May 4: Oakland Speaks! An Oakland Word Student Reading

Kenji Liu Mon, 3 May at 12:55pm
Participant at Oakland Word's first student reading.

Participant at Oakland Word's first student reading.

 

Oakland Word is proud to present “Oakland Speaks!” a free Oakland Word Student Reading to be held Tuesday May 4, 2010 at the César Chávez Branch Library, 6-8 pm (3301 E 12th St).

This is Oakland Word’s second public reading and will feature participants from the program’s March-April free creative writing classes. Emerging writers from a wide cross-section of Oakland and East Bay residents will be reading their fiction, memoir and poetry – some for the first time.

Readers on May 4 include: Amy Pimentel, Ana Martinez, Andrea Gutierrez, Camille Peters, Christia Mulvey, Christina Marable, Debi Kar, Erica Padilla-Morales, Fredrick Cloyd, Gwendolyn Bikis, HyeJin Yu, Imogene Tondre, Jim Eilers, Joy Tang, Joyce Mayzck, Karla Perez-Cordero, Kuukua Yomekpe, Lai-San Seto, Laura Guillen, Linda Goering-Hutcher, Marco Hernandez, Marijane Castillo, Pati Moran, Tinbete Ermyas, Tracy Potter, Vickie Vertiz and Vincent Corbett, Jr.

This event is FREE and wheelchair accessible. Snacks will be provided.

Oakland Word, a program of the Oakland Public Library, seeks to provoke dialogue and encourage creativity, literacy and self-sufficiency by providing opportunities for underrepresented youth and adults to write, publish and perform works about their lives.

Between February and April 2010 Oakland Word has offered 20 free creative writing workshops, providing a vital community service to over 300 local residents.

About Kenji Liu
1.5 generation Japanese-born Taiwanese American expatriate of New Jersey suburbia. His Pushcart Prize and California Book Award-nominated writing arises from his work as an activist, educator and cultural worker. Kenji’s poetry chapbook You Left Without Your Shoes was published by Finishing Line Press (2009), available on Amazon.com. His writing has appeared in Tea Party Magazine, Kartika Review, and the 2009 Intergenerational Writer’s Workshop online anthology Flick of My Tongue. Kenji was a presenting literary artist at APAture 2009, a multidisciplinary Asian Pacific American art festival. He will be the new poetry editor at Kartika Review starting with issue 7 and is working on a multi-genre full-length collection of poetry, prose and visual art.