BAM adds NYC Youth Poet Laureate Ashley August and Palestinian-American poet Suheir Hammad to Poetry 2013: Game Changers line-up

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1 BAM adds NYC Youth Poet Laureate Ashley August and Palestinian-American poet Suheir Hammad to Poetry 2013: Game Changers line-up Line-up includes host and poet Baba Israel, poet and playwrights Dominique Morisseau, Mahogany L. Browne, Steve Colman, and others; live music by The Mighty Third Rail and sets by DJ Reborn. Poetry 2013: Game Changers Directed by Monica Williams BAM Harvey Theater (651 Fulton St) Mar 15 & 16 at 7:30pm Artist Talk: Includes full line-up Moderated by Baba Israel Mar 15, post-show (free for same-day ticket-holders) Tickets start at $15 and can be purchased by calling or at BAM.org Brooklyn, NY/Feb 21, 2012 This year the well-received poetry showcase returns to BAM for two evenings of dynamic interdisciplinary performance incorporating spoken word, music, and dance, directed by Monica Williams. Previous sold-out performances have featured a diverse group of stellar, nationally recognized talent. This year, poet Baba Israel hosts a stunning lineup that includes award-winning poets and playwrights Suheir Hammad, Dominique Morisseau, Steve Colman, NYC Youth Poet Laureate Ashley August, and others, with music spun by Brooklyn-based DJ Reborn, and spoken word and musical performances by The Mighty Third Rail.

2 About the artists Monica L. Williams is a multi-disciplinary theater artist, founder, and lead cultivator of Creative Legacy Projects. This is her seventh year as director of BAM s Poetry showcase. Her previous off-broadway theater credits include project producer with Foundry Theatre s FUREE in Pins and Needles. Her work has been presented at the Apollo Theater, the Hip-Hop Theater Festival, and various regional theater companies. As the national artistic director for Kentucky Foundation for Women s Special Project, she leads a collective of fierce artists who work to strengthen family ties within the criminal justice system. She is a 2012 Arts and Culture Fellow at the Rockwood Leadership Institute and is an adjunct lecturer in the African-American Studies Department at New York City College of Technology. Suheir Hammad is the author of the American Book Award-winning collection breaking poems, as well as the bestselling ZaatarDiva; Born Palestinian, Born Black; and Drops of This Story. She has been the artist in residence at New York University s APA Institute, as well as the recipient of the Copeland Fellowship at Amherst College. Her produced plays include Blood Trinity and breaking letter(s). Hammad was an original writer and performer in the TONY Award-winning Russell Simmons Def Poetry Jam on Broadway, and appeared in every season of the HBO show that inspired the Broadway run and world tour. Ashley August is a 19-year-old Brooklyn native, college sophomore, and New York City s 2013 Youth Poet Laureate. Since 2009, she has worked closely with Urban Word NYC as a Youth Leadership Board member and frequent participant in Urban Word Youth Slams. August s first published work is forthcoming from Penmanship Books, and she can be seen in the upcoming Sundance Film, Words. Baba Israel was raised in New York and has toured globally performing with artists such as Outkast, The Roots, Afrika Bambaataa, and Bill Cosby. His directorial work includes Project 2050 (New World Theatre) and Countryboy Struggle (Maxwell Golden). He was co-founder and artistic director of Playback NYC Theatre Company, has served as the artistic director and CEO of Contact, an English theater organization, and as a lead teaching artist for BAM s Brooklyn Reads education program. Mahogany L. Browne is a Cave Canem Fellow and author of several books including Swag and #Dear Twitter: Love Letters Hashed Out On-line in 140 Characters or Less. She has released five records including the live album Sheroshima and is co-producer of NYC s 1 st Performance Poetry Festival: SoundBites Poetry Festival. Her journalism work has been published in Uptown, KING, and UK-based MOBO. She is the publisher of Penmanship Books and owns PoetCD.com. Browne is the Nuyorican Poets Cafe Poetry program director and curator of Friday Night Slam. Lah Tere is a humanitarian, organizer, activist, femcee, songstress, and a visionary speaker for the 21st century. Tere was a member of Rebel Diaz, an internationally known socially conscious rap group, and is the co-founder of Momma s Hip Hop Kitchen, a multifaceted hip hop concert designed to educate and empower women on issues that impact their lives, including health, HIV/AIDS, and reproductive justice. Tere is also the founder of InnerCityQueens, an organization that provides a healing space for people in war-torn third world countries.

3 Brooklyn-based DJ Reborn has been moving audiences for more than a decade with her mellifluous blend of soul, hip-hop, reggae, house, Latin, electronic, and Afrobeat. She has worked alongside The Roots, Common, Talib Kweli, John Legend, and India Arie; appeared on BET s Rap City; and served as the international tour DJ for Russell Simmons Def Poetry Jam. DJ Reborn is also an educator with Urban Word NYC. Steve Colman is an award-winning poet, playwright, producer, and director. He cowrote and co-starred in the Tony Award-winning Russell Simmons Def Poetry Jam on Broadway, and co-conceived and assistant directed Sarah Jones TONY Award-winning Broadway hit Bridge and Tunnel. He is the co-author of Burning Down the House (SoftSkull Press), and Russell Simmons Def Poetry Jam on Broadway and More (Atria). The Mighty Third Rail is a New York-based trio that melds hip-hop poetry, beatboxing, violin, and upright bass. The trio vocalist Darian Dauchan, bassist Ian Bagggette, and violinist Curtis Stewart have performed at numerous venues including the Nuyorican Poets Cafe and Lincoln Center, and were awarded the 2012 Musical Theatre Matters award for Best New Music at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Dominique Morisseau is a poet, playwright, and actress. An alumnus of the Public Theater Emerging Writers Group, the Women s Project Playwrights Lab, and the Lark Playwrights Workshop, her plays include Detroit 67 (Public), Sunset Baby (Gate Theater in London), and Follow Me to Nellie s (O Neill Playwrights Conference). As a poet, she has appeared at the Kennedy Center, BAM, and Russell Simmons Def Poetry Jam on Broadway. Malcolm Wicks, a 20-year-old performing artist and spoken word poet from Harlem, is on the 2012 Urban Word NYC Poetry Slam Team. He participated in Brave New Voices, the International Poetry Festival featured in Russell Simmons and Stan Lathan s HBO documentary, and has performed at the Apollo Theatre, the Nuyorican Poets Cafe, the Bowery Club, and the Barclays Center. ASE Dance Theatre Collective is a neo-folkloric performance ensemble that specializes in dance-theater from the African diaspora. Under the artistic direction of its founder, Adia Tamar Whitaker, a dancer/choreographer/vocalist and playwright from San Francisco's Bay Area, this Brooklyn-based dance-theater collective is dedicated to preserving the past, present, and future of the African presence in the New World. BAMfamily Ticket Assistance Program (TAP) provides free tickets for BAM events to families enrolled in free or reduced-price meal programs in New York City schools. To learn more, or to apply to TAP, visit BAM.org/#Family. For press information on Poetry 2013: Game Changers, please contact Monica Ortiz Rossi at mrossi@bam.org or x8 Credits Bloomberg is the BAM 2013 Winter/Spring Season sponsor

4 Major support for BAM Education programs provided by Goldman Sachs Gives and the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Expansion of BAM s Community and Education Programs made possible by the support of the SHS Foundation. Poetry 2013: Game Changers is part of BAM Education s Brooklyn Reads program supported by Goldman Sachs Gives at the recommendation of David and Susan Marcinek, with additional support provided by the Emily Davie and Joseph S. Kornfeld Foundation. BNY Mellon is the major sponsor for Brooklyn Reads. Leadership support for BAM Education programs is provided by Cheryl & Joe Della Rosa, The Irene Diamond Fund, The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust, and The Rita and Alex Hillman Foundation. Leadership support for school-time performances, pre-show preparation workshops and educational film screenings is provided by The Simon and Eva Colin Foundation and Lemberg Foundation. Education programs at BAM are supported by: Barclay's Nets Community Alliance; Barker Welfare Foundation; Tiger Baron Foundation; BNY Mellon; The Bay and Paul Foundations; Constans Culver Foundation; Charles Hayden Foundation; Jaharis Family Foundation; Emily Davie and Joseph S. Kornfeld Foundation; David and Susan Marcinek; Pierre and Tana Matisse Foundation; National Grid; PennPAT: a program of the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation; Tony Randall Theatrical Fund; The Jerome Robbins Foundation, Inc.; May and Samuel Rudin Family Foundation; Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation; Sills Family Foundation; Surdna Foundation; Michael Tuch Foundation; Turrell Fund; Joseph LeRoy and Ann C. Warner Fund. Education programs at BAM are endowed by: Lila Wallace-Reader s Digest Endowment Fund for Community, Educational, & Public Affairs Programs; Martha A. and Robert S. Rubin; William Randolph Hearst Endowment for Education and Humanities Programs; Irene Diamond Fund; and The Robert and Joan Catell Fund for Education Programs. Programming in the BAM Harvey Theater is endowed by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. The BAM facilities are owned by the City of New York and benefit from public funds provided through the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs with support from Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg; Cultural Affairs Commissioner Kate D. Levin; the New York City Council including Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn, Finance Committee Chair Domenic M. Recchia, Jr., Cultural Affairs Committee Chair Jimmy Van Bramer, the Brooklyn Delegation of the Council, and Councilwoman Letitia James; and Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz. General Information BAM Howard Gilman Opera House, BAM Rose Cinemas, and BAMcafé are located in the Peter Jay Sharp building at 30 Lafayette Avenue (between St Felix Street and Ashland Place) in the Fort Greene neighborhood of Brooklyn. BAM Harvey Theater is located two blocks from the main building at 651 Fulton Street (between Ashland and Rockwell Places). Both locations house Greenlight Bookstore at BAM kiosks. BAM Fisher, located at 321 Ashland Place, is the newest addition to the BAM campus and houses the Judith and Alan Fishman Space and Rita K. Hillman Studio. BAM Rose Cinemas is Brooklyn s only movie house dedicated to first-run independent and foreign film and repertory programming. BAMcafé, operated by Great Performances, is open for dining prior to BAM Howard Gilman Opera House evening performances. BAMcafé also features an eclectic mix of spoken word and live music for BAMcafé Live on Friday and Saturday nights with a special BAMcafé Live menu available starting at 6pm.

5 Subway: Train: Bus: Car: 2, 3, 4, 5, Q, B to Atlantic Avenue - Barclays Center (2, 3, 4, 5 to Nevins St for BAM Harvey Theater) D, N, R to Pacific Street; G to Fulton Street; C to Lafayette Avenue Long Island Railroad to Atlantic Terminal - Barclays Center B25, B26, B41, B45, B52, B63, B67 all stop within three blocks of BAM Commercial parking lots are located adjacent to BAM For ticket and BAMbus information, call BAM Ticket Services at , or visit BAM.org. ## ## ##