Celebrate Words
Here’s a great tidbit from BU Today on our celebration of words (with my reply at the end):
Finally, It’s National Writing Day
GSU hosts celebration, workshops concerning that crucial craft
BY SETH ROLBEIN
Aspiring writers, unite!
It may not be a holiday on the level of Independence Day, or even Columbus Day, but today, Tuesday, October 20, is National Day on Writing, and Boston University is celebrating.
The lineup of events being offered at the George Sherman Union is intended to showcase writing, help aspiring wordsmiths move onward and upward, and highlight writing’s impact on every aspect of our lives.
A writers fair kicks off at 10 a.m. and runs until 3 p.m. Stop by the GSU and help create a giant fridge magnet poem (see those arbitrary words come together in the collective subconscious) and make a 30-second writer’s testimonial video. Who says it’s a solitary craft?
Also from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., writers workshops are being held at various locations around the GSU. Topics include advice about poetry, screenwriting, rap lyrics, family biographies, flash fiction (beating writer’s block), film reviews, and PowerPoints. Don’t tense up about making a choice — there’s time enough to attend more than one session. Space is limited, so advance signup is recommended.
From 7 until 9 p.m., beatnik days return with coffeehouse readings in the GSU Back Court. Food and drink are on the house, but in return expect to read for about five minutes (no longer). The reading can be from original work or something inspirational, fiction or nonfiction, poetry, plays, stories, letters, or some surprising combination. And remember, if people snap their fingers, that means they like the performance.
Seth Rolbein can be reached at srolbein@bu.edu.
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My quick comment:
Love it! Celebrating words. I’m in. Planning on slamming a short portion of a James Baldwin essay with much meaning to me (during tonight’s coffeehouse at the GSU) – My Dungeon Shook: Letter to My Nephew on the One Hundredth Anniversary of the Emancipation.
Words and writing make me think of music. With an ode to some of the great, modern wordsmithers: KRS-One; Lyte; Latifah; Marshall Mathers, and Speech, here’s my playlist for tonight’s reading and writing:
Move – Miles Davis
Lush Life – John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman
Fables Of Faubus – Charles Mingus Sextet with Eric Dolphy
Cantaloupe Island – Herbie Hancock
Chronology – Ornette Coleman
Triptych: Prayer / Protest / Peace – Max Roach
I Don’t Need No Doctor – John Scofield
While My Lady Sleeps – John Coltrane
The Peacocks – Esperanza Spalding
I’m in the Mood for Love – James Moody
Soul Makossa – Manu Dibango
Rouge – Miles Davis
Pt. I – Acknowledgement – John Coltrane Quartet
Solitude – Herbie Hancock
Naima – John Coltrane
Dedicated to You – John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman
Eventually – Ornette Coleman
Fantasy – Miles Davis
(Get Your Kicks On) Route 66 – Nat King Cole
Lover Man – Chris Botti
Violets for Your Furs – John Coltrane
Body and Soul – Charles Mingus
Perazela – Esperanza Spalding
Godchild – Miles Davis
Sinnerman – Nina Simone
Peace.