A CELEBRATION OF POETRY AND CULTURE AT THE
ABU DHABI INTERNATIONAL POETRY FESTIVAL
Abu Dhabi and the UAE has a rich tradition of oral storytelling and poetry. This inaugural annual poetry festival which will be held on March 19 at the Paris-Sorbonne University in Abu Dhabi will be the first of its kind in the UAE, and will play a major role in celebrating poetry and spoken word through promoting Emirati poets, Western and Arab expatriates, as well as featuring established international artists.
The festival will provide free writing and performance workshops, lectures and performances by prominent poets. It will also feature community performances, and even writing competitions. It will be followed two days later by ADMAF’s own World Poetry Day event which will be held on the 21st. Don’t miss this cultural celebration of positive, family-friendly entertainment.
The Abu Dhabi International Poetry Festival Schedule:
2:00 pm – 3:00 pm
– Youth Poetry Open Mic
– Poetry Workshop with G Yamazawa
3:00 pm – 4:00 pm
– Inter-University Poetry Slam Competition
– Poetry Workshop with Zeina Hashem Beck
4:00 pm – 5:00 pm
– Arabic Poetry Open Mic
– French Poetry Open Mic
– Poetry Workshop with Kane Smego
5:00 pm – 6:00 pm
– English Poetry Open Mic
6:00 pm – 7:00 pm
– Break
7:00 pm – 10:00 pm
– Poetry Gala (Feature Performance Show)
Poet Bios:
Patricia Smith
Born on June 25, 1955, Patricia Smith is a poet, teacher, performance artist and author. She is the author of Shoulda Been Jimi Savannah (Coffee House Press, 2012), winner of the 2013 Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize from the Academy of American Poets, given for the most outstanding book of poetry published in the United States each year, as well as Blood Dazzler (Coffee House Press, 2008), which was a finalist for the 2008 National Book Award; Teahouse of the Almighty (Coffee House Press, 2006), a 2005 National Poetry Series selection; Close to Death (Zoland Books, 1993); Big Towns, Big Talk (Zoland Books, 1992), which won the Carl Sandburg Literary Award; and Life According to Motown (Tía Chucha Press, 1991).
She is a four-time individual champion of the National Poetry Slam, a two-time winner of the Pushcart Prize, and her work has appeared in Best American Poetry, Best American Essays and Best American Mystery Stories. She has written and performed two one-woman plays, one of which was produced by Derek Walcott’s Trinidad Theater Workshop.
Kane Smego
Kane Smego is a spoken word and hip hop artist, a National Poetry Slam finalist, and the co-founder and former Artistic Director of the award-winning youth arts nonprofit, Sacrificial Poets, based in the Triangle area of North Carolina. He is also an international touring artist, performing and teaching all across the U.S. and in England, Scotland, Germany, Holland, Costa Rica, and Canada, and instructing a college course on Spoken Word and Oral History at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. In the summer of 2011, Kane helped create and lead the Poetic Portraits of a Revolution (PPR2011) project that traveled to Egypt and Tunisia to collect stories of the popular revolutions, and adapted them to spoken word poems that were broadcasted in an eight-week radio series on the National Public Radio affiliate WUNC. Kane has toured with the legendary Black Ice from Def Poetry Jam, and featured on the King Mez debut album, My Everlasting Zeal, alongside such accomplished artists as Lupe Fiasco’s producer, Soundtrakk, and Grammy Award-nominee J. Cole.
G Yamazawa
Born in Durham, NC and raised by Japanese immigrants, George Masao Yamazawa, Jr. is widely considered one of the top young spoken word artists in the country. At 24 years old, “G” is the youngest poet to become a National Poetry Slam Champion, Individual World Poetry Slam Finalist, and Southern Fried Champion, and has toured in over 40 American cities and 5 European countries. Winner of Kollaboration DC 2012, Audience Choice Award Recipient of the Inaugural Kollaboration Star and 2013 Kundiman Fellow, G has been featured at the Sundance Film Festival, Bonnaroo Music Festival, TV One’s Season 3 of Verses and Flow, the Pentagon, and the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. G’s poetry has been published in Beltway Quarterly, Asian Fortune Magazine, and 27 Views of Durham, and has shared stages with Sonia Sanchez, Michelle Kwan, Danny Glover, and VP Joe Biden.
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The Abu Dhabi Poetry Festival is organised by:
BrandMoxie
Established in May 2004, BrandMoxie is a full service advertising agency that offers integrated marketing services to government and private entities. It is the publisher of Tempo magazine, which at a 40,000 print run has the highest circulation and readership of any magazine in its genre (youth/ community/ the arts). BrandMoxie runs the Tamakkan platform, which was established in 2005 in support of entrepreneurship and innovation, and it also runs The Dream Players music platform that identifies and nurtures emerging talent. BrandMoxie’s events have been attended by over 12,000 people.
Rooftop Rhythms
Started in 2012, this cultural entertainment entity has been a successful addition to Abu Dhabi’s calendar. It has been featured in regional print, Fox TV, and on CNN’s Inside the Middle East and has quickly become sought after with the Middle East’s biggest recurring poetry open mic night as well as highly popular live music events such as Abu Dhabi Soul and 50 Shades of Blues. Over the past three years, over 7000 people have attended Rooftop Rhythms’ events.
Partners:
US Embassy | Paris-Sorbonne University | Flex | Tempo Magazine
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FOR MORE INFO, OR TO REGISTER VISIT: http://abudhabipoetryfestival.com/
Or REGISTER VIA OUR FACEBOOK PAGE!
Facebook: www.facebook.com/adpoetryfestival
Twitter: @adpoetryfest
Instagram: @adpoetryfestival
