for Texas (LIFT). She’s also a messy and ardent amateur painter, printer and potter.
SPECIAL PERFORMANCE!Pedestrian Dance. Award winning performance artist Laney Yarber presents her most recent work. Based on the dance theory and performance work of Steve Paxton.
Poet Robert Bly stands out even among the celebrated, revolutionary generation of American artists who burst forth in the 1950s; A Thousand Years of Joy charts Bly’s singular path from farmer’s son on a wintry Minnesota farm to radical anti-Vietnam War activist to wild man of the 1990’s men’s movement. The bespectacled, white-haired Bly is every inch the politically and spiritually engaged mystic, seeking each moment’s fervid heart as well as the eternal, intuitive bedrock beneath our cultivated ideologies and “personas.” He was one of the first to translate Pablo Neruda, Rumi and other ecstatic Sufi poets, and his work with Joseph Campbell—exploring the metaphorical, psychological terrain of myth and ritual—led to the unexpected pop culture phenomenon of Iron John. A confounding whirling dervish, Bly’s life embodies the quest for personal honesty and shared truth.
Filmed over four years in five states and two countries, his film features Louise Erdrich, Jeff Gordinier, Donald Hall, Edward Hirsch, Jane Hirshfield, Garrison Keillor, James Lenfestey, Philip Levine, Michael Meade, Mark Rylance, Martin Shaw, Martin Sheen, Gary Snyder, Tracy K. Smith, Gioia Timpanelli, Lewis Hyde, Martin Prechtel, Roger Bonair-Agard, and other luminaries from the world of culture.
Poet Jane Hirshfield says, “Robert Bly, as few other poets have done, has changed the world for all who now share it.” Bly’s prolific output has nourished the American cultural landscape for over half a century and influenced countless generations of writers and thinkers.
Director Haydn Reiss has made a series of documentaries on poets that have aired on PBS, including William Stafford & Robert Bly: A Literary Friendship and the award-winning Rumi: Poet of the Heart. Reiss’ 2009 film, Every War Has Two Loserswas a 2011 winner at the Canadian International Film Festival and an official selection of the 2011 United National Film Festival.
“Robert is mercurial, no matter what you think you know about him, he will surprise you again and again,” says Reiss. “Bly’s metamorphosis from Midwestern farm boy to global troubadour, and all the troublemaking and gift-giving in between, is what keeps drawing me back to him as a subject.”S
Silver Skull at Artspeak Series
Who: Silver Skull
When:Friday March 8. 2019
What:Wordspace Artspeak Series
Where:Mighty Fine Arts 409A N.Tyler 75208
Oral Fixation @ Moody Performance Hall
Oral Fixation’s last show of 2018 is around the corner! That’s right. On Wednesday, October 24th, 2018 @ 8pm, seven of the audience’s favorite stories from Season 6 flesh out a simply sensational evening. Whether you’re a longtime fan of true stories told onstage or a total newbie, get ready to be taken on a wild emotional ride. Make a night of it in the Arts District while catching up on the best stories from Season 6. $35 tickets are on sale now!“Best of Season 6” will be held at 8:00pm on Wednesday 10/24 at Dallas City Performance Hall, 2501 Flora Street, Dallas, TX 75201. Show runs 75 minutes with no intermission. $5 self-parking is available at One Arts Plaza or park free at a meter on Ross. Tickets are $35 and can be purchased online or at the door.
Poets on X+ Reading Series presents Gayle Bell
WHAT: Gayle Bell and open mic to follow
WHEN: February 15, 2019
WHERE: Mighty Fine Arts Gallery 409A N. Tyler Street Dallas, TX 75208
Sign up at 7:30, Feature at 8. Open Mic follows. Light refreshments and wine will be provided, BYOB
Lily Taylor @ ArtSpeak
WHAT: ArtSpeak
WHEN: Saturday, November 17, 8:00pm
WHERE: Mighty Fine Arts, 409A N. Tyler St. 75208
WordSpace presents performance art in conjunction with Sara Cardona’s art exhibition at Mighty Fine Arts.
Lily Taylor is an accomplished avant-pop chanteuse who transports you into an ethereal world. Her masterful voice, poetic lyrical looping and soundscape magic captures the imagination, entrancing audiences across America. Her diverse musical education from the College of Santa Fe in New Mexico contributes to her ability to captivate lovers of all musical experimentation. Learn more about Lily.
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.
