Diane di Prima and Writers Corps Poetry Reading

In the first of a three-part reading series, writer-teachers and youth poets from WritersCorps share the stage with some of our most esteemed literary icons. In a truly multigenerational literary exchange, revolutionary activist of the Beat renaissance and author of 35 books Diane di Prima joins us.

DIANE DI PRIMA is primarily associated with the Beat literary renaissance of the 1950's and 60's. She lived and worked in New York City for many years, where she co-founded the New York Poets Theatre, and helped establish the Poets Press with Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, and Audre Lorde. Together with Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones), di Prima edited the influential underground literary newsletter The Floating Bear (1961-69). di Prima is the author of 35 books of poetry and prose, including her first book of poetry This Kind of Bird Flies Backward (Totem Press, 1958), her first book of short stories Dinners and Nightmares (Corinth Press, 1961), Revolutionary Letters (City Lights Books, 1971), Loba: Parts 1-8 (Wingbow Press, 1978), Pieces of a Song (City Lights Books, 1990) and most recently, her autobiographical memoir Recollections of My Life as a Woman: The New York Years (Viking, 2001). Her work has been translated into over 20 languages, published in over 300 magazines and newspapers, and has appeared in over 100 anthologies. She has read and lectured at over 300 universities and major institutions across the country.

GLORIA YAMATO has worked with various social change agencies in the Pacific Northwest, including The Women's Funding Alliance, American Friends Service Committee, and Seattle Rape Relief. Her work has been published in Women's Lives: Multicultural Perspectives, Sinister Wisdom, New Voices 1, and Making Face, Making Soul: Haciendo Caras. Yamato earned her M.A. in interdisciplinary arts at San Francisco State Univ., with a concentration in creativity and arts education, in 2001. This is her fourth year with WritersCorps.
CHAD SWEENEY won several awards for his writing while earning a B.A. in English at the Univ. of Oklahoma. He has taught with WritersCorps at Everett Middle School, Mercy Housing, and Mission High. His writing has been
published In Contact II, The Signal, Paradox, and doublethink. He has performed his work throughout the Bay Area, including KPOO radio and the television program, Poetry In Motion. He has also published 3 chapbooks - Mushrooms, Relearning the Tongue, and Nail by Nail the Sunlight. This is his fourth year with WritersCorps.

WRITERSCORPS has helped thousands of people in some of America's most disadvantaged neighborhoods improve their literacy and self-sufficiency. This achievement has been substantiated by leading educational evaluators; WritersCorps was only one of two programs in the country honored at a recent White House event for exemplary programs for at-risk youth. http://www.ci.sf.ca.us/sfac/WC/

INTERSECTION’S LITERARY SERIES - Intersection has the distinction of programming the oldest, continuous, independent reading series in California (est. 1965). The program features a remarkable and diverse array of emerging and established writers who are committed to expanding the notion of literature, testing cultural and discipline-based boundaries, and building new audiences for live, intimate literary experiences. In recent years, Intersection has worked with new and seasoned writers including Aya de León, bell hooks, Mike Davis, John Trudell, Tillie Olsen, Alice Walker, Martín Espada, Diane di Prima, Jimmy Santiago Baca, and Denis Johnson.

UPCOMING READINGS IN THE SERIES
Tuesday February 24, 2004 at 7:30 PM: Jose Montoya with Toussaint Haki, Beto Palomar, Jime Salcedo-Malo &
WritersCorps youth poets
Tuesday March 23, 2004 at 7:30 PM: devorah major with Mahru Elahi, Michelle Matz & WritersCorps youth poets