About Poetic People Power
Poetic People Power was founded by writer Tara Bracco in 2003 to create an ongoing project that combines poetry and activism. Each year, a diverse group of poets are commissioned to write new works about a political or social issue. The new poems are then presented to a public audience in a professional spoken word show. Poetic People Power entertains and informs. It raises awareness on specific topics and engages audiences through the expressive art of poetry.
Previous shows include Women's Words About War (Bluestockings Bookstore, 2003); Voices on Voting and Democracy (Ars Nova Theater, 2004); Coming Clean: Poems for the Earth (Bowery Poetry Club, 2005); Raise the Wage (Nuyorican Poets Cafe, 2006); Sick & Tired: A Call for Universal Care (Bowery Poetry Club, 2007); Activism: The American Way (Bowery Poetry Club, 2008); Tapped Out: Words About The Water Crisis (Bowery Poetry Club, 2009); Price Check: How We Became A Culture Of Consumption (The Producers Club, 2010); and The Revolution Will Be... (Nuyorican Poets Cafe, 2011). To date, this project has produced 9 shows, worked with over 20 poets, and commissioned 60 new poems on social and political issues.
Funders
Poetic People Power is made possible in part with public funds from the Manhattan Community Arts Fund, supported by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and administered by the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council.
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Meet the Poets
Tara Bracco is the founder of Poetic People Power. She has been featured in O, The Oprah Magazine, Time Out New York, The Huffington Post, and MSNBC.com. Her non-fiction writing has appeared in Cosmopolitan, American Theatre, BUST, Clamor, and Brooklyn Rail. She has performed her poetry and spoken about art and social change at colleges, festivals, theatres, and poetry venues. Tara has received awards from the Puffin Foundation and the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council. She is a Fellow at the Woodhull Institute for Ethical Leadership.
Cynthia Bruckman is a writer and performer who teaches in NYC's public schools. The New York Press called her first book of poems, Endangered Species, “urban pastoral, serious fun.” She has received grants and awards from the Brooklyn Arts Council and the Bossak/Heilbron Charitable Foundation, among others, for her work as a playwright. She holds a BA in Drama from the University of Washington and an M.A. in Acting from the American Conservatory Theater.
Erica R. DeLaRosa is a performer, director, activist, and educator. She is a co-founder of Mahina Movement, a performance trinity and production company. Erica has shared stages with Sonia Sanchez, Suheir Hammad, and Dead Prez. She has directed several productions and facilitated numerous artistic workshops in the New York and Texas areas. Speak the Fire, Mahina Movement's first CD, is available now. More info at www.mahinamovement.com.
Andy Emeritz has been performing as both a poet and musician since 1995. His writing has appeared in The Good Apple Literary Magazine and on nerve.com. He has performed as a musician in venues throughout New York City. Andy has spent a fair amount of time in Russia, and has performed at festivals and orphanages throughout Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yaroslavl, Samara, Kazan, and a few other small towns in the countryside. He holds a BA in Political Theory from Cornell University, where he studied poetry and narrative writing under James Farrell and Dan McCall.
Galinsky is a zany, ludicrous poet/town crier who co-hosts and co-produces the Manhattan Monologue Slam. He was nominated for a Gold World Award at the New York International Film Festival. He is a member of SAG and the Dramatist Guild. More info at www.galinskyplace.com.
Nate Gunsch lives in Brooklyn and spends his days working for The Doe Fund, a homeless and prisoner-reentry services nonprofit organization. He spent four years as an officer in the United States Navy, holds degrees from Cornell University and the University of Notre Dame, and has worked closely with poets Reginald Shepherd, Orlando Menes, and John Wilkinson. His poems have appeared in The Bend and his notebook.
Frantz Jerome is an activist and social justice worker. He has performed at many venues including P.S. 122, Summer Stage in Central Park, the Nuyorican Poets Café, Dance Theatre Workshop, at various schools, and on BET. He was a featured poet in the publication Off the Subject: The Words of the Lyrical Circle of The Brotherhood/Sister Sol. Frantz has shared the stage with Sekou Sundiata, Baba Israel, Lemon, Full Circle Production, Universes, Project 2050, and many others. He is also a member of the spoken word group The Peace Poets..
Sugar Johnson is a poet, activist, and actor from Crown Heights, Brooklyn. His one-man show, What Had Happened Was, has been performed at La Tea Theatre to sold-out houses. His poems are featured in Signifying Harlem, edited by Jade Banks. He has shared stages with Spike Lee, Eric Sanders, and Bob Holman. He can be seen on the debut season of Jessica Care Moore’s Spoken on the Black Family Channel. Johnson has a BA in Mathematics from DePauw University.
Angela Kariotis is the author and performer of two one-woman shows: Reminiscence of the Ghetto & Other Things That Raized Me and Say Logos Say Word. She is the recipient of several awards including the NJSCA’s Playwriting Fellowship, the Tennessee Williams Theatre Fellowship and the National Performance Network Creation Fund Award. Her work has been presented by venues such as UCLA-Live, The Hip Hop Theatre Festival in New York City, and Contact Theatre, Manchester, UK. Visit www.angelakariotis.com.
Rafael Landron is a poet from Jamaica Queens. He has performed at Carlitos Café and in Teatro La Tea’s "What’s in a Word?" His one man show, Rafi’s Anti-War Expressions, was presented at La Tea Theater. Landron has been a finalist at the Nuyorican Poets Café.
Matthew Keuter is a writer living in New York. His theatre and performance works have been produced in New York, Colorado, Arizona, and Alaska.
Chris Martin received the Hayden Carruth Award, and his book, American Music, was published by Copper Canyon in 2007. His chapbooks include The Day Reagan Died (2004) and Vermontana (2003). When he’s not editing the online journal Puppy Flowers, attending the Gallatin School at NYU, or performing music with the band Twiglight, he is usually riding the train.
Dot Portella is an educator, actress, and spoken word artist. Her work has been published in two anthologies: SLAM and Skyscrapers, Taxis and Tampons. She is a previous host of the Nuyorican Poets Café Wednesday night slams, and she competed on their 1997 national slam team. She received her BFA at Marymount Manhattan College in Acting and her Masters in Educational Theatre from NYU.
Shetal Shah is an actor, performance poet, filmmaker, and climate change activist. Favorite film, TV, and theatre credits include Arya (2005 SAMA, Best Actress), Loins of Punjab Presents, Butterfly Screams, The Daily Show, VH1 Denmark and Truth Be Told. Shetal was an invited poet for Lincoln Center’s La Casita Festival and has performed her poetry throughout NYC including at the Bowery Poetry Club and the Nuyorican Poets Cafe. Shetal actively engages in water and climate change issues at the global level and is currently using the creative film approach to address these issues.
Pamela Sneed is a New York based poet, performer, writer, and actress. She has been featured in The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, The Source, and Time Out. Her first book, Imagine Being More Afraid of Freedom Than Slavery, was published by Henry Holt and her forthcoming manuscript is America Ain’t Ready. She has performed original works for sold out houses at Lincoln Center, The Studio Museum, PS 122, and she headlined the 2005 "New Work Now Festival" at Joe's Pub for sold houses. Her work has also been seen in publications including 110 Stories: New York Writes After Sept 11, Brown Sugar, and Voices Rising. Jonathan Walton has published three books of poetry: My Release, The Second Verse, and Legal: The First 21 Years. He has taught creative writing workshops at all levels including work with the National Foundation for the Advancement of Arts and the Department of Juvenile Justice. A graduate of Columbia University, he is the NYC Urban Project Director for InterVarsity. A sponsored artist for World Vision, Jonathan aims to bring holistic social justice to the forefront of America's consciousness. More info at www.nycurbanproject.com.
Justin Woo is a poet, theatre artist, and DJ. He has performed at universities and theatres in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and D.C., including the 2007 NYC Fringe Festival and the Tony Award-winning Crossroads Theatre. He has collaboratively created several multidisciplinary spoken word theatre pieces, and is currently working with Insurgo Stage Project and the Spoken Word Almanac Project to create two new shows.
Show photos by DiMartino Photography, Chris Grace, Marc Weisman and Ashley Faison.
© 2011 Poetic People Power. All rights reserved.