Poet Laureate of Carrboro, NC 2019 -2022 / 2019 Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellow
I am retiring this blog (fredjoiner.wordpress.com), because I have a new one over at fredjoiner.com, it is still a work in progress but bear with me as I get things together. I have one new post up…it is a piece that i was thinking about since i previewed the Mel Bochner exhibit at the National Gallery of Art here in DC.
I hope that you will follow me over to my new space fredjoiner.com.
Filmed by Jati Lindsay
Directed by DJ UNDERDOG
Management Edward G. Robinson
etc
one of the giants of DC-theater Dr. Sybil Williams (Roberts) has a new play coming up at The Source, let’s support this!
Here is the excerpted info:
For full press release click here
Contact information
(202) 204-7760 / inseries@inseries.org
Contact: Emily Morrison or Mattias Kraemer
The In Series presents
Searching for Gabriela
Searching for Gabriela, a theatrical evening about poet Gabriela Mistral – produced by the In Series, at Source, 1835 14th St. NW, Washington, DC 20009.
Performances:
Friday April 16 at 8pm,
Saturday 4/17 at 8pm,
Sunday 4/18 at 3pm,
Thursday 4/22 at 7:30pm,
Friday 4/23 at 8pm
and Saturday 4/24 at 3pm.
Tickets: $31 (General Admission) $28 (Senior) $16 (Student) Box Office: 202-204-7763 or www.inseries.org.
Thursday 4/22 performance followed by Audience Discussion as part of OUT at InSeries.
Saturday 4/24 performance includes announcement of winners of the Finding Gabriela DC Youth Poetry Contest, followed by an informal gathering. Half of the proceeds for the Sunday April 18 and Friday April 23 shows will be donated to the Chilean American Foundation (CAF) to support
children affected by the February earthquake in Chile.
____________________
Washington DC (March 24, 2010) – The In Series announces Searching for Gabriela, directed by Abel Lopez with an original storyline in English by DC playwright Sybil R. Williams. The work brings to life the passionate poetry of Gabriela Mistral, Latin America’s first Nobel Prize winner (1945 for Literature) in a bilingual tapestry of words, music and movement, performed alternating English and Spanish.
“Mistral was a fierce feminist warrior of the mid 1900’s, whose poetry celebrates the spirit of women in the beauty of the land, the laughter of children, and the redemption of loss,” says writer Sybil Williams,who draws inspiration from Ursula K. Le Guin’s powerful translations of Mistral’s poetry. This 21st century look at her magnificent work is revealed in performance by Jenifer Deal, Monalisa Arias, Karen Morales, Lorena Sabogal, vocalist Cecilia Esquivel and pianists/music directors Carla Hübner and Jose Caceres.
Both legend and myth in her home country of Chile, Mistral, born in1889, began writing poetry as a child. Her celebrated poetry about children and motherhood has long been a standard part of the school curriculum throughout Latin America and her memory is honored in Chile with streets, squares and schools in her name. Although her formal education ended at age 12, she began teaching at 15 in remote rural schools, was eventually nominated to direct several liceos (including the most prestigious girls’
school in Chile) and attained international fame and recognition as an educator. Five collections of her poetry and prose were published in her lifetime, and she wrote all her life in a consistently intense and passionate voice on themes of nature, betrayal, love, sorrow and recovery, travel, and Latin American identity. She left Chile in 1926, and like many Latin American artists and intellectuals, served as a consul working in Naples, Madrid, Lisbon, Nice, Petrópolis, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Veracruz and New
York. She was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1945, and returned to her beloved Chile a few times, only as a much acclaimed visitor, living out her life in essence as an exile. Gabriela Mistral died in New York in 1957.
Sybil R. Williams (Writer) – is a DC based playwright and dramaturg. Her work has been professionally produced by ETA Creative Arts Theatre (Chicago), National Black Theatre (New York) and Kuntu Theatre (Pittsburgh). For the In Series, Ms Williams most recently wrote the script for the highly successful historical/musical play From U Street to the Cotton Club. Her play Dream of Ophelia was nominated for a prestigious JEFF award in 2000, and Liberating Prayer: A Lovesong For Mumia has been published in August Wilson And The Black Aesthetic.
The In Series (www.inseries.org), in its 10th Season as an independent organization, is Washington, DC’s home for distinctive performing arts programming, encompassing original, innovative approaches to
classical music, with generous helpings of theatre, poetry and dance.
Please Click on Flier for a larger view and for more details.
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Here is a message from Dr.Randall Horton about the event:
Please come out, all are welcome regardless of whether you can make a donation or not. Come out and support one of the oldest Black presses in the country….also, please pass around and tell your friends….we need your help to make this a success….
Anacostia Cherry Blossom Festival Press Release
Come be a part of Anacostia’s premiere spring event, the Anacostia Cherry Blossom Festival to be held on Saturday, April 11th, 2009 from 10 am to 4 pm. The festival draws residents and tourists from throughout the city. It will be a day packed with activities, including an Opening Ceremony & Tree Dedication, an Arts Walk, live Music and more. The majority of the days’ activities will take place along Good Hope Road S.E. toward the Anacostia Park Entrance and on up the 1900-2000 Block ofMartin Luther King Jr. Avenue~ The Historic Anacostia Corridor.
The Main Street Anacostia Promotions Committee strives to create a thriving and robust business district for its residents, while encouraging folks from other neighborhoods and towns to come experience what we have to offer. We are thrilled to have the support of some great sponsors including DC Lottery, Environmental Design and Construction, Four Points Properties, ARCH Development Corp, 1918-1922 Partnership LLP, Venable and Anacostia River Realty.
The day kicks off at 10 am in the Anacostia Park with a cherry blossom tree planting and dedication as part of the National Cherry Blossom Festival’s Neighborhood Tree Planting Program, presented by The Home Depot and supported by the DC Lottery and the DC Chamber of Commerce. Tree dedications will be awarded to Phil Pannell, Marion Barry and Butch Hopkins by the Anacostia Garden Club. The festival continues with live jazz music by The Young Lions at Honfleur Gallery at 1241 Good Hope Road at 1 pm. More music can be heard throughout the day from 11am – 11pm at Eric Whitehead’s JazzNSoul Café, located at 2020 Shannon Place S.E. Musicians include SamO & JFC, Earl Carter, Glenn Arnett, Jamie Jones, Paul Chew, Nonya Whitley, DJ JAMMER and many more!
The Art Walk begins just a short distance from the Anacostia Metro with the grand opening of Vivid Solutions, a new photographic gallery located at 1227 Good Hope Road S.E. Sakura: Awakened by Spring is a group show of photography all submitted with the Spring theme in mind. It is full of color, nature and some unexpected visions. Outside in the open lot next to the gallery is the Art + Craft Market, open all day with local artists ready to sell their work. Please stop by and see the assortment of jewelry, paintings, books and other crafts. At the market, Curbside Café offers their homemade burritos, and pick up an Anacostia Cherry Blossom Festival t-shirt as well. Other food is available along the Art Walk; check out the Jamaican cafe or renowned Soul Food restaurant on MLK Jr. Ave.
Continue on the Art Walk to the storefront at 2204 MLK Jr. Ave SE where you will find a Pink Line Project exhibit in collaboration with Critical Exposure, with curatorial assistance from Chanel Compton. Don’t forget to also check out the Cherry Blast event the night before the festival on Friday April 10th from 9pm-2am, also hosted by The Pink Line Project. Cherry Blast highlights fine art, live music, dance, a DJ, fashion, anime, and origami, presented in association with the National Cherry Blossom Festival and through funding from the DC Commission for the Arts and Humanities.
Alison Spain will paint “live” in a raw studio space on the next stop on the Art Walk at 2200 MLK Jr. Ave S.E. She is offering a charcoal drawing workshop for area youth from 2pm – 4pm; all are welcomed to join. Spain’s colorful abstract paintings are larger than life in both size and dynamism. Upstairs is a showcase of eight selected artists invited to use the space to display their work in any way possible. Don’t miss all this creative energy!
Stop into the American Poetry Museum at 1922 MLK Jr Ave, to hear some live readings by local poets. The current exhibit, Beats to the Rhyme: Visual Representations of Hip-Hop Poetry features works by Franc Rosario, Sami Miranda, Fred Joiner, Howard Fleming, Kenneth Robinson, and Nia Smith. The next space on the Art Walk is at 1231 Good Hope Road S.E. at Arch Training Center, showing local student photography in Spring Visions and Inspirations. Just a few doors down at Honfleur Gallery, take in Darren Smith’s solo exhibition Cross & Ladder. This DC-Based artist pushes the boundaries of photography with handmade photo mosaics and a few large installation pieces.
Stay tuned for updates, directions and more info. Save the date: Anacostia Cherry Blossom Festival, April 11, 2009 from 10am to 4pm! For more information on the Anacostia Cherry Blossom Festival and Art Walk, go to www.archdevelopment.org/events.html. For more information on the Cherry Blast event, see www.pinklineproject.com.
I did write a poem yesterday you can find it here at one of my other blogs. enjoy!
So i missed a day, yesterday …..trying to write a poem a day is not easy, especially for someone like me whose proces relies so heavily on procrastination… WordPress doesn’t help because you can actually post date your entries, which i was so tempted to do to make it appear that i had indeed written a poem yesterday…
loving
you is the twisting,
the torment of hope.
the music of the heart,
slowed to a dirge,
with no promise
of a second line
in sight, a soaked
handkerchief
with no more room
for tears.
the burn of waiting
for your lips to rest against
mine,like wildfire
So this is NaPoMo or is it NaPoWriMo (or is it both)? and the challenge is to write a poem a day…
Oh boy…
here goes nothing..or everything
Fooled
for the woman I asked to share some sun with me
On this day the sun
puckered her tricky lips. she makes
an invitation for us
to warm our platonic skin
in her simple language
Convinced, I raise my gullible lips
to taste-
her lips change to a smile
as she turns her cheek,
beds down,
sliding under the sheet
of the horizon for the night