Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Black Futurists Speak


Black Futurists Speak: New Black Writing at Litcrawl

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Black Futurists Speak NewBlackWriting
We’re getting ready for the next edition of Black Futurists Speaks this weekend, Saturday 19th as part ofSan Francisco’s Litcrawl.
For this session we’re highlighting new forms, text and writing techniques that expand the boundaries of African Diaspora writing. I’m proud as fuck of this lineup of new features and returning favorites Sonya Renee Taylor, Shawn Taylor, Maisha Z Johnson, Jezebel Delilah X, James Cagney and me. Yes I’m reading at this one.
The event is free and takes place during the 1st leg of the Litcrawl at Casanova Lounge. Check the bios and more info then come through for a beer and some damned good writing.
Black Futurist Speak: New Black Writing
Saturday, October 19th
6-7pm
Casanova Lounge
527 Valencia St San Francisco, CA 94110

Sonya Renee Taylor is a National and International poetry slam champion who has shared her work and on stages across the US, New Zealand, Australia, England, Scotland, Sweden, Canada and the Netherlands. Believing that art is a vehicle for social change, Sonya is founder of The Body is Not An Apology and the creator of the RUHCUS Project (Radically Unapologetic Healing Challenge 4 US) Her poetry appears in numerous journals and anthologies including Spoken Word Revolution: Redux, Growing Up Girl, Off Our Backs, Beltway Quarterly, Just Like A Girl, X Magazine and On the Issues Magazine. Her first collection of poetry, A Little Truth on Your Shirt was released by GirlChild Press in 2010. Sonya’s work has been translated into Dutch, Swedish and German, used as curriculum in universities across the country and abroad, and as a tool for community and national action for organizations such as the Black AIDS Institute, HIV Campus Education, and Choice USA. Ms. Renee has also seen commercial success with appearances on HBO, Oxygen Network, BET, CNN, and MTV. http://www.sonya-renee.com/
Shawn Taylor is a lecturer on interdisciplinary humanities, critical cultural studies, media, propaganda, popular culture and speculative fiction. Taylor is a columnist at ebony.com and is the author of Big Black Penis: Misadventures in Race and Masculinity, and People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm. His next book, LovePunk Manifesto, is a celebration of resistance. He lives in the San Francisco Bay area with his wife and daughter and can be found sporadically on Twitter. http://twitter.coom/reallovepunk.
Maisha Z. Johnson is a queer poet and activist of Trinidadian descent with an MFA from Pacific University and a BA in creative writing from SFSU. She has recently published the chapbook Split Ears as Writer in Residence at West Oakland’s Aggregate Space Art Gallery. Her work appears in numerous journals and has won 1st place at The Lit Slam and Portuguese Artists Colony’s Live Writing Competition. Maisha leads arts and healing workshops with LGBTQ survivors of violence at Community United Against Violence (CUAV). She explores the relationship between writing and social change on her blog athttp://www.maishazjohnson.com/.
Jezebel Delilah X is a Faerie Princess Mermaid Gangsta for the Revolution, Hot English Instructor, and contemporary writer who uses literature, performance, storytelling, and flirting to advance her politics of radical love, socioeconomic justice, anti-racism, and community empowerment. JDX is the creator and co-host of Oakland’s monthly open-mic night, Culture Fuck, and is a founding member of the Deviant Type Press collective.
Oakland native James Cagney is a Cave Canem and VONA Fellow. He was a featured artist in Midnight In Mumbai, Miko Kuro’s Midnight Tea, Celebration of the Word and San Francisco Public Library. His poems appeared in Ambush Review, Oaklandlocal.com and Sparring with the Beatnik Ghosts.
Kwan Booth is an award winning writer and digital strategist focusing on the intersection of communications, community, art and technology. He is the editor of “Black Futurists Speak: An Anthology of New Black Writing” and “Soul of Oakland: A People’s Guide to The Town” and the cofounder of Oaklandlocal.com and The Black Futurist Project. Kwan’s writing has won awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and been published in “CHORUS, a literary mixtape” and “Beyond the Frontier: African American Poets for the 21st Century.” He writes at http://boothism.org/.

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