Author Archive
Lyn Lyric “A Poets Tribute To Nina Simone”
When: Saturday, February 18, 8 pm
Where: Margo Jones Theatre
Starring: Lyn Lyric
Directed by: B Randall
Admission: $15, WordSpace Members $10
Lyn Lyric Smith is a native of Dallas who has touched stages from Dallas to New York.
Lyn Lyric is a Singer, Songwriter, Poet, and Actress. In March of 2015 Lyn Lyric released her long awaited poetry and music CD entitled “Of Verse & Song” at The Black Academy of Arts and Letters. This versatile performer has landed rolls in productions such as Love Doesn’t Hurt, Behind The Cotton Curtain (a Tribute to Medgar Evers), The Black Nativity, The Book of Queens, and Just Call Him to name a few. Lyn Lyric is a crowd favorite at The Black Academy of Arts And Letters Poet’s N Jazz, Poetry Smash and the longest running all female poetry show in Texas: In The Words Of A Sistah. In February of 2016 Lyn Lyric Smith graced an a sold out crowd with the One Woman Show “ A Poet’s Tribute To Nina Simone”. Lyn Lyric Smith’s style, grace, vocal and word symmetry has made her a staple on area stages and beyond.
ArtSpeak @ Mighty Fine Arts
Jonathan Woods @ First Hearings
When: January12, 2017. 7:30 PM
Where: The Wild Detectives, 314 West Davis St, Dallas 75208
Hosted by: Charles Dee Mitchell
Join WordSpace for an evening of “pulpy, pervy fun.” (We didn’t say it, Booklist did.)
Jonathan Woods lived here in Dallas when he published his first story collection, Bad Juju and Other Tales of Madness and Mayhem(2011). Since then he has lived briefly in Key West and is now settled in San Marcos. WordSpace has lured him back to Dallas to celebrate his latest novel, Kiss the Devil Goodnight.
You can see that Woods has a way with titles. He is also good at sociopathic behavior, messy crime scenes, dangerous women, and suckered men transformed into implacable vengeance seekers. His tales are hilarious and appalling. But don’t take my word for it.
“It’s fun, fast, furious, frantic and oh so fantastically written. A rare treat.” KEN BRUEN, two-time Shamus Award-winning author of The Guards and London Boulevard
“A street-smart, fast-paced and deliciously cynical tale that races like an 18-wheeler with blown brakes from Florida’s badlands to the dark heart of Mexico.” STEPHEN AMIDON, author of Human Capital
“A hell of a ride! Buy yourself a ticket now.” MADISON SMARTT BELL, National Book Award and PEN/Faulkner Award finalist and author of Doctor Sleep, All Souls Rising and The Color of Night
“A frenzied and sprawling masterpiece that blasts through the boundaries of southern-gothic.” JON BASSOFF, author of The 
Incurables
After the reading, WordSpace board president Charles Dee Mitchell will join Jonathan Woods for a conversation with the audience.
ArtSpeak: The Stoners
When: November 5, 9 pm
Where: Mighty Fine Arts, 409 A North Tyler St.
What: ArtSpeak: The Stoners
Exhibition Opening: Matt Bagley: Trans Dimensional Acquisitions
Wordspace presents a performance by “The Stoners” offering up a musical tribute to the Rolling Stones. Tom Battles fronts, yes that’s right, a Stones cover band, something he’s threatened to do for quite a big while, but now mere idea has matured into fruition and it’s time to rock out! Wordspace is honored to present the premiere of this epochal musical ensemble and fully expect “The Stoners” to alter the perception of cover bands in your mind! ArtSpeak is a performance series in conjunction with exhibition openings.
Mighty Fine Arts presents “Trans Dimensional Acquisitions” featuring new work by Matt Bagley. This show opens Sat. Nov.5 with a reception for the artist from 6-9pm and will run till Sun. Dec.11.
Matt Bagley’s imaginative reveries find their underpinings in the humid backwaters of South Louisiana. Matt is a bonafied swamp child who evolved from the primordial muck and mire to emerge as an artist and master printmaker, as well as a pan-dimensional archeologist, skateboard activist theologist and homespun philosopher. He has somehow managed to channel his multiple interests into coinciding narratives that inform his artistic practice. His storytelling is exemplified in the tales that he relates in his show: “The Feminist Fairytale” A band of women in the very distant past form an army with the animals to defeat a corrupt and paranoid queen, “Breussard the Alligator” The fun loving fashion hip alligator who returhs from NYC to the swampland to make woodcuts prints and invent the “Print Frog”, “Space Bug Robot Wars” A cyborg conflict that morphs spacebug and robot traditions to create a new hybrid culture. Despite the far fetched threads Matt manages to ground his work in a commonality and empathy beyond his own personal conserns. Perhaps there’s a bit of the swamp in everyone that yearns for the acquisition of a trans-dimensional conciousness. Heavy assumptions indeed, that will be addressed and perhaps answered by coming out to Matt’s show!
Christian Taylor, Laney Yarber, Candy: The Numerology of Money
When: Sunday, November 13, 6-7:30 pm
Where: RSVP for Location: WordSpace@WordSpace.Us
Who: Christian Taylor, Laney Yarber, Candy
What: The Numerology of Money by Dick Zinnendorf
Phase One table reading of the The Numerology of Money will be performed by actor Christian Taylor, performance artist Laney Yarber, and Dallas Poetry SlamMaster Candy. The audience will be provided feedback sheets to return to the playwright.
WordSpace is pleased to support script development for playwrights throughout the year. Phase Two of The Numerology of Money will take place in late January and will add staging and movement.
“Currencies are the consciences of treasuries bankrupted by spiritual tollkeepers. Dead ringers are not cashiers on hiatus; they are doppelgängers on shopping sprees. A debt-ridden mannequin was deposited in a mausoleum for millionaires by an anonymous donor. Earn free checking today.”–The Numerology of Money is a one-act play intended for three characters.
TAKE BACK YOUR MIND
Christopher Carmona @ First Hearings
When: Thursday, December 8, 7:30 p.m.
Where: The Wild Detectives, 314 W. 8th St., Dallas, TX 75208
Hosted by: Dee Mitchell
WordSpace celebrates the publication of Christopher Carmona’s new book of linked short stories, “The Road to Llorona Park”.
Christopher is an assistant professor of creative writing and Mexican-American studies at Teas A & M University in College Station. He is both a poet and fiction writer. In 2016 he edited The Beatest State in the Union: An Anthology of Texas Beat Writing.
This new book of stories explores life on the Texas/Mexico border, where political events to the South effect those living in the North.
After the reading, Karen Minzer, program director of WordSpace, we join Christopher in conversation with the audience.
Darin Bradley @ First Hearings, with Merritt Tierce
When: November 9, 7:30 pm
Where: The Wild Detectives, 314 W. Eighth St, Dallas 74208
Hosted by: Charles Dee Mitchell
Q/A: Merritt Tierce
Darin Bradley’s “Dystopian Cluster” of novels began in 2010 with Noise, a tale of young people training to be the ruthless survivors of the societal collapse they see hurtling towards them. Chimpanzee (2014) chronicled life in this changed world where dispirited people make do in the new police state and elective mental illness becomes the fashion.
WordSpace hosted Darin at The Wild Detectives for the release of Chimpanzee. On November 9 we are pleased to have him return with Totem, the final book in the cluster. He has moved the action to the far future, or possibly a parallel world, where religion has gone viral and Big Brother works hand in hand with UNESCO.
In addition to his three novels, Darin Bradley has written scripts for id Software, the gaming company behind such iconic titles as Quake and Rage. He is also the founding editor-in-chief and the design director of Farrago’s Wainscot, an ezine of the literary weird. Goliad Media is his independent publishing, recording, and art production housed based in Denton, Texas, where he live with his wife.
2017 Women of the World Poetry Slam Opens
WordSpace and Latino Cultural Center
joins Dallas and Candy to present
THE LAST CHANCE SLAM
Wednesday, March 15
7 pm Latino Cultural Center
Tickets: $10
Friday, March 16 @ Kettle Art
Sign up begins at 6:30
Women of the World FestivalMarch 15-18
Hosted by: Candy and Dallas Poetry Slam
More Info coming soon!
WordSpace is honored to partner with Latino Cultural Center and the national organization, Poetry Slam Inc. to sponsor The Last Chance Slam supporting the kick off for the three day Women of the World Slam, coordinated and hosted by Candy for Dallas. Special Thanks to Candy (also Slam Master of Dallas Poetry Slam) for bringing this prestigious festival to the City of Dallas. Additional volunteer coordinators include GNO and Princess McDowell. Events associated with this festival will be held throughout the day and night. Daily competitions at venues in Deep Ellum, lead up to the final competition held at The Majestic Theater on Saturday, March 18. Festival passes and entry submissions for the festival will be available soon. Additional volunteer coordinators include GNO and Princess McDowell.
WordSpace is also honored to partner with the Women of the World Poetry Workshops at the Dallas Public Library.
Still have questions? Check it: Poetry Slam Inc. WOWPS FAQ
About Poetry Slam Inc.: The mission of Poetry Slam Incorporated (PSI) is to promote the performance and creation of poetry while cultivating literary activities and spoken word events in order to build audience participation, stimulate creativity, awaken minds, foster education, inspire mentoring, encourage artistic statement and engage communities worldwide in the revelry of language.
Poetry Slam, Inc. is the official 501(c)(3) non-profit organization charged with overseeing the international coalition of poetry slams. Though slams are maintained in a growing number of cities by local volunteer organizers, the vast majority of slam series follow the rules established by the governing body, and are certified by the governing body as slams that adhere to the vision slam’s founders established for the art form over a decade ago. Because of slam’s exponential growth as an art form, PSI has emerged not only as an administrative body to maintain the rules which govern slam, but as an organization that seeks to grow slam’s audience and protect slam’s interests. The Executive Council, headed by a seven-member Executive Council comprised of poets and slam organizers, and voted on by representatives of local slams, maintains a vigilant watch of poetry slam series worldwide, insuring that slam maintains itself as an art form open to all competitors. Through the certification process and its annual organizational meetings, PSI has created the backbone for a community of poets who are in frequent communication with one another, in order to pool ideas and share creative resources to insure the future growth and recognition of slam. Poets from the community frequently embark on poetry tours in other slam cities, relying on each other to set up the venues and housing necessary for such tours.
While PSI’s main focus in past years has been the maintenance and growth of the National Poetry Slam, the organization is embarking on a series of programs and actions that seek to increase the public awareness of slams. These projects include the maintenance of an official website, an agreement with television producers seeking to stage slams for a major cable television network, and the formation of regional competitions, which would place officially-sanctioned team competitions in a number of host cities each year and concentrate the high level of talent present at the annual Nationals.
Poetry Slam, Inc. was first officially proposed in August of 1996, at the Slam Family meeting in Portland, Oregon, though it had been talked about at the annual spring meeting for at least two years prior to that.
A corporate Charter and official bylaws worked their way into existence through several steps over the course of the next year. But, by official and unanimous acclimation, Poetry Slam, Inc. was brought to reality on August 9, 1997.
About Women of the World Poetry Slam:
Women of the World Poetry Slam is a performance poetry tournament designed for individual competition, where poets will perform four poems of varying lengths during preliminary bouts. Taking place March 15th – 18th, the top poets will go on to finals to compete for the title of, The 2017 Women of the World Champion!
What are the rules?
Each poem must be of the poet’s own construction;
Each poet gets three minutes (plus a ten-second grace period) to read one poem. If the poet goes over time, points will be deducted from the total score.
The poet may not use props, costumes or musical instruments;
Of the scores the poet received from the five judges, the high and low scores are dropped and the middle three are added together, giving the poet a total score of 0-30.
Preliminary Bouts: Thursday & Friday – The order in which poets perform in the first round of each bout is assigned by a random draw at registration. Poets will compete in in one, two round bout each night, having a different slate of competitors each night. The first round of every bout will have a calibration poet, and if you’re lucky, maybe even a sorbet. Competing poets should be familiar with the Preliminary Bout format.
THURSDAY: 4 & 1 minute poems
First Round: poets read a four minute poem. The order of the second round is determined by the score in the first round: poets will read in order from high to low score. Second Round: poets read a one minute poem.
FRIDAY: 2 & 3 minute poems
First Round: poets read a two minute poem. The order of the second round is determined by the score in the first round: poets will read in order from high to low score. Second Round: poets read a three minute poem.
The top twelve poets of all bouts advance to the finals.
SATURDAY: Final Stage
The thirteenth ranked poet is designated the calibration poet. All poems in the finals are three minute poems and no poems may be repeats from earlier in the tournament.
First Round: Twelve poets read, top seven move to the second round.
Second Round: Seven poets read, top ranked four of to final round.
Final Round: Four poets read and the poet with the highest score is crowned the Woman of the World Poetry Slam Champion. If there is a tie between the top two poets, they read one more poem in a sudden death match. Judges indicate which poet they prefer and the champion is crowned.
FIRST HEARINGS: CAROL J. ADAMS IN CONVERSATION WITH PAMELA NELSON
When: October 12, 7:30 PM
Where: The Wild Detectives, 314 West 8th St, Dallas 75208
Hosted by: Charles Dee Mitchell
Carol J. Adams published The Sexual Politics of Meat in 1990. Her incisive and revolutionary investigation into the interplay between cultural misogyny and the meat industry raised hackles and changed lives. On the occasion of its 25th anniversary edition in 2015, South African novelist J. M. Coetzee wrote, “The connections traced between rampant masculinity, misogyny, carnivorism, and militarism operate as powerfully today as when Carol Adams first diagnosed them twenty years ago.”
To celebrate the publication of her new collection of essays, The Carol J. Adams Reader, WordSpace hosts the author as part of our First Hearings Series on October 12 at The Wild Detectives. Following the reading, she will be in conversation with Dallas artist Pamela Nelson.
This is an opportunity to engage one of the world’s most important thinkers on the topics of ecofeminism, veganism, and spirituality.
AUTHOR’S BIO:
Carol J. Adams is the author of The Sexual Politics of Meat: A Feminist-Vegetarian Critical Theory, recently released in a 
Bloomsbury Revelations/Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Edition. Her most recent book is The Carol J. Adams Reader: Essays and Conversations 1995-2015, available this fall from Bloomsbury. She is completing a book on A Caregiver Reads Jane Austen, a portion of which appeared in the New York Times last December as “Jane Austen’s Guide to Alzheimer’s.” Her essay “Toward a Philosophy of Care through Care”, drawing on more than ten years of journals kept during caregiving of three elderly people, will be published in Critical Inquiry next year. Two recent anthologies focus on the impact of Adams’ work on younger women, Defiant Daughters: 21 Women on Art, Activism, Animals, and The Sexual Politics of Meat, edited by Kara Davis and Wendy Lee, is a collection of essays by women who credit Adams’ work with shaping their lives in new and positive ways. The Art of the Animal: Fourteen Women Artists Explore The Sexual Politics of Meat, edited by Kathryn Eddy, L.A. Watson and Janell O’Rourke, is a powerful expansion of Adams’ insights created by artists and reflected in various media. www.caroljadams.com
Savage Impressions II Festival
October 23, 1-6 pm
Kessler Theater Backyard
1230 W. Davis St.
Mighty Fine Arts and WordSpace brazenly present “Savage Impressions 2”, featuring an inspired array of art pirates and outlaw printmakers who arn’t limited to white box gallery inhibitions but boldly take their art practice to the streets of North Oak Cliff and the back lawn at the Kessler Theatre! This is an anti-art festival fest with no corporate backing or art world sanctions but with a primary agenda of creating a disturbance in your mind.No crafts, no pottery, no cheesy jewelry, no plants, no candles, and no face painting! Do expect to be immersed in some crazed, undefinable and incredible art and creative fervor! Also to further your expectations an array of musical and spoken word performances will occur throughout the day offering unconventional aural episodes and lurid sonic dynamics! So come on out and spend a day with some invigorating art minds and cultivate the savage in your impressions!
Artists: Clay Stinnett, Kelley Cheek, Brett Ardoin, Monique Jannette, Andy Don Emmons, 
Leah Hairston, Amber Borowoski, Carlos Hernandez, Dwayne Carter, Ollie Gee, Matt Bagley, Sharon 
Neel-Bagley, Thor Johnson, Robert Hamilton, Jason Cohen, Manuel Pecina, Angela Faz, Hancock Brothers, Jack Russell, Molly McGuire, Ashley J.Hansen, Heather Horton, Junanne Peck, Steve Cruz.
Spoken Word & Performance Schedule:
1pm
Opalina Salas
Carlos Salas
Vic Victory,
1:30
Professor R.Mutt and His Duchampaphones
2 pm
The
Amazing
Hancock Brothers
3 pm They Say the Wind Made Them Crazy
Photo: Ginger Berry courtesy Dallas Observer
4 pm
Mercury Rocket
5 pm
Inferno Texino
6pm Sweatloaf
Dedicated to our friend Milton who was with us last year and whose spirit is welcome to party with us this year too!
