Author Archive
“An Intimate Evening with Dancing Tongue”
“An Intimate Evening with Dancing Tongue”
When: November 14, 2009
Where: Paperbacks Plus
The multi-media performance poetry troupe Dancing Tongue, the creators of the recent Literary Cabaret
series at the Undermain Theatre (with its cutting edge mixture of spoken word, music, performance, movement and video)
will present a causal evening of entertainment in the intimate confines of the upstairs lounge of Paperbacks Plus.
Join Tim Cloward, Lisa Huffaker, Fran Carris, Richard Allen & Kim Corbet for a thought-provoking experience that will once again demonstrate that literature is, indeed, a lively art.
Dallas Slams- Featured Reader
John “Survivor” Blake
When: November 13, 2009
Where: Cafe Madrid
John “Survivor” Blake’s nickname is no idle moniker. He has truly survived hellish circumstances and gone on to make work that, in the words of Carlos Andres Gomez, pulls “the reader or listener into the heart of his raw, fragmented truth of unshakeable power. He understands the incredible responsibility of being an artist, as much as anyone I have ever known.”
From Here Through Eternity
From Here Through Eternity
When: November 1, 2009
Where: Paperbacks Plus
Hosted by Christopher Soden, founder of Dallas Poets Community
Part ritual/part reading, this evening honors the legacies of great writers and artists who have transformed and influenced our work. Bring an object that reminds you of or is somehow connected to your favorite dead author to add to the ceremonial El Dia de Los Muertos tabla.
Northwood Literary Festival
Northwood Literary Festival
When: October 20, 2009
Where: Northwood University
Wordspace proudly co-sponsors this dynamic gathering of poets and fiction writers that takes place on the campus of Northwood University every fall. The event is held in Lambert Commons on Northwood’s 400 acre campus, located 25 minutes from downtown Dallas, just off Highway 67 south — the Joe Pool Lake exit. For a map, visit
Festival Chair is Martha Heimberg, Professor of English at Northwood and also Board Secretary for Wordspace.
FEATURED ARTISTS
Willard Spiegelman is the Hughes Professor of English at Southern Methodist University and has been editor of the Southwest Review since 1984. His latest book, a collection of meditations on happiness, is Seven Pleasures (FSG). He lives in Dallas, Texas.
Rock Baby, a native of Hattiesburg, Miss., is a natural per- former beginning with his television debut presentation on HBO’s Def Poetry Jam. His charismatic performances tap into the emotions of audiences. His honors and titles include Dallas Poetry Team Slam Master, Grand Slam Spoken Word City Champion 2003, and HBO Def Poet in 2003 and 2005.
Susan Briante is the author of the book, Pioneers in the Study of Motion (Ahsahta Press, 2007). Briante’s poetry, essays and translations have recently appeared in Ploughshares, Damn the Caesars, Fascicle, Bombay Gin and The Believer. Briante is the recipient of fellowships from the MacDowell Colony, the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, and the Djerassi Foundation, among others. From 1992-1997, she lived in Mexico City where she worked for the magazines Artes de Me?xico and Mandorla. Briante is an assistant professor of aesthetic studies at the University of Texas at Dallas.
Farid Matuk is a Peruvian-born translator, essayist and poet. He is the author of Is it the King? (Effing Press). Recent poems appear in Big Bridge, Barrelhouse, Typesetter, and The Boston Review. Translations from Spanish have appeared or are forth- coming in Bombay Gin and Translation Review. Matuk’s essays and reviews have appeared most recently in Cross Cultural Poetics, Sentence Magazine, and the Poetry Project Newsletter.
Dallas Slams- Featured Reader
Al Houston
When: Friday October 2, 2009
Where: Cafe Madrid
Since 2002 A. J. Houston has been a member of the Fort Worth Slam Team. Performing at Slam venues and Slam contests all over the nation.His chapbooks include Anchored In Prose, Counting Petals, Just Flow, Sunday Shoes, Refrigerate After Opening,
What If Words Mattered, and Let There Be Pens. He can also be seen on the DVDs That’s What Poets Do (AJ Houston Live),
Battle of Da Flows (What’s Love Got To Do With It), Battle of Da Flows (Twas The Slam Before Christmas),
Texas Poets @ Nationals, and Street Poets Volume One. You can find him online at http://njalphabets.org
The Amazing Hancock Brothers
The Amazing Hancock Brothers
When: Saturday, February 11, 6 pm
Where: WordSpace, 415 North Tyler St. (Map)
Join us for 2nd Saturday in the Tyler-Davis Arts District: In conjunction with their Mighty Fine Arts curated show at The Kessler Theater, The Amazing Hancock Brothers perform spoken word, sign their books, make t-shirts, and who knows what else! Self-proclaimed les enfants terribles of the central Texas art world, the Brothers Amazing got some miles on ‘em since making that claim.
Dallas Poetry Slam @ Deep Ellum Outdoor Market
Dallas Poetry Slam @ Deep Ellum Outdoor Market
When: Saturday, March 17, noon-5
Where: Malcom X and Elm Street
From noon-3, every hour on the hour, poets from the Dallas Poetry Slam pump up the jam Deep Ellum Outdoor Market with a 15 minute performance between music sets.
WordSpace and 2012 SMU Literary Festival: Reception for the Artists
WordSpace and 2012 SMU Literary Festival: Reception for Tyehimba Jess and Krys Lee
When: Friday, March 23, 6:30pm Reading, Reception to follow
Where: McCord Auditorium Southern Methodist University
More: SMU Literary Festival Full Lineup and Details
WordSpace is very honored to partner with Southern Methodist University 2012 
Literary Festival in hosting the closing reception for the artists. Please join us for Wordspace’s special reception and SMU Literary Festival’s special guest performance by Tyehimba Jess and Krys Lee. Meet and greet the distinguished SMU Department of English and special guest presenters of the 2012 Literary Festival.
Preservation LINK Student Exhibit at the Dallas Museum of Art
Preservation LINK Student Exhibit at the Dallas Museum of Art
When: Tuesday May 10th, 2011
Where: Dallas Museum of Art, 1717 Harwood
WordSpace is proud to partner with Preservation LINK for
their annual student exhibition, “Through the Eyes of Our Children—Something Beautiful”. The exhibit will showcase the written and visual artworks of students from several elementary schools in the South Dallas/Fair Park area of the Dallas Independent School District. Inspired to embrace their imagination and vision, students use words, photography, and mixed media to create works that convey the HOPES & DREAMS they have for themselves, their community, and society.
WordSpace Board Members, Jean Lamberty, Dr. Venus Opal Reese and Program Director, Karen X Minzer have teamed with Preservation LINK’s Creative Director, Dave Herman, to deepen the enrichment of the written word into their project.
With its research and evaluation headed by Dr. Shaun Wilson, Preservation LINK’s dynamic combination of media arts education, academic enrichment, and interpersonal and professional development has attracted students, parents, educators, and other partners to their historic contribution to children’s educational, artistic, and personal development.
Ricardo Garza, Michael Guinn and Chris Hamilton
When: Wednesday May 11th, 2011
Originally from the Rio Grande Valley (Edinburg), Ricardo Garza has been writing and performing from South Texas to the Bay Area. A prolific writer and performer he has been featured in colleges and High school and middle schools where he has also conducted poetry workshops as part of The Writers Garret’s Writers in the Schools project. Also appearing in print, college radio and public television, Ricardo’s contemplative writings on the common and disenfranchised minority appear in his chapbook, Blood Brother’s y otros Poemas, and spoken word CD, Fiebre del sol.Michael Guinn is co-founder Fort Worth Slams, poet, youth empowerment specialist and motivational speaker.
He holds a master’s degree in social work from the University of Texas at Arlington and worked for six years in Fort Worth as an investigator for the state’s Child Protective Services agency. He has participated in the Zawadi Writers, an ad hoc African-American group that performed and held writing workshops in prisons, inner-city community centers and women’s shelters, and as part of after-school programs. For more on FW Slam and Michael, visit his website www.mikeguinn.com.
Chris Hamilton has been featured at Might Fine Arts Gallery for the Poets on X+ reading series. You can also find him at The Madswirl readings at South Side on Lamar’s Absinthe Lounge. “Listening to Chris is listening to the universal consciousness; it is filled with such energy and passion, much like the Big Bang, an explosion, a slowdown, a retraction, eventually returning to a singularity. He is without a doubt one of the more exciting poets to get to hear if you get a chance, a definite do not miss “-C
