Readings

Ruth Forman with Chrissy Anderson, Mahru Elahi, Beto Palomar & WritersCorps youth poets @ The Intersection

In the second of a four-part reading series, WritersCorps writer-teachers and youth poets share the stage with some of our most esteemed literary icons. In a truly multigenerational literary exchange, poet and filmmaker Ruth Forman (author ofWe Are The Young Musicians and Renaissance) joins us.

“Forman’s poems are alive and kicking; they pound and pulse with a hard-won sense of self, beauty, femininity, strength and righteous indignation…” - Booklist

Tuesday, February 22 , 7:30pm

$5-15/sliding scale

Intersection for the Arts

446 Valencia

Andrea Gibson & Suzy La Follette

@ The Dark Room

Suzy La Follette

She is a chainsaw packing, gender-role smacking, rooftop shouting poetista. She was the Grand Slam champion of the Flagstaff, AZ team in 2002, two months after her first performance Flagstaff National Poetry Slam Team in 2002 and 2003. She launched into performance poetry as if it were home. In her sophomore attempt, she placed sixth in the nation at the National Poetry Slam in Chicago, 2003. In two and a half years she has toured across the country performing at prestigious venues like the NYC Bowery Poetry Club and Bay Area LadyFest. It has been said that "she could spit a poem through a brick wall," and she has. She is a political, poetic warrior that will make you laugh, cry and infinitely change you. She silences audiences with her wit and extraordinary performance. Taylor Mali, The President of Poetry Slam Inc. says, "If you are searching for truth, listen. You will find it in Suzy La Follette." [Suzy's Website] [Suzy's Livejournal] Suzy La Follette photo by David Huang of Poetricdream.com

Andrea Gibson

Andrea Gibson rushed onto the poetry scene in 2000 as a member of the Denver Slam Team. Since then, it has been full speed ahead. Andrea is the four-time Denver Slam Champion, leading her team to a sixth-place finish at the National Poetry Slam in Chicago in 2003, and the 2004 finals in St. Louis where they took second place over all. She also finished fourth in the individual finals in St. Louis where she competed against the top slam poets in the nation. Coming a long way from an upbringing in rural Maine, Andrea is now known for her politics and is active in the Denver-area communities. She is a member of Vox Feminista, a performance tribe of radical political women bent on social change. Andrea has shared the stage with such names as Amy Goodman, Dennis Kucinich and Leslie Feinberg. She uses spoken word, political theatre and direct action to influence positive social movement. In her spare time she keeps a job as a Montessori pre-school teacher, during which she is careful to make sure children do not leave her classroom until they are well-versed on why it is not OK to kill Lady Bugs. [Andrea's Livejournal] Andrea Gibson photo by David Huang of Poetricdream.com

Monday, February 14th 8PM/$5-10

The Dark Room

2263 Mission Street (between 18th&19th)

Teen Poetry Slam @ ODC

The 9th Annual Youth Speaks Teen Poetry Slam embraces and celebrates youth culture in the Bay Area and beyond. We are proud to showcase the inspirational young voices of the next generation of leaders in the largest and most influential poetry festival of its kind.

The Teen Poetry Slam competition takes place in Preliminary, Semi-Final and Final phases. Teen performers will include winners from over 200 teen poets competing in the Bay Area preliminaries.

Poetry slams are Olympic style spoken word competitions, where poets present a 3 minute performance and are then scored on a scale of 1-10 by five randomly selected judges from the audience. Audience participation is essential, as it is often the poet who wins the crowd who also wins the competition. After 3 rounds, the poet with the highest cumulative score is pronounced the winner--or in this case the top finishers earn the right to compete in the Grand Slam Finals in March.

ODC Theater

Fri & Sat, Feb 11-12 at 7pm

$8 general & $4 under 20