To further celebrate National Poetry Month, we’ll share this small portion of Mozart Guerrier’s talk from the TEDxSyracuse University event earlier this week.
The words sound a lot like a love letter written to our city. Hopefully, the video of the entire talk will be available soon.
Author Georgia A. Popoff read and discussed her poetry Thursday night at the new Point of Contact Gallery. She is the workshop coordinator for the Downtown Writers Center.
Point of Contact (Punto de Contacto) is still located on the Connective Corridor,but the gallery has officially moved to the Nancy Cantor Warehouse on West Fayette Street. The street-level location was buzzing last night for the poetry reading and book fair kick-off. The audience included students, local authors, artists and SU staff members.
We found the lighting less adequate than the former location (East Genesee Street), but the new space is more inviting and eclectic.
Each Thursday this month, the gallery will host a new writer to celebrate National Poetry Month.
Michael Sickler, poet + painter
Sometimes the word style just doesn’t give enough description.
We had the pleasure of meeting dapper professor Michael Sickler at a poetry event along the Connective Corridor last night. He is one of the featured poets who will be presenting at the Downtown Writers Center next week (April 11).
Mozart from Philly (now residing in Syracuse)
One of the best elements that make up the city are immigrants. Not just folks from other nations, but those from other states as well. Immigrants bring their idioms, swagger, energy and experiences to add to the Syracuse stew.
We previously heard about the power of Mozart Guerrier from some students we met this summer, but last night was the first time we caught him in performance. He was the featured poet at last night’s Open Mic for the Underground Poetry Spot, which was held at 601 Tully (aka the Treehouse).
Part of Mozart’s slam list included a humorous appreciation of Coach Jim Boeheim, a shout out to Amiri Baraka, and also a verbal ode to the beauty of living and loving in cities. We suggest contacting Seneca Wilson and the Underground Poetry Spot to hear the poem about cities (there was video).
Mozart’s compositions, movements and performance certainly lived up to the hype.
It was good to see slam poetry percolating on the Near Westside.
Poet Sonia Sanchez spoke at Syracuse University about a decade ago.
Here’s a new documentary will explore the work of poet Sonia Sanchez. The film is in pursuit of crowd funding.
Poet Cynthia Cruz gave a reading at the Point of Contact Gallery on Thursday.
As a continuation of the Cruel April series, the Point of Contact hosted California-raised, Brooklyn-based writer Cynthia Cruz yesterday. She read from four of her books with poems that featured themes such as religion, love, and loss. During the Q+A session , the soft-spoken Cruz shared part of her writing and editing process.
Performance poet Omanii Abdullah presented a one man show called New Shoes... at the Community Folk Art Center tonight. The performances continue through the weekend with new work such as "8:02 am" and classics like " I wanna be the kinda father my mother was." The show is directed by Ryan Johnson-Travis.
Poet JoJo brings the pain last night at Art Rage for the Salt City Slam!
Jojo shares a laugh before her second round performance.
Fellow slam poet Kelly congratulates Jojo after her first poem, which she wrote for her father.
Jared Paul performed at the Salt City Slam event at Art Rage.
Deb: The Champion
Here are some of the participants in last night’s Poetry Slam Finals coordinated by the Spoken Word” Underground Poetry Spot. The event was held at the Art Rage Gallery and included a special appearance by Providence’s Jared Paul.
Kelly: Slammin with style
MalTempo, framed
Never Too Much: Buffalo’s Ten Thousand, a former Salt City Slam champ, quickly became a crowd favorite last night.
Last Man Standing: Mike the Poet, another former champ, lost to Deb in the final round.