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.

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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.