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Pangea World Theater and Sprout Press present
Waiting For A Spaceship book release party
Thursday, 1 June, 2017
Please join Pangea World Theater and Sprout Press in honoring the work and words of J. Otis Powell‽ through a special performance and book release party for his book Waiting For A Spaceship, out now from Spout Press.
When: Doors at 7:30 PM, show at 8:00 PM
Where: Pangea World Theater, 711 W Lake St # 101, Minneapolis
Who: J. Otis Powell‽ with music by Davu Seru & No Territory Band, plus special guest Rene Ford
What: MN Spoken Word Association Hall of Fame member J. Otis Powell‽ will perform works from Waiting For A Spaceship, the third book in Spout Press' new Out of Pocket series.
How Much: Sliding scale admission is $5-15. $10 and over gets you a copy of the new book. No one turned away; we love you.
Why: Your heart and soul. Don't miss this one.
More about J. Otis Powell‽
J. Otis Powell‽ is a poet working in aesthetics rooted in Afrocentric lore and culture. His work is informed by oral traditions in literature, music, and the Black Arts Movement. His theater skill translates into spoken word and performance art and his talent with philosophy influences whatever work he engages.J. Otis‽ has studied with Gloria Anzaldúa, Quincy Troupe, Amiri Baraka, Alexs Pate, Sekou Sundiata and Yusef Komunyakaa.
He was a founding producer of KFAI’s Write On Radio! and a program director and community liaison at the Loft Literary Center. For more than fourteen years Powell‽ has worked as an actor/performance artist, company member, curator and producer with Pangea World Theater as well as an advisor and curator for Poetry Picnic a project of Poetry on Chicago Avenue. He continues to mentor and advise artists on issues of creative process and living inside an original aesthetic.
J. Otis‽'s prose poem THEOLOGY: Love & Revolution, originally produced in association with the Minnesota Dance Alliance, was performed at the Knitting Factory in New York City, where he also performed with The David Murray Orchestra and read at The Nuyorican Poets Cafe.
J. Otis Powell‽ worked as a coeditor and contributor to Blues Visions an anthology published by the MN Historical Society, as well as a chapbook titled Pieces of Sky, that he wrote, with editorial collaboration and design from Rain Taxi and funding from the MN State Arts Board.
His writing has appeared in publications such as DrumVoices, Hungry Mind Review, Ruminator Review, A View from the Loft, Colors Magazine, the Star Tribune, Public Art Review, Performance Twin Cities, and the Arts Midwest Jazzletter His writing was included in: Barefoot In The Mountains, Views From The Loft (an anthology) and his poetry was featured in Bringing Gifts, Bringing News an anthology of poems from Downstairs Press and his book, My Tongue Has No Bone was published by Porter Publishing.
A CD project titled BALM was released through TruRuts/Speak Easy Records. J. Otis‽'s words have been recorded and released on several CDs: The 2nd Annual Chicago Calling, The Ghost Dog Tour with Stir Trio and Forward Energy, a DVD titled News as Abstract Truth, Unsentimental with Rene Ford, THIS CAT IS OUT, in association with The New Day Blues Band, THEOLOGY: Love & Revolution and Words Will Heal The Wound.
J. Otis has received a Loft Creative Nonfiction Award, a Jerome Travel and Study Grant and a Mid Career Artist Grant, an Intermedia Arts Interdisciplinary McKnight Fellowship, and more.