April 2, 2002
Contact: Kate Weber, 309/556-3181

 

"When you take the music away, you can hear yourself, and you make every effort to say something intelligent. That's why I support the Spoken Word movement." -Russell Simmons, host of HBO's Def Poetry Jam

IWU Slams into National Poetry Month
Five Poets From HBO's Def Poetry Jam to Perform at the Hansen Student Center

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. -- On April 11 at 8 p.m. Illinois Wesleyan University's Hansen Student Center (300 E. Beecher St., Bloomington) will come to resemble a dark coffee house featuring poets, who perhaps started in the corners of dark coffee houses themselves. Now, however, these performers can be found featured in critically acclaimed documentaries, an HBO series or an NBC sitcom pilot. They are muMs, Beau Sia, Taylor Mali, Roger Bonair-Agard and Ishle Park, all poets in the Def Poetry College Tour.

The show is free for IWU students, faculty and staff and $5 for Bloomington/Normal community members. Seating is limited. Doors open at 7 p.m.

Credited for rejuvenating and reeducating the Hip Hop Nation, the "Russell Simmons' Def Poetry Jam," features the best and brightest from the spoken word scene.

The 30-minute show is produced by "hip hop godfather" Russell Simmons and veteran TV producer Stan Lathan ("Soul Food," "The Steve Harvey Show," "Moesha") and has seen great success on HBO since it premiered this fall.

"Def Poetry Jam was created to lend a voice to the voiceless. In comparison to other expressions, such as rap, spoken word was invisible," said Bruce George, executive producer of Def Poetry Jam. "It's imperative that these spoken word artists be catapulted to the mainstream and be recognized."

"Spoken word is becoming really popular. HBO has definitely picked it up, which shows the importance of it, and it's especially growing on college campuses," said Kevin Clark, IWU director of student activities. "Slam poetry is more modernized to today's culture. It has a more urbanized flair to it, and so you see a lot of crossover with the hip hop community."

The show at IWU will be hosted by poet muMs. Each poet will perform 15 to 20 minutes of their work. Dedicated to diversity, the five poets performing at IWU represent a variety of cultures and perspectives on life.

"A lot of the pieces that are done are politically or culturally based, talking about cultural differences of discrimination," Clark said. "But the whole emphasis is on the performance itself. Its very animated."
muMs

Within just a few years muMs has made both his face and name known nationwide as the spoken word artist 'Poet' on the critically acclaimed and Emmy-nominated HBO prison drama "Oz." He has also appeared on Lollapalooza tours, and in films like Spike Lee's "Bamboozled" and Martin Scorcese's "Bringing Out the Dead." He has also appeared in a number of commercials including one for Nike. muMs also was chosen by NACA to showcase at the 2001 National Conference in Nashville, increasing his popularity on college campuses.
Taylor Mali

Poet and teacher, Taylor Mali, is a classically trained Shakespearean actor. Educated at Oxford with a master of arts in English literature, Mali, until just recently, taught math to sixth graders at a private school in Manhattan.

"There is a poetry in numbers unlike any that can be found in words, Mali said.

A three-time National Poetry Slam Champion, Mali is currently developing a pilot for NBC based on his one-man show, "Teacher Teacher." Mali also has released two CDs titled Poems From the Like Free Zone and The Difference Between Left and Wrong. He was also featured in Paul Devlin's 1997 documentary "SlamNation."

The Detroit Free Press has noted "Mali has a smug arrogance similar to [comedian] Dennis Miller's, but his loquacious logic
Roger Bonair-Agard

Roger Bonair-Agard earned the 1999 National Poetry Slam Champion title and has appeared on "60 Minutes," "WORD," "Slam Poetry for Television" and the "Charlie Rose Show." Bonair-Agard has toured throughout the United States and nine countries reflecting on island life (he is a native of Trinidad), male-female relationships, family and art. His first book Chaos Congealed will be out this spring.
Beau Sia

Beau Sia, a Chinese-American writer and performer who grew up in Oklahoma City, has made an indelible mark among spoken word fans with his own brand of self-deprecating humor. Chosen to showcase at the NACA 2001 National Conference in Nashville, Sia has become a much sought after campus performer nationwide. Sia, a New York University graduate, has released his first spoken word CD, "Attack Attack Go;" a book, "night without armor II; the revenge;" and has appeared in the critically acclaimed films, "Slam!" and "SlamNation," a documentary on the spoken word movement, all within one year.
Ishle Park

Ishle Park received a bachelor of arts degree from Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York, and has taught creative writing in high schools, colleges, prisons and community centers throughout New York and San Francisco.

Due to her success as a writer, Park received a fiction grant from the New York Foundation for the Arts and a Gregory Millard Fellow. Her other awards include prizes for the "best love poem in fire engine red" at the Nuyorican's Glam Slam, Loudpoet of the Year and Grand Slam Champion (2000) of Bar 13.

Born to Korean immigrant parents, Park is the first Korean American woman ever to compete and feature on the finals stage at the National Poetry Slam.

The Kaya Press will publish her first book, "The Temperature of this Water," this fall.
Other Events

In preparation for the Def Poetry Show on Thursday evening, the IWU and Bloomington/Normal communities will have an opportunity to hear the slam poetry of the IWU community. IWU students and faculty will create their own slam poetry session on Wednesday, April 10 at 9 p.m., in Tommy's, located in the basement of the Hansen Student Center. A pre-event social will precede the program at 8 p.m. Free food and drink will be provided.

The Def Poetry College Tour is sponsored by the IWU Office of Student Activities, the Office of the President, the Office of Multi-Cultural Affairs and Sigma Tau Delta, IWU's international English honor society.