THE GHOST TOWN POETRY TOUR continues Thursday, February 10 with Turiya Autry + open mic

THE GHOST TOWN POETRY TOUR CONTINUES*

Open Mic Poetry

7 pm every Second Thursday since 2004!

Hosted By Christopher Luna and Toni Partington

This month’s reading will be held in a special location:

Anam Brugh Studio

Home of Marcia McReynolds

3512 F Street, Vancouver, WA 98663

Behind the YWCA

The Studio is behind the house. Go down the driveway to the right of the garage.
Follow the sidewalk all the back to the colorful door.

Bring a pillow or a low lawn chair, and any food or beverages that you would be willing to share. There is seating for about 25 as is.

Turiya Autry

This month’s featured reader is Turiya Autry: A firm believer in the power of art to heal, transform and inspire, Turiya works with students of all ages. Full-time faculty at Portland State University, she also works independently through several artist-in-residency programs. Since the late 90‘s, she has provided workshops and performances at over twenty universities and over fifty schools k-12, reaching thousands each year.

Turiya’s shared stages with well known figures like Angela Davis, bell hooks, John Trudell, Nikki Giovanni, Ursula Le Guin, Lyrics Born, Spearhead, Saul Williams, Kevin Garnett and Hillary Clinton. She has toured nationally, performed internationally, and co-hosted a talk radio show.

Whether teaching university courses or youth workshops, rocking the mic or working behind the scenes, Turiya is a positive motivational force. She encourages people to look more critically and lovingly upon the world around them.

Available for sale: the anthology Word Warriors: 35 Women Leaders in the Spoken Word Revolution ($15) and a special world premier chapbook of love poems ($5) Turiya is creating just for this reading, a collection so new that the title is a mystery not to be revealed until Thursday night!

Language Acquisition
by Turiya Autry

i chew your language awkwardly in my mouth
without the palate to translate a tongue i never learned
i butcher a short phrase with my serrated attempt
knowing nothing of your lullabies or bedtime stories
my sweet whispers are coated in the syntax of our oppression
semantics of thieves who hijack history

how different it must feel to say “i love you” in Shona

 
*While Cover to Cover Books (http://covertocoverbooks.net/) rebuildsafter a recent fire, Christopher Luna is taking the open mic series he founded in 2004 on tour to various poetry-friendly locations in or near downtown Vancouver