Paul Theroux's Advice to Writers

Novelist John Irving on the Writer's Craft

The Inspired Word's NYC Open Mic Joint with Special Guest Lythion Music - Jan. 6

Mike Geffner Presents The Inspired Word launches its 2011 season by featuring a night showcasing open mic talent and offering a musical interlude by special guest Lythion Music.

It will also be the debut of poet/former Nuyorican Poets Cafe host Nathan P. as Inspired Word special Guest MC/Host.

There will be 15 available open mic slots, each as long as FIVE minutes, and open to ALL types of artists: poets, spoken word artists, fiction/nonfiction writers, comedians, monologists, singers, actors, playwrights, musicians, ANYTHING.

Just hit us with your best stuff!

*****

When: Thursday, Jan. 6, 2011

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

Cover Charge: $10

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

*****

Lythion Music is the husband and wife duo of James Harrell (composer, producer, multi-instrumentalist, engineer) and Ilyana Kadushin (singer, songwriter, producer, performance coach). Together they have been composing and producing music for television, theater, film, studio and live performance for the last ten years. In addition to their music, Ilyana is widely known as the narrator for Stephenie Meyerʼs “Twilight”
series audiobooks.

After scoring music for Nickelodeon Television, they brought forth their talents as artists and activists to produce works for pieces that include:

“Separate, But Equal,” the upcoming documentary they scored and co-produced about the Mississippi photographs of Henry Clay Anderson which will be on display at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, DC.

Visit http://www.lythionmusic.com/ to hear their music and sound design.



*****

Mike Geffner
Founder/Producer

Brigitte Viellieu-Davis
Artistic Director/Associate Producer

Marvin Mendlinger
Assistant Director

Nathan P.
MC/Host

Happy New Year, Everyone!

“Another fresh new year is here . . .
Another year to live!
To banish worry, doubt, and fear,
To love and laugh and give!

This bright new year is given me
To live each day with zest . . .
To daily grow and try to be
My highest and my best!

I have the opportunity
Once more to right some wrongs,
To pray for peace, to plant a tree,
And sing more joyful songs!”

- William Arthur Ward

So You Want to Be a Journalist

The Inspired Word's "American Idol" Spoken Word Poetry Open Mic Night - Dec. 16!

Mike Geffner Presents The Inspired Word's "American Idol" Spoken Word Poetry Open Mic Night - Fall Edition.

"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




For all those poets and spoken word artists looking to feature at NYC's hottest new spoken word poetry event, The Inspired Word, here's your big chance.

No more claiming to be the greatest - prove it! Put your money where your mouth is and your mouth where the mic is!

The first 25 poets/spoken word artists to sign up for the open mic will get a shot at winning a PAID feature spot at an Inspired Word event during 2011.

Here's how it works:

Every contestant gets ONE shot to blow - for 3 minutes and 3 minutes ONLY (go over the time limit and you'll not only lose SERIOUS points with the judges but likely blow your chances of winning).

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 be offering no-holds barred critiques after each performance.

Another Warning: If you can't take the heat of some criticism, don't come 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 is a regular Inspired Word feature, staged four times a year - in the Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter.

It's our way to not only level the playing field but ti discover great new talent.

Good luck to all of you !

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

Host/MC/Judge: Advocate of Wordz.

Other Judges: Thomas Fucaloro, and Seraph Treadwell.

The Inspired Word's (Le) Poisson Rouge Night - Steve Colman, JLove Calderón - Dec. 9

Mike Geffner Presents The Inspired Word, featuring HBO Def Poetry star Steve Colman and award-winning author JLove Calderón.

In addition, there will a 12-slot open mic (open to ALL types of artists).

When: Thursday, Dec. 9, 2010

Where: (Le) Poisson Rouge (downstairs Gallery Bar)
158 Bleecker Street (between Thompson and Sullivan)
Manhattan, New York City
http://www.lepoissonrouge.com/Phone: (212) 504-3474

Time: 7:00pm

Cover Charge: $10

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

*****

Feature Bios:

JLove Calderón is an author, activist, and social entrepreneur workingon issues of social justice, race, and gender. She has authored four award-winning books, and produces book publishing seminars nationally. Her first novel inspired by a true story, That White Girl, has been optioned for film. For her book Love, Race, and Liberation; 'Til the White Day is Done, she was a finalist in the Social Change category of the 2010 National Indie Excellence Awards. She graduated Cum Laude from San Diego State University with a B.A. in Africana Studies and received her M.A. in Education from Long Island University. For more info, visit www.jlovecalderon.com



Steve Colman is a poet, playwright, producer, and director. He co-wrote and starred in the Tony Award-winning Russell Simmons' Def Poetry Jam on Broadway and co-conceived and assistant directed Sarah Jones’s Tony Award-winning Broadway hit Bridge and Tunnel, which was originally produced by Meryl Streep. He also produced Lemon Andersen's critically acclaimed County of Kings at The Public Theater. Colman began performing poetry at the Nuyorican Poets Café on Manhattan's Lower East Side. He won the National Poetry Slam championship as a member of the 1998 Nuyorican Poets Café slam team.

Poet Suheir Hammad Headlines @ The Inspired Word in NYC - Thursday, Nov. 18!

Mike Geffner Presents The Inspired Word features the amazing poet Suheir Hammad, one of the most imporant voices of our time.

In addition to Ms. Hammad, there will a 15-slot open mic (open not only to poets and spoken word artists but fiction/nonfiction writers, comedians, monologists, singers, and musicians).

What: Mike Geffner Presents The Inspired Word NYC spoken word poetry event

When: Thursday, Nov. 18, 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

Cover Charge: $10

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

*****

Suheir Hammad is the author "breaking poems", recipient of a 2009 American Book Award, and the Arab American Book award for Poetry 2009. Her other books are "ZaatarDiva", "Born Palestinian, Born Black" and "Drops of This Story". Her work has been widely anthologized and also adapted for theater. Her produced plays include “Blood Trinity” and “breaking letter(s)”, and she wrote the libretto for the multimedia performance “Re-Orientalism”. An original writer and performer in the TONY award winning Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry Jam on Broadway, Suheir appears in the 2008 Cannes Film Festival Official Selection, "Salt of This Sea". She is the Artist in Residency at the NYU’s APA Institute for 2010.

Suheir Hammad on Amazon.com

NYC Open Mic EVERY Thursday Night in Downtown Manhattan! Open to ANYTHING!

NYC Open Mic EVERY Thursday Night in Downtown Manhattan! Open to ANYTHING!

Poets, comedians, spoken word artists, fiction writers, monologists, nonfiction writers, singers, muscians - you're ALL welcome!

10-15 open mic slots available every week.

Place: One and One Bar & Restaurant (downstairs Nexus Lounge)
76 East 1st Street (corner of 1st Avenue)
Manhattan, New York City

NOTE: Every SECOND Thursday of the month, we're @ (Le) Poisson Rouge (downstairs Gallery Bar)
158 Bleecker Street (between Sullivan and Thompson)
Manhattan, New York City

Time: 7pm-10pm

Christopher Johnson & Judith Sloan Headline The Inspired Word - Thursday, Nov. 4!

Mike Geffner Presents The Inspired Word NYC poetry/spoken word event featuring nationally-acclaimed Rhode Island poet/spoken word artist Christopher Johnson and the dynamic actress/writer/activist/co-founder of EarSay Judith Sloan.

In addition, there will be a 12-slot open mic (open not only to poets and spoken word artists but fiction/nonfiction writers, comedians, monologists, singers, and musicians).

What: Mike Geffner Presents The Inspired Word NYC spoken word poetry event

When: Thursday, Nov. 4, 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: 7:00pm

Cover Charge: $10

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

*****

Bios:

Christopher Johnson is a nationally-acclaimed spoken word artist from Providence, Rhode Island, as well as a longtime teacher in the art of Spoken Word. It has been said of Johnson that he “accurately captures the heart rending portrayal of urban life...in all of its ugly glory, with a sense of a hope for a better future.” Since winning the national spoken word competition “Famecast.com,” His work is now focused on the betterment of the quality of life of all those he comes in contact with.



Actress/writer/radio producer/human rights activist/educator Judith Sloan is Co-Founder of EarSay, Inc, an artist-driven non-profit arts organization dedicated to uncovering and portraying stories of the uncelebrated. EarSay projects bridge the divide between documentary and expressive forms in books, exhibitions, on stage, in sound & electronic media. Committed to fostering understanding across cultures, generations, gender and class, through artistic productions and education. EarSay's Crossing the BLVD (co-created with Warren Lehrer) is a multimedia project about new immigrants and refugees won the Brendan Gill Prize among others. Sloan's solo performances have won multiple awards. Her work has been featured on National Public Radio, in the New York Times, Washington Post and has received support from the Ford Foundation, The National Endowment for the Humanities, and arts in-education awards from various foundations and schools. http:www.earsay.org