Welcome to another reading presented by the Saint Paul Almanac and Cracked Walnut, featuring readings by the city’s literary talent, including Greg Watson, Nicholas “Nick” Metcalf-Cetanzi (Yellow Hawk), Susan Downing, and Colin McDonald. Free/donations welcomed, all ages.
Meta Def is a twenty-six-year-old Saint Paul artist whose love for the art of the written word and various genres of music have added inspiration and emotion to his poetry and songwriting. His pieces, as he likes to call them, are his puzzles—pictures created to enlighten and entertain you. Rhythm is part of Meta Def’s soul, and his background in dancing (Popping/Boogaloo) has carried over to his writing, his style and cadences turning silence into music. This poet/emcee is versatile, incorporating his lifestyle of being a father, a carpenter, and a cook into his art—dreaming his painting and then painting his dream…one word at a time.
Danez Smith is a proud Cave Canem Fellow, two-time Pushcart Nominee, Best New Poets Nominee, survivor and avid twerker from Saint Paul, MN. He is the author of “hands on ya knees”, a chapbook published by Penmanship Books. His full-length collection, ‘[insert] Boy, will be published in 2014 by Yes Yes Books. His recent writing has appeared or is forthcoming in Ploughshares, Gertrude, Devil’s Lake, PANK, The Cortland Review, Four Way Review, Anti-, and elsewhere. Danez came into writing through poetry slams, and placed 6th in the world at the 2011 Individual World Poetry Slam and is the 2013 Rustbelt Midwest Regional Slam Champion. He is an assistant editor for Muzzle Magazine. He thinks you look good today, now werk!
Saint Paul musician, Joshua Turner a.k.a. deM atlaS, first began his journey as a frontman of an alt-rock band called The Argonauts. The experience was essential in helping to propel him into different textures of music ranging from folk to hip hop. Moved by art, spirituality & friendship, deM atlaS conveys through his music the duality between man & god, ignorance & brilliance, enlightenment & what is dim.
The Saint Paul Almanac is pleased to announce the first in its 2013–2014 season of acclaimed Lowertown Reading Jams, which celebrate the rich literary history of Minnesota’s capital city and the widely-popular genre of Spoken Word. Meet writers from the Givens Foundation for African American Literature’s Black Writers Collaborative Retreat Program—activists and community artist—as they share their fierce, unapologetic, bold, spicy and healing works. Stirring DNA threads plucked from the bayous of America, Haiti, Nigeria, Brazil, North Minneapolis, and around the globe, into a seasoned and savory word soup, sprinkled with sound and movement.
Tish Jones, Community Engagement Director for the Saint Paul Almanac, is a spoken word artist, writer, educator, organizer, and activist in the Twin Cities. She has worked as a teaching artist with Pillsbury House Theater, Intermedia Arts, Plymouth Christian Youth Center, MacPhail Center for Music, Minneapolis Public Schools (Arts for Academic Achievement), Kulture Klub, and many other arts organizations. She received the 2009 Artist of the Year Award from City Pages and was Female Spoken Word Artist of the Year at the Minnesota Spoken Word Association’s Urban Griots Awards in 2009.
One of the things that I love about Saint Paul is its wealth of authors, poets and storytellers. As much time as I spend basking in the solitary glow of my screen, I love to break away, get out, and hear real people tell real stories and read from real books. We are so lucky here in Saint Paul. Maybe it’s something in the water…we have so many good writers and an audience that loves and supports them. Tonight was just one of 25 coming nights of literary treasure.
Featuring writers published in the 2014 Saint Paul Almanac reading their poems & stories in venues around the city. Events are free and all ages. Be among the first to get hold of a copy of the eighth edition of the Almanac! Readings hosted by Cracked Walnut.
The Golden Thyme Coffee Café and the Saint Paul Almanac are pleased to announce the “Soul Sounds Open Mic,” hosted by Tish Jones! Every Thursday from 6 p.m.–8 p.m., first Thursdays also see a special writing workshop at 5 p.m. All ages are welcome, and there is no cover charge. This is a listing of the 4th quarter events in 2013.
2014 Saint Paul Almanac photo contributor George Roedler (pages 331 and 394) came to our launch party on September 12 with his camera, and shared the following images with the Almanac. Access Jack Steinmann’s 30-image album from the launch party. Expect more blog posts about the photographers and illustrators of the 2014 Almanac soon!
Be among the first to own the eighth edition of the award-winning Saint Paul Almanac on Thursday, September 12, 2013! Come to our launch party for the 2014 Saint Paul Almanac on Thursday September 12th, 2013 at 7 p.m. til late. Hear 2014 Almanac authors read their work, check out the opening of our month-long art exhibit, and listen to live music! The launch party will takes place in Lowertown, Saint Paul, at the AZ Gallery, Black Dog Coffee & Wine Bar, and Clouds in Water Zen Center, at 308 Prince Street, Saint Paul, MN 55101. Food and refreshments available. All are welcome. No cover. Donations gratefully accepted.
Mizna brought a diverse group of established and emerging writers and performers to the Lowertown Reading Jam stage. With that Homeland Security dictum “if you see something, say something” ringing in their ears, Mizna’s group of Arab American and Muslim writers gave voice to their own experience of diverse homelands. The evening was hosted by performance artist and Mizna rep Moheb Soliman, who presented his own work along with the work of Robert Farid Karimi, Kathryn Haddad, Nimo Farah, Willie Nour, Niny Salem, Jna Shelomith, Sarah Thamer and percussionist Khaldoun Samman.
Help us to SAVE OUR STORIES by supporting Saint Paul Almanac’s literary and visual artists, and filmmakers.
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