Urban Mommas & Space Cowboys
Guild Complex
An exploration of self, culture, and community. Urban Mommas & Space Cowboys (Journey to the Birthday Suit) explores individual and collective history and identity. Experience four of Chicago?s most vibrant young writers as they navigate new realms unearthing memory and reality that is both tender and volatile.
An exploration of self, culture, and community. Urban Mommas & Space Cowboys (Journey to the Birthday Suit) explores individual and collective history and identity. Experience four of Chicago?s most vibrant young writers as they navigate new realms unearthing memory and reality that is both tender and volatile. This performance represents the culmination of a workshop series led by Emily Hooper Lansana. The evening will combine poetic and narrative revelation. Duriel Harris is the 1998 winner of the Gwendolyn Brooks Poetry Slam, held during the Chicago State University Black Writers Conference. Currently, she is working on several manuscripts including her first volume of poetry, entitled Legacy of Silence. Duriel received her M.A. in English & American Literature with a concentration in Creative Writing from New York University in 1993, and is currently a doctoral student at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Emily Hooper Lansana, a graduate of Yale University in Theater Studies, has been bringing words to life since childhood. Emily performs with Glenda Baker in the highly acclaimed and popular performance duo ?In The Spirit,? and is also a member of the respected performance group Kuntu Drama. Emily has worked as a teaching artist in the Chicago Public Schools and nationwide. For the past seven years Tina Howell has been a fixture in Chicago poetry. Gaining her first experience at the renowned Spices, Tina was able to learn first-hand from those who would go on to be the stellar personalities of a poetry movement. She has since gone on to appear at places such as the African Festival of the Arts, Guild Complex, and HotHouse. Tina is a vocalist with the band Marvin Tate?s D-Settlement. Dennis Kim represents apowerful new voice in the great tradition of thought-provoking, insightful writers whose adherents range from Gil Scott-Heron to E. Ethelbert Miller. His words paint a canvas that dances with positivity, life and fire. Most recently, Dennis and fellow Asian-poet and collaborator Marlon Esguerra performed to a packed house with world-renowned bassist Tatsui Aoki in celebration of the Asian American Jazz Festival at the Chicago Cultural Center. Avery R. Young has been a featured poet at performance venues, colleges, and radio outlets throughout the Midwest and East Coast most notably The Guild Complex (Chicago), Nuyorican Caf‚ (NYC), Museum of Contemporary Art (Chicago), Timbuktu Poetry Slam (Philadelphia) and House of Blues (Chicago). Avery is also highly regarded as a youth speaker/motivator, donating his time and talent to organizations such as Cabrini Connections and Chicago Public Schools.Director
Emily Hooper LansanaPerformers
Duriel HarrisTina Howell, Dennis Kim and Avery R. Young