Poetry & Art, June 14: SDPA Reading, reg e gaines, Kowit Prize, People’s Choice

On Friday, June 14, Poetry & Art Series 2019 at the San Diego Art Institute (SDAI) presents the 2018-19 San Diego Poetry Annual (SDPA) reading. The event features author, director and Tony Award-winning playwright reg e gaines, who contributed poetry to this year’s SDPA. Authors published in the 2018-‘19 collections (including Kids! and bilingual editions) are invited to read their work and get free admission for the evening. Authors Judy Reeves, Bill Harding and Jeff Walt will be on hand to share news about SDPA and this year’s upcoming $1,000 Steve Kowit poetry prize. Hosted by Michael Klam. DJ Gill Sotu will provide music and sound throughout the show. 

This interactive arts and culture experience will include beverages, snacks and time to mingle. Doors open at 6:30 p.m., and the show starts at 7 p.m. Members are free, nonmembers $6 at the door. The event takes place in the San Diego Art Institute, 1439 El Prado, Balboa Park. Please visit P&A at poetryandartsd.com and sandiego-art.org, or call 619-957-3264 for details.

AUTHOR DETAILS: reg e gaines is a playwright, poet and director. He wrote and produced a new musical, The 88, with music by Calvin Gaines, for Art House Productions in Jersey City. reg e gaines is a Tony Award-winning playwright, Grammy-nominated lyricist, language arts literacy workshop facilitator and published poet. He scored the 13-episode PBS documentary, Senior Year, directed Jerry Quickley’s Through The Looking Glass, and directed a five-week musical theater summer camp for the city of Camden, N.J. He has recently been commissioned to write and perform a play about dynamic activist and award-winning playwright Amiri Baraka, one of America’s most important poets.

SDAI EXHIBIT INFO: Youth Alliance Showcase – Tuesday, June 4 at 12 noon; Saturday, June 15 at 5 p.m. – Featuring art by students from throughout San Diego County, the 2019 Youth Alliance exhibit is a partnership with the San Diego chapter of the California Art Education Association, Words Alive and Vista Hill.

SHOW/PEOPLE’S CHOICE (open mic) DETAILS: The People’s Choice Poem Performance Awards – Participants read/perform one poem under three minutes long. Audience members choose (by secret ballot) their favorite poem based on content and performance. Props, artwork, singing, music, dancing and all accompaniment is allowed and anything goes. Top poem performances (the poems that receive the most votes) win $50. Audience members will be encouraged to hoot for their favorites and try to influence the rest of the audience. Writers/artists who would like to participate in the People’s Choice Poem Performance Awards can get their names in the hat ahead of time at mkklam@gmail.com or text 619-957-3264.  It is a good idea to sign up early by email or text message, as space and time are limited!

SAN DIEGO POETRY ANNUAL: The San Diego Poetry Annualis now part of the permanent collection of every college and university library in the San Diego region, as well as the San Diego County Library system, the San Diego City Library and the libraries of individual cities, including Carlsbad, Oceanside and Escondido. Copies of each edition of the San Diego Poetry Annual are donated in the name of contributing poets to public and college libraries in San Diego and to select libraries nationally. The annual is published by Garden Oak Press, in association with the San Diego Entertainment & Arts Guild (SDEAG), a 501(c)(3) local arts non-profit: sdeag.org, gardenoakpress.com

CONTACT AND LINKS: Please contact host Michael Klam with any questions: 619-957-3264 (cell) or 619-236-0011 (museum) or mkklam@gmail.com. Visit us online at poetryandartsd.com and sandiego-art.org.

Support and sponsorship by San Diego Entertainment & Arts Guild, The San Diego Poetry Annual, Puna Press, Poetry International, San Diego Art Institute.