Mike Geffner's The Inspired Word NYC Poetry/Spoken Word Event/Thursday, Aug. 26 - Jee Leong Koh, Elliott D. Smith, lushTongue + open mic

Mike Geffner Presents The Inspired Word poetry/spoken word event in Manhattan, New York City, featuring poets/spoken word artists/performance artists Jee Leong Koh, lushTongue, Elliott D. Smith + 10-slot open mic.

When: Thursday, Aug. 26, 2010

Where: One and One Bar & Restaurant (downstairs Nexus Lounge)
76 East 1st Street (corner of 1st Avenue)
Manhattan, NYC
http://www.oneandoneny.com/
Phone: (212) 598-9126

Time: 7pm (open mic sign-up starts at 6:30)

Cover Charge: $10

Must be 21 years of age or older. Please make sure to bring ID.

*****

Jee Leong Kohis the author of two books of poems "Payday Loans" and "Equal to the Earth" (Bench Press). Born in Singapore, he lives in New York City, and blogs at Song of a Reformed Headhunter (http://jeeleong.blogspot.com/).



lushTongue is a duo of beautiful, sensual, poetic, dynamic, harmonious evolution of consciousness through song. Onome is a writer, vocalist and revelationary who inspires through unconventional beauty in unexpected places. Margaret Moon performs to co-create a society rooted in compassion, respect and love for one another and the earth that sustains us.



Elliott D. Smith, the artist formerly known as Start, lived the first eighteen years of his life in the same house in Louisville, Kentucky. Since then, he has lived in ten places in Oxford, Cincinnati, and Yellow Springs, Ohio, as well as four in Brooklyn, New York. He believes in the power of tattoos and reference books. With a degree in psychology, Elliott conducts research on masculinity, friendships, and identity formation. His writing tackles issues of gender, sexuality, and family, and is greatly influenced by the people, places, and theories he loves.

Oveous Headlines Sept. 9th Inspired Word NYC Poetry/Spoken Word Event!

Mike Geffner Presents The Inspired Word poetry/spoken word event, featuring Oveous Maximus. + a to-be-announced poet and 10-slot open mic.

When: Thursday, Sept. 9

Where: (Le) Poisson Rouge (downstairs gallery)
158 Bleecker Street (between Thompson and Sullivan)
Manhattan, New York City
http://lepoissonrouge.com/
Phone: (212) 505-3474

Time: 7pm (open mic sign-up starts at 6:30)

Cover Charge: $10

Must be 21 years of age or older. Please make sure to bring ID.

*****

Oveous is a recording artist who tricked everyone into believing he was only a poet. He grew up in the Bronx and Washington Heights exposed to the richness of jazz, soul, hip hop, and latin music. An honorary member of the world-famous Nuyorican Poets Cafe, Oveous shares his own brand of "rap & spokenword". He became a National Poetry slam finalist three years in a row, is a multiple time winner at the Apollo Theater, has performed on the hit series HBO Def Poetry, and has recorded music with grammy award winner Louie Vega. Currently, you can download Oveous' albums ("Future Intentions" & "The Iambic Moment") online for free via his blog site: oveous.blogspot.com

Mike Geffner's Inspired Word NYC Poetry/Spoken Word/Thursday, Aug. 19 - Tongo, Simply Rob, Rothstein + open mic!

Mike Geffner Presents The Inspired Word poetry/spoken word event, featuring Caroline Rothstein, Tongo, Roberto "Simply Rob" Vassilarakis + 10-slot open mic.

When: Thursday, Aug. 19, 2010

Where: One and One Bar and Restaurant (downstairs Nexus Lounge)
76 East 1st Street (corner of 1st Avenue)
Manhattan, NYC
http://www.oneandoneny.com/
Phone: (212) 598-9126

Time: 7pm (open mic sign-up starts at 6:30)

Cover Charge: $10

Must be 21 years of age or older. Please make sure to bring ID.

*****

Caroline Rothstein is a spoken word poet, nonfiction writer, and multimedia journalist. She is a member of the 2010 Nuyorican Poet's Cafe slam team, a member of the Intangible Collective, and a former member and director for the University of Pennsylvania's Excelano Project. Rothstein hosts a widely viewed YouTube blog about eating disorder recovery, and has been published as both a poet and journalist. She has a B.A. in classical studies from the University of Pennsylvania, and an M.S. from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism.



Originally from San Francisco, Tongo leads workshops for people committed to using their creativity against the machine that incarcerates two million Black and Latino people a year. He has been teaching youth inside detention centers across the country for nine years. His work in Rikers Island has been featured in New York Times and Fortune Magazine articles. He taught a class at Columbia University called Youth Voices on Lockdown that brought Columbia students into Rikers Island to facilitates workshops with incarcerated youth. For four years, he produced a monthly show at the Nuyorican called “Write from Wrong” that features survivors of the prison industrial complex.

Activist, Youth Mentor, Role Model, Story Teller, Poem Scriber and Weaver of Dreams. Roberto "Simply Rob" Vassilarakis is a born and raised NY'er of Greek and El Salvadoran descent. Disowned at the age of 17 for being gay, he was forced to leave his mama's boy life behind. Taking to the streets and learning how to fend for himself paved the road for his spoken word journey with concrete inspiration. His life experience led him to dedicate himself to working with the "at risk" inner city youth of NYC focusing on issues of sex/sexual identity and HIV/AIDS prevention and education. He has been blessed to work with many LGBT adolescents, their straight counter parts and those who might be questioning. He is a founding member of El Grito De Poetas, the only all Latino poetry collective in NYC.

Geoff Kagan Trenchard, Erica Miriam Fabri, Sean McNally Headline Aug. 12th Inspired Word NYC Poetry/Spoken Word Event!

Mike Geffner Presents The Inspired Word NYC poetry/spoken word event, featuring renowned poets/spoken word artists Sean McNally, Geoff Kagan Trenchard, and Erica Miriam Fabri. +10-slot open mic.

When: Thursday, Aug. 12

Where: (Le) Poisson Rouge (downstairs gallery)
158 Bleecker Street (between Thompson and Sullivan)
Manhattan, New York City
http://lepoissonrouge.com/
Phone: (212) 505-3474

Time: 7pm (open mic sign-up starts at 6:30)

Cover Charge: $10

Must be 21 years of age or older. Please make sure to bring ID.

*****

Geoff Kagan Trenchard has performed poetry on HBO’s Def Poetry Jam, at universities throughout the United States and in numerous detention facilities. As a mentor for Urban Word NYC, he taught weekly poetry workshops in the foster care center at Bellevue. He has also taught creative writing workshops in Rikers Island with Columbia University’s “Youth Voices on Lockdown” Program and helped run the first ever poetry slam at San Quentin Penitentiary. The National Poetry Slam Anthology, Kitchen Sink Magazine, The Nervous Breakdown, Word Riot, The Worcester Review, November 3rd and 12th Street have published his poems and essays. He is a recipient of a fellowship from the Riggio Writing and Democracy program at the New School and the first ever louderARTS Writing Fellowship. As a member of the performance poetry troupe The Suicide Kings, he has toured internationally with their hip-hop theater piece “In Spite of Everything.” He currently works as a guidance counselor at an alternative high school in Brooklyn.





Erica Miriam Fabri is a poet and performer and the author of "Dialect of a Skirt." She performs solo and as the hybrid music & poetry duo "The Robin & the Lady Poet" with the musician Robin Andre. She teaches writing & performance workshops at various colleges and universities. She lives in the bright, shiny & beautiful land of New York City. For more info, please check out http://www.ericafabri.com/.

Sean McNally’s work has appeared, among other places, in Black Book, Exquisite Corpse, LIT, Open City, Painted Bride Quarterly, Quick Fiction, The Story of My Scab, Unsaid, and Washington Square, as well as in The United States of Poetry anthology and online at Filled with Chocolate Pudding, The Awl, and Wordsmoker. A short musical play, Get to Know Your Presidential Pets, was staged at the 92nd Street Y in 2004. He is currently up to something, and no good will come of it.

George Carlin's Pride in his Own Writing

George Carlin takes pride in his accomplishments as a writer of his own material.

"American Idol" NYC Poetry/Spoken Word Open Mic Night!

"Look, if you had one shot, or one opportunity
To seize everything you ever wanted in one moment
Would you capture it? Or just let it slip?"

- Eminem, Lose Yourself

Mike Geffner Presents The Inspired Word holds its FIRST EVER "American Idol" NYC Poetry/Spoken Word Open Mic Night.



When: Thursday, Aug. 5

Where: One and One Bar & Restaurant (downstairs Nexus Lounge)
76 East 1st Street (corner of 1st Avenue)
Manhattan, NYC
http://www.oneandoneny.com/
Phone: (212) 598-9126

Time: 7pm (open mic sign-up starts at 6:15; first come, first served)

Cover Charge: $10

Must be 21 years of age or older. Please make sure to bring ID.

*****

Are you a poet or spoken word artist who'd love to feature at The Inspired Word? Would you love to make some decent cash too?

Well, here's your big chance.

The first 20 people to sign up for the open mic will get a shot at not only winning a feature spot at an Inspired Word event (to appear before end the 2010) but a respectable $50 paycheck.

Here's how it'll work:

Each contestant will get ONE shot - for four minutes and four minutes ONLY (go over and you'll not only lose SERIOUS points with the judges but likely blow your chances of winning) - to show what they got.

WARNING: No hate speech of any kind will be tolerated.

The winner will be decided at the end of the night by a consensus vote from our panel of three judges, our own version of Simon, Randy, and Paula, who will offer no-hold barred critiques after each performance. Another warning: If you can't take the heat of some criticism, don't come cooking into this kitchen.

Second place winner will get 2 comps to future shows, third place 1 comp.

IF YOU'VE ALREADY FEATURED AT THE INSPIRED WORD OR SCHEDULED TO FEATURE, YOU ARE NOT ELIGIBLE FOR THIS EVENT.

This will become a regular Inspired Word feature staged four times a year - in the Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter.

It'll be a great way to discover new talent.

Good luck to all of you !

"You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow."



Mike Geffner
Founder/Producer/Director

The Inspired Word NYC Poetry/Spoken Word Facebook Group
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George Carlin on The American Dream