Urban Word NYC

Summer Institute on Social Justice and Applied Poetics
July 8th – August 14th
Presented by Urban Word NYC and Bowery Arts & Science

1: ¡Revoliterature! The Poetry of Resistance & Change

This literature seminar will explore the writings of poets and activists who have used their art as a tool to create change.  Each week, Urban Word NYC mentors will select a poet that has synthesized the gap between art and activism, as well as lead students through writing exercises that will transform their own narratives into vehicles of liberation.  Poets studied include José Martí, Martín Espada, Aimé Cesairé, Gabeba Baderoon, Nathalie Handal, Suheir Hammad, Ethridge Knight, and Sonia Sanchez.

Urban Word NYC: Tuesdays July 8 – Aug. 12th 4:30 – 6:30PM

242 W. 27th St [btw. 7 & 8 Ave]

2: Write the Power: Poetry & Social Justice Master Class & Performance Series

This workshop will include lectures from well-known poets and writers who have used their art as an agent of change.  Students will have the rare opportunity to work with Amiri Baraka, Sapphire, Beau Sia, Sapphire and others to explore the ways that these poets have infused their writings and world view to address and resist oppression and conservativism.  Each night, these poets will give a performance and lecture that illuminates the role of poetry in creating change.

Master Classes @ Urban Word NYC: Wednesdays July 9th – August 13th 4:30 – 6:30PM

Performances @ Bowery Poetry Club: Wednesdays July 9th w/ Beau Sia, July 16th w/ Aracelis Girmay, July 23rd w/ Amiri Baraka, July 30th w/ Cornelius Eddy, August 6th w/ Sapphire, August 13th w/ Jared Paul . All shows 7:30 – 9PM

3: Applied Poetics: Making Poetry Work

Applied poetics is a poetics of urgency, relation and application.  This means that the study of poetry isn’t just about writing a well-crafted poem—it’s about how poets live through the poems they write.  Finding ample language in the diversity of shared vocabularies, our job is to bring charged words forward in all of their various usages, be they personal or political, abstract or confessional, performed or barely spoken.

Bowery Poetry Club: Thursdays July 10th – August 14th July 25th & Aug. 1st 4:30-6:30PM

308 Bowery in Manhattan (btw Houston & Bleeker)

Email shaun@urbanwordnyc.org to signup or call 212.352.3495 and please leave your full name, email, phone # and the workshop(s) you’re interested in signing up for. Word!

Urban Word NYC & the NY Knicks present SUMMER SLAM 2008:

NY Knicks & Liberty partner with the award-winning youth poetry organization, Urban Word NYC, to provide teens with a platform for their voices to be heard this summer! On the last Saturday of June, July & August teen poets, emcees and scholars are invited to slam their way to a number of prizes including laptops, cash scholarships, Knicks & Liberty tickets, concert tickets, iTunes gift cards, and many more.

Summer Slam
Saturday June 28, July 26 & August 30
3PM Nuyorican Poets Cafe (236 East 3rd St. btwn Ave B & C)
for more info & to register visit www.knickspoetryslam.com

Urban Word NYC + Dance Theatre Workshop Presents

Break the Mirror, Break the Image, Break the Mic

Two young and extremely talented poets from Urban Word NYC leave the mic behind as they perform their first solo shows:

The Insides Ain’t Pink Enough and Diary of a Young Black Girl

Featuring Marne Bruckner (UW Slam Team ‘07) & Alexis Marie (UW Slam Team ‘08)

Directed by Tamilla Woodard, with choreography by Nicco Annan

June 17th at 7:30pm
$5 tickets @ the door
Dance Theatre Workshop
219 W. 19th street
between 7th & 8th avenue

SPRING WORKSHOPS!

MANHATTAN!!

Spoken INC
Tahani Salah & Tara Betts
Mondays, March 17-May 26
You asked for it! You wanted help putting together a collection of work? Well Urban Word NYC has answered your calls. We’ll cover basic bookmaking concepts, layout, short writing exercises and editing so participants can create their own chapbooks with individualized artistry. We will have opportunities for you to be published in anthologies and online contests. This workshop will also include multiple special guests from slam champions to rock stars of the writing world that will talk about their experiences in publishing.

Next Level Lit
Erica Fabri
Tuesdays, March 18-May 27
We will examine the works of poets whose words are beyond the boundaries of the typical high school textbook and discuss the lives of writers who have used their craft to make inspirational movements and changes in society. Next Level Lit is the follow-up course for Creatively College Bound and open to all teens ages 13-19.

Word to Everything I Love
Willie Perdomo
Wednesdays, March 19-May 28
In this workshop, teens will explore personal voice, literary device and poetic forms in an uncensored, safe, student-centered environment. This workshop will be lead by award-winning poet Willie Perdomo, author of Where a Nickel Costs a Dime and Smoking Lovely, which won the 2004 PEN American Beyond Margins Award.

Women Reborn through Popular Music, Media and Culture
DJ Reborn
Thursdays, March 20-May 29
This workshop hopes to define and critically examine the ever-evolving idea of womanhood and its expression through various artistic mediums. By encouraging and educating young women through djing, lyric analysis, collage art and writing, we will unearth the history of women’s contributions to these mediums while implementing skills to empower young women not only in the arts but in the art of everyday life. Acclaimed female DJ and poet, DJ Reborn facilitates this workshop for teen WOMEN.

To sign up email shaun@urbanwordnyc.org or call 212-352-3495

Urban Word NYC
242 W. 27th Street, btw 7th & 8th Ave
1 Train to 28th St. or C/E to 23rd St.

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BROOKLYN!!
Urban Word Brooklyn Free Spring Workshops @ Crown Heights Live!

Who’s The Man?
Roger Bonair-Agard
Mondays, March 17-May 26
Facilitated by celebrated poet Roger Bonair-Agard, this workshop is exclusively for teenaged young men. This will be a safe space for each and every XY chromosomal being to tell it like it is. Through critical media analysis, creative writing and performance exercises, concepts of masculinity and femininity, as well, will be deconstructed, thoroughly examined and beautifully re-imagined.

Women Reborn
Trish Hicks
Tuesdays, March 18-May 27
In this workshop, critical artistic skills – close reading, lyric analysis, collage building, creative writing and turntabling – become the doorway to discovering women’s contribution to these mediums and our world. Acclaimed writer and educator-activist, Trish Hicks, facilitates this workshop for teen WOMEN.

Next Level Lit
Erica Fabri
Thursdays, March 20-May 29
We will examine the works of poets whose words are beyond
the boundaries of the typical high school textbook and discuss the lives of writers
who have used their craft to make inspirational movements and changes in society.
Next Level Lit is the follow-up course for Creatively College Bound and open to all
teens ages 13-19.

To sign up email marc@urbanwordnyc.org or call 212-352-3495

1251 Prospect Place
between Schenectady & Troy
BROOKLYN!
A/C or 4 train to Utica Ave

Thanks for making the 10th Annual Teen Poetry Slam on March 1st a HUGE success. The poets - amazing. The audience - gigantic. Afrika Bambataa and Russell Simmons on the same stage in the same night? Crazy.

Now, a particular cameraperson didn’t technically didn’t have um, “permission” to film, but if you weren’t there, or even if you were but can’t get enough of the performances, we’re sure a lil’ clever youtubery will help you come up with something…

To sign up email signup@urbanwordnyc.org or call 212-352-3495 Space is limited.

Spit for a chance to REPRESENT NYC at the National Teen Poetry Slam in Washington D.C. All expenses paid!!
We honor all styles of poetry, spoken word, hip-hop and manifesto. To perform you must be 13-19 years old. When signing up, please specify which Preliminary Slam you’d would like to read at.

Preliminary & Semifinal Slam $5 teens/$7 adults/Free for performers
NEED DIRECTIONS, visit: www.urbanwordnyc.org

PRELIMINARY SLAMS:

Friday February 8th 6-9PM
The Point in the Bronx

Saturday February 9th 3-6PM
Nuyorican Poets Café

Sunday February 10th 3-6PM
Bowery Poetry Club

Monday February 11th 6-9PM
The Poetry Project at St. Mark’s Church

Wednesday February 13th 6-9PM
BAMcafé in Brooklyn

SEMIFINAL SLAMS:

Friday February 15th 6-9PM
Dance Theater Workshop

Friday February 22nd 6-9PM
The Point in the Bronx

Saturday February 23rd 3-6PM
Nuyorican Poets Café

Sunday February 24th 3-6PM
Bowery Poetry Club

GRAND SLAM FINAL

Saturday March 1st 7-10PM
Washington Irving High School
10th Anniversary Honorees: Afrika Bambaataa, K~Swift, Tahani Salah
Special guest host! Celebrity judges! Def Poets and special performances!
Beats by DJ Reborn!
This show is not to be missed.

BUY TICKETS NOW ON OUR MYSPACE!

KNICKS SEMIFINALS!

THE POINT SEMI-FINAL
FRIDAY January 11th at 6PM
@ The Point in The Bronx
(for directions to The Point visit www.urbanwordnyc.org or call 212-352-3495)

NUYORICAN SEMI-FINAL
SATURDAY January 12th at 3PM
@ the Nuyorican Poets Café
(for directions to the Nuyorican visit www.urbanwordnyc.org or call 212-352-3495)

BOWERY SEMI-FINAL
SUNDAY January 13th at 4PM
@ The Bowery Poetry Club
(for directions to The Bowery visit www.urbanwordnyc.org or call 212-352-3495)

WINTER WORKSHOPS
MANHATTAN!!

URBAN WORD NYC Performance Intensives!!

These performance intensives are aimed at making your performance intense! Whether getting your skills tight for the 10th Annual NYC Teen Poetry Slam, or practicing for your own development, these workshops will take your poems, raps, rants and manifestos to the next level. These workshops are FREE for teens!!

**Performance Poetry Boot Camp with Mahogany Browne
TUESDAYS 4:30 – 6:30 January 8, 15, 22 & 29

This is a performance poetry intensive. Learn how to ignite the crowd or make them cry with your voice, your words and your movements.

Mahogany L. Browne, slammistress & Coach of the Nuyorican Grand Slam Team. She is the owner of PoetCD.com, Co-founder of SOUNDBiTES Poetry Festival & Jam On It Poetry & publisher of Penmanship Books (home of women’s anthology HIS RIB).

**”How to Rock a Poem” with Rives
THURSDAYS 4:30 – 6:30 January 10, 17, 24 & 31

Stage-fright sucks–come learn how to get over it. Good poems are hot–come learn how to write them, customize them for your voice, and deliver them with presence. All levels welcome.

Rives has appeared on the last 4 seasons of HBO’s “Def Poetry Jam,” and he was a 2004 National Poetry Slam champion.

To sign up email signup@urbanwordnyc.org or call 212-352-3495

Urban Word NYC
242 W. 27th Street, btw 7th & 8th Ave
1 Train to 28th St. or C/E to 23rd St.

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BROOKLYN!!
Urban Word Brooklyn Free Winter Workshops @ Crown Heights Live!

**T.R.U.C.E. (Teens Reaching Understanding by Communicating Effectively) with K~Swift
MONDAYS 4:30 – 6:30 January 7th to February 25th

This program for TEEN MEN seeks to resolve conflicts between members of rival gangs through engaging members in in-depth discussions, personal creative writing, and performance-based spoken word and hip-hop. This goal is achieved by equipping young people with knowledge of the history of U.S. gangs, the relationships between hip-hop and gang culture, and critical investigation into local gang violence and media related to it.

**Women Reborn Through Music, Media, and Culture with Trish Hicks
TUESDAYS 4:30 – 6:30 January 8th to February 26th

In this workshop, critical artistic skills – turntabling, close reading, lyric analysis, collage building and creative writing– become the doorway to discovering women’s contribution to these mediums and our world. Radical poet and educator, Trish Hicks facilitates this workshop for teen WOMEN.

**From the Page to the Stage with Jive Poetic
THURSDAYS 4:30 – 6:30 January 10th to February 28th

Slam champion and DJ, Jive Poetic will teach students how to take their writing to the next level in performance. This workshop is a must for teens entering the 10th Annual Urban Word NYC Teen Poetry Slam!

To sign up email marc@urbanwordnyc.org or call 212-352-3495

1251 Prospect Place
between Schenectady & Troy
BROOKLYN!
A/C or 4 train to Utica Ave

Spread the WORD:

FREE COLLEGE FAIR & $100,000 in scholarships!!

2nd Annual Urban Word/NY Knicks College Fair and Open Audition

SAT. NOV. 3rd 10AM - 5PM

Hammerstein Ballroom (311 W. 34th St. btw 8 & 9 Ave)

This year’s college fair will present over 50 colleges, universities and community organizations, ranging from CUNY and SUNY schools to historically black colleges. Join Urban Word NYC and the NY Knicks for a day of FREE college recourses, live entertainment and a chance to win over $100,000 in scholarship money. Come to watch, or come to spit– the open audition is the first step in the Knicks Poetry Slam series that offers scholarships, workshops, prizes and performance opportunities. All teen poets, emcees, singers and spoken word artists are encouraged to come perform a one-minute poem/rap/song for a chance to compete in the slam! Please come early, and visit www.knickspoetryslam.com or www.urbanwordnyc.org for all contest guidelines.