The Black Poet's Imagination: BAMPFA Reading Series feat. Aja Lenae, A.A. Vincent & Troy Rockett

Schedule

Sun Nov 13 2022 at 04:00 pm

Location

Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive | Berkeley, CA

What is the power of the poem to the Black poet to both witness and transform the conditions in which we live? How can the pen serve as a call – as a demand – to action? This deeply talented group of Black poets and highly skilled performers address themes of revolution, wounding, and intergenerational healing through their powerful words – don’t miss out.
Reading series curated by Michal ‘MJ’ Jones.
General admission to the museum is $14
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FEATURED READERS:
Aja Lenae is an Interdisciplinary Research Artist, learner, educator, facilitator and youth collaborator. The portal spoke their name and called them “Soft River”, “Etching”, and “Never-Dried”…. They are meditating on the ways we can soft-river our way towards freedoms, knowing that water can both destroy and give life. Through words, images, music, texture, scent, dreams… they are collaging as their communion practice with mind, heart, ancestors, land, Spirit, and sensation.

A. A. Vincent is a poet and essayist. They hold an MFA from the University of San Francisco. Their poems appear in Quiet Lightning, Santa Clara Review, West Trestle Review, and in Write Now! SF Bay, Essential Truths: The Bay Area In Color. Their debut poetry collection Person, Perceived Girl comes out later this year, and they live in the Bay Area.

Troy Rockett (he/they) is an interdisciplinary artist and theatremaker based in Oakland, CA. Troy works across the mediums of poetry, performance and digital media. He has a Master’s in English Literature and Creative Writing, and is a Writing Fellow with VONA Voices and LAMBDA Literary, an Astraea Lesbian Writer's Fund recipient, and a Titan Award winner with Theatre Bay Area.
He is interested in intersectional art and new contemporary works. Troy received training as an arts professional through NYU Tisch School of Art, Queer Women of Color Media Arts Project (QWOCMAP), 3Girls Theatre Company, and The Center for Cultural Power. These cultural spaces and institutions provided extensive training in storytelling, practice, and production, and has helped shape his artistic vision.
During the pandemic he has presented two bodies of work, Driftwood (Digital Choreopoem) and Bold Fade (A Memory Poem and 1 Act Play). Both pieces aim to celebrate Transgender and Non Binary identities, and to push a Trans-narrative beyond the body, beyond a single westernized body. His hope is to archive spiritualities, rites of passages, intimacies, and radical practices of self preservation that are created by Transgender communities. His vision for storytelling continues to be shaped by leaders who hold the art of world building as a ritualistic and communal practice. He has most recently learned from directors Mina Morita and Karina Gutiérrez. Visit his website for more of his work. www.troyrockett.com Email - [email protected] Instagram - @troy.rockett

Where is it happening?

Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive, 2155 Center St, Berkeley, United States

Event Location & Nearby Stays:

Host or Publisher Michal MJ Jones

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