[Peace] Aya de Leon - in-residence at Unit One/Allen Hall

[Laura Haber]

please forward:

Aya de Leon will be a Guest-in-Residence at Unit One/Allen Hall 9/7-9/12. Every
night of her residency she will be performing and leading workshops and
discussions. All programs are open to the public and take place in the south
rec room of Allen Hall, 1005 W. Gregory, Urbana. Call 333-8351 for more
information. See below for the full schedule.

Aya de Leon is a Black/Puerto Rican poet, spoken word performer, and teacher
who lives in the Bay Area. Her style ranges from saucy, biting political irony
to the lyrical faith of her prayer poetry. A graduate of Harvard University,
her work has been featured in Essence magazine and various anthologies. She has
been an artist in residence at Stanford and recently returned from touring with
the Hip Hop Theater All Stars. She has won slams at the Nuyorican Poets Café in
NYC and throughout the bay area. She has just released her first spoken word CD
and is working on her first novel.

Sunday, September 7
8:00pm – Opening Program: “Towards a new radical poetry aesthetic: how do we
keep spoken word hot & relevant?”
Beginning with an exploration of protest poetry of the '60s and '70s, she
discusses how poetry connected to current movements for social change needs to
do more than preach morals and rehash litanies of injustice.  She offers
samples of her work that put forth a new aesthetic, which provides powerful
social commentary with fresh combinations, metaphor, parody, boldness, music,
and storytelling.

Monday, September 8
7:00pm - "Valentine's Day Has Been Cancelled"
This spoken word set draws upon performance poems about love, sex, longing,
disappointment, and possibility.  Heartbreaking, hilarious, sexy and sober,
this journey is as political as it is personal, exploring media and societal
myths we have been taught about sex and love, as well as offering alternative
visions of satisfaction and sanity.
9:00pm – “Pouring your passion onto the page: how to have less drama and more
creativity in your life” - discussion

Tuesday, September 9
7:00pm – “Race, Racism, and Raising the Roof: A Spoken Word Workshop for People
of Color”
This drop-in workshop is open to all people of color. Through writing exercises
and performance, we will explore what it means to be a person of color...in the
world...in the US... in our own skin...
9:00pm – “Beyond "White" - Exploring European-American Identity through
Creative Writing and Spoken Word Performance” 
This workshop is open to anyone of European-American heritage.  Through writing
exercises, readings, and performance, we will explore what it means to be
European-American, paying special attention to ethnic and class diversity
within the European-American community, and how European-Americans fit into the
wider diverse community.

Wednesday, September 10
7:00pm - "How to be a woman without losing your mind" (open to all sexes)
In this spoken word set, Aya deconstructs issues of gender by posing
provocative questions:  What if women ran hip hop?  What if there was a cable
TV network dedicated to male sensitivity?  What if women never needed to diet
or worry about their bodies?  What if our political movement was a nightclub? 
What to do when a teenage girl asks you to take her to an abortion clinic? 
Through parody, fantasy, and hard looks at reality, she moves from heaviness to
frivolity through well-crafted poetry and prose that engages both women and
men.
9:00pm – “Career decisions: how to stay creative after college?” – discussion

Thursday, September 11
7:00pm – “Finding Your Writer's Voice”
This introductory workshop is an encouraging, creative environment for new and
experienced writers of all ages to explore their voices through a series of
writing exercises and discussion.  
9:00pm – Open Mic Reading w/ Guest Poet Tara Betts from Chicago
This is an opportunity for all writers in the community to share their work &
hear the work of a great poet & Cave Canem Fellow from Chicago. Aya is an
enthusiastic and affirming host, who is experienced in keeping a show moving.

All programs are open to the public and take place in the south rec room of
Allen Hall, 
1005 W. Gregory, Urbana. Call 333-8351 for more information.

Laura Haber
Assistant Program Director of Unit One
University of Illinois
68 Allen Hall (MC 050)
1005 W. Gregory
Urbana, IL 61801
(217) 244-2317
l-haber at uiuc.edu


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