Unique One Of A Kind Poetry Spectacular

-- JASON BAYANI -- -- LOYCE GAYO -- -- SASHA WEST -- -- DERRICK BROWN -- -- CHAD BENNETT -- plus many many (a couple) more FREE Jason Bayani is the author of "Amulet" from Write Bloody Press. He's an MFA grad from Saint Mary's College, a Kundiman fellow, and is currently the program manager for Kearny Street Workshop, the longest running multi-disciplinary Asian Pacific American arts org in the country Loyce Gayo is a Tanzanian born slam poet, and activist who currently resides in Texas, USA. Gayo is profoundly influenced by her experience in the diaspora and uses her craft to celebrate the journey of a people dispersed. She also uses her voice to advocate for the empowerment of marginalized people by supporting local effort and organizations. Gayo serves as an alumni of the TheySpeak Austin Poetry Slam team, and the reigning collegiate poetry slam, CUPSI, 2014 National Champions. Gayo is also pursuing a degree in African and African Diaspora Studies with a Minor in Mathematics and Social Entrepreneurship at the University of Texas in Austin Sasha West's poems have appeared in Ninth Letter, Forklift, Ohio, Third Coast, The Journal, Canary, and elsewhere. These poems are drawn from a book-length poem, Failure and I Bury the Body, which won the 2012 National Poetry Series (forthcoming from Harper Collins, Fall 2013). She lives with her husband in Austin, TX, where she teaches writing to graduate students at UT’s LBJ School of Public Affairs Derrick c. Brown is the winner of the 2013 Texas Book of The Year award for Poetry. He is a former Paratrooper for the 82nd Airborne and is the president of one of what Forbes and Filter Magazine call “…one of the best independent poetry presses in the country”, Write Bloody Publishing. He is the author of five books of poetry and three children’s books. The New York Times calls his work, “…a rekindling of faith in the weird, hilarious, shocking, beautiful power of words.” He is from Austin TX. Chad Bennett’s poems have appeared in journals such as Fence, jubilat, Denver Quarterly, Likestarlings, Verse Daily, New Orleans Review, and others. He studied at Stanford University, the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop, and Cornell University, and is currently an assistant professor of English at UT Austin, where he is at work on a study of American poetry and the queer art of gossip.