Adams State University in collaboration with the Fort Garland Museum and Cultural Center and Brooklyn Poetry Slam will host “The Regiment Poetry Slam,” readings/performance at 6 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 28, in the Xperimental Theatre, located in the Theatre Building. The event is free and open to the public.
Featuring poetry readings/performances by Mahogany L. Browne, Jive Poetic, Terrance Hayes, Susi Q. Smith, Camonghne Felix, Deesha Philyaw, Omar Holmon, and Gabriel Ramirez.
The event curators include Mahogany L. Browne, a Kennedy Center’s Next 50 fellow, writer, playwright, organizer, & educator; and Jive Poetic, a writer, organizer, and educator based in Brooklyn, New York.
Browne’s books include Vinyl Moon, Chlorine Sky, Black Girl Magic, and banned books Woke: A Young Poet’s Call to Justice and Woke Baby. Founder of the diverse lit initiative Woke Baby Book Fair, Browne holds an honorary Doctor of Philosophy degree awarded by Marymount Manhattan College and is the inaugural poet-in-residence at Lincoln Center in New York City.
Jive Poetic received his BA in Media Studies from the State University of New York at Buffalo, and his MFA in Writing and Activism from Pratt Institute. In 2017 Jive was the first recipient of the John Morning Award for Art and Service. He is the founder of Insurgent Poets Society, Carnival Slam: Cultural Exchange, and the co-founder of the Brooklyn Poetry Slam. His work has been showcased on season four of TVONE’s Lexus Verses and Flow, PBS News Hour, and BET. International recognition and support for his work has come from the British Arts Council; US Embassies in Australia, Brazil, and Poland; and the Minister Of Culture in Antigua and Barbuda. Currently, Jive is the Friday night poetry slam curator and host at the Nuyorican Poet’s Café. When he is not on tour, he teaches poetry and hip – hop workshops to at risk youth in New York City and the surrounding area.
This project is part of a Writing Retreat in the San Luis Valley hosted by Brooklyn Poetry Slam and Fort Garland Museum & Cultural Center. According to Eric Carpio, the Center director, the project emerged when Brooklyn Poetry Slam founder, Mahogany L. Browne participated in the development of an innovative, artist-inspired exhibition, buffalo soldiers: revision, which opened in summer 2023 at the Fort Garland Museum. reVision explores the history and legacy of Buffalo Soldiers in the American West through the lens of a multi-ethnic, multi-gender team of artists from across the United States. Members of the 9th Cavalry of the Buffalo Soldiers were stationed at Fort Garland in the San Luis Valley from 1875-1879.
Inspired by her time the San Luis Valley, Browne and the Fort Garland Museums have partnered to bring a talented collection of writers and thinkers to the SLV for The Regiment Writer’s Workshop August 25-29.
For bios on all participating poets visit instagram.com/bkpoetryslam.
