Summer Staff Shuffle at TWC

Hello loyal readers of First Person Plural! Zachary Fernebok here—you know, the guy who you probably talked with on the phone the last time you called TWC, or saw at the front desk. Dark hair? Well-dressed? Yep, that’s me!

I’m blogging today (and it seems for more days to come) with exciting news. We here at TWC are coming out of the summer totally re-energized and completely pumped for a stellar selection of Fall Workshops and our 35^th Anniversary Reading Series. In fact, the year-long party begins Saturday, September 10 at 7:30 with a reading by poet Martin Espada, referred to as “the Pablo Neruda of North American Authors” by the world, and “I can’t believe he’s really going to be reading at TWC!” by his fans.

Former staff member Kyle Semmel has done a great job promoting all of the wonderful workshops and events we have to offer, and I’m picking up the torch as the new Marketing & Program Manager. I started at TWC as Kyle’s intern in 2009, and I’m so honored to be coming full-circle. In my new position, I will be continuing work on all of Kyle’s marketing initiatives, and starting a few things of my own. Additionally, I will be assisting Sunil with workshops by putting together our Bethesda batches of workshops.

Yes—that’s right! Sunil Freeman is back in business this month after a few weeks away doing what we can only hope was working on a new collection of poetry. I personally like to imagine he was trying his hand at cape-crusading, keeping our streets safe, and being the hero that this city needs. Sunil will be continuing his work as Assistant Director, but focusing more on the programming of our satellite venues (check out our workshops at Capitol Hill and Annapolis, for example!) and our events.

And last but not least, I’m overjoyed to announce Laura Spencer as our new full-time receptionist. She has served TWC very well for over a year as a part-time employee, and now she gets a chance to shine even brighter from nine-to-five. Next time you’re in TWC to sign up for a workshop or meet with your writing group, don’t be shy and say hi!

With that, I hope everyone has an enjoyable and relaxing Labor Day weekend. I would even say it’s the perfect three days to finish your entry for our poetry slam competition in preparation for our event with slam poet Taylor Mali. Thanks for reading!

A Brief Interview With Taylor Mali

Taylor Mali will be appearing as part of our 35th Anniversary Reading Series. That event also presents a fantastic opportunity for local slam poets: a slam poetry competition! My interview with Mali originally appeared in the fall 2011 Workshop & Event Guide.



Kyle Semmel: Can you describe the moment you realized poetry was something you wanted to dedicate your life to? (particularly slam poetry).

Taylor Mali: First, understand that there is actually no such thing as “slam poetry.” What Marc Smith invented in Chicago in the mid ’80s was a poetry slam—it’s a noun—at which anyone could read any kind of original poetry and be scored by five randomly selected drunks from the audience. That said, when people use the term “slam poetry,” they are usually referring to loud, easily accessible, political, indignant, rhythmical, hip hop influenced, urban, fast-paced, cleverly rhymed, light verse because that stuff kills at most poetry slams. But to answer your question, there were two moments that helped me realize that poetry was something I wanted to dedicate my life to: the first occurred while competing in my first poetry slam, which was in Lawrence, Kansas, in 1992. I realized that this art form was made for me, a drama school dropout with literary skills. The second moment was when I finally realized that a life dedicated to poetry might actually pay the bills. That was in 1999, and it was like realizing that the grass you always played in was seen as valuable by the rest of the world. I felt singularly lucky. Still do.

KS: You make a living traveling the country as a spoken-word poet. Yet you’ve also published two books of poetry. Are there limitations that you can get around by switching mediums?


TM: Let me be up front about saying that poetry doesn’t cover all my bills. I make more than I ever would have as a teacher, but I wouldn’t be able to do what I do if my grandfathers had also been poets, know what I’m saying? And yes, by switching from page poetry to spoken word and back again I get to do things that others can’t. For one, I get a wider audience to sit for longer than almost anyone else I know. My shows are routinely an hour, and they are filled with people who were dragged there kicking and screaming and then loved it. I also get to educate the two modalities a little and bring them closer. The spoken word crowd could stand to be a little more literary, and the literary crowd could benefit from a little more playfulness (and I mean real playfulness. If you write a poem solely using words of Latinate origin, that’s not really amusing enough for me).

KS: You’re a former teacher who continues to play a huge advocacy role for teachers everywhere—even going so far as to recruit teachers through the New Teacher Project. What would you say is the biggest challenge teachers face today? For that matter, what is the biggest challenge students face today?


TM: I’ll tackle the second question first if I may. The biggest challenge students face is that they are only encouraged to pursue a very narrow spectrum of education. The things that will most likely help them in the long run—creativity, critical thinking and problem solving, nutrition—aren’t really valued yet by our society. For teachers it’s similar; they have little freedom to teach the way they feel most comfortable teaching. We need to have some controls in place, but we have too many. Also, the lack of respect and lack of pay means that some of the best potential teachers are never even considering entering the field.

KS: What kind of vibe can people expect at a live poetry-slam?
TM: Poets need to have a thick skin. Judges need to be ready to be booed and taunted good-naturedly. And half the audience needs to be ready to go home saying, “I never knew poetry could be like that!” Because the other half will be saying, “Don’t worry, it’s not!” 

Taylor Mali is the author of two books of poetry, The Last Time As We Are and What Learning Leaves, and four CDs of spoken word. He received a New York Foundation for the Arts Grant in 2001 to develop Teacher! Teacher!, a one-man show about poetry, teaching, and math which won the jury prize for best solo performance at the 2001 Comedy Arts Festival.

The Writer’s Center Announces 35th Anniversary Reading Series

Includes slam poetry featuring Taylor Mali; “the Latino poet of his generation,” Martín Espada; and Kurt Vonnegut’s biographer, Charles J. Shields

The Writer’s Center is pleased to announce the fall line-up for its 35^th Anniversary Reading Series. The list of authors represents the diversity of The Writer’s Center community, which has nurtured a wide variety of writers—and readers—throughout its long history in the DC area. Featured readers include “the Latino poet of his generation,” Martín Espada; renowned slam poet Taylor Mali; and the author of the first-ever biography of Kurt Vonnegut, Charles J. Shields—also the prize-winning biographer of Harper Lee.

Longtime TWC workshop leader and novelist Robert Bausch and his former TWC student Allison Leotta prove how successful workshop leaders inspire success in workshop participants, and the two will come together for a joint reading. Additional 35^th Anniversary events are planned for the winter/spring, and will include Stanley Plumly/Josh Weiner, Clark Blaise/Bahrati Mukhurjee, and BookTalk: Double Indemnity featuring novelist Con Lehane, NPR critic Maureen Corrigan, novelist Megan Abbott, and Round House Theatre’s Blake Robison in an event moderated by fiction writer and critic Art Taylor. This event is co-sponsored by Round House Theatre, which is staging the theatrical adaptation of Double Indemnity in May/June 2012.

All 35^th Anniversary Reading Series events are at The Writer’s Center.

Tickets for all fall events are $10 for members of The Writer’s Center; $15 for nonmembers. Except for Taylor Mali: members/students with a valid ID $5; nonmembers $10. To purchase a season ticket to attend each of these events, the cost is $30 for members; $45 for nonmembers. For additional information, or to purchase tickets, visit the 35^th Anniversary Reading Series page at Writer.org or e-mail post.master@writer.org.

The Events:

Saturday, September 10, 7:30 P.M. Martin Espada: The Trouble Ball

Known as the “Latino poet of his generation,” visiting writer Martín Espada is the author of 10 collections of critically-acclaimed poetry, including the recent The Trouble Ball. A poet, editor, translator, and attorney, Espada’s powerful poetry explores the social conditions affecting immigrants and Latinos. He is also leading a one-day workshop, “The Barbaric Yawp.”

Purchase individual tickets.

Friday, September 30, 7:30 P.M. Robert Bausch & Allison Leotta

Robert Bausch was educated at George Mason University, and he says he has been a writer all his life. Since 1975, Bausch has been a college professor, teaching creative writing, American literature, world literature, humanities, philosophy, and expository writing. In 2009 he was awarded the John Dos Passos Prize in Literature.

Allison Leotta served as a federal prosecutor in Washington, D.C. for 12 years. Her first novel, Law of Attraction, was named one of the best books of the year by Suspense Magazine, and The City Paper called her "one of the most notable new faces to debut in 2010." Leotta also blogs about what TV crime shows get right and wrong, from her perspective as a real-life sex-crimes prosecutor. 
Purchase individual tickets. 

Tuesday, October 11, 7:30 P.M. Taylor Mali: Slam Poetry Competition

Taylor Mali is one of the most well-known poets to have emerged from the poetry slam movement. At this one-of-a-kind event, the finalists of TWC’s poetry slam competition will get to show their stuff. A performance by Mali follows. If you are a slam poet and would like to participate, visit us at www.writer.org/slampoetry for details. We will ask our community to vote for their favorites, and winners will be invited to the finals.

Taylor Mali is the author of two books of poetry, The Last Time As We Are and What Learning Leaves, and four CDs of spoken word. He received a New York Foundation for the Arts Grant in 2001 to develop Teacher! Teacher!, a one-man show about poetry, teaching, and math which won the jury prize for best solo performance at the 2001 Comedy Arts Festival. Purchase individual tickets.

Saturday, November 12, 7:30 P.M. Charles J. Shields: Portrait of a Biographer

Charles J. Shields spent five years researching and writing And So It Goes: Kurt Vonnegut, A Life. He is also the author of Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee—a New York Times best seller. Two years ago, he co-founded the 400-member Biographers International Organization (BIO), and is currently associate director of the Great Lives program, which features presentations by 20 famous biographers each year at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg. Purchase individual tickets.