Poets & Film

Running time: 90 mins

Reed Magazine Presents Poetry Films and Performances SJSU’s Reed Magazine and Cinequest are thrilled to present a night of poets’ performances and short poetry films. A variety of topics will keep you spinning; from a love affair with a promiscuous pair of stockings to the raging passions of the famous who use a bullet to end their lives. Sex, death, and politics fill the night to assure gripping knuckles and shaking knees! These performers will grab your heart and stomp on it, so be prepared to be a casualty of this word war. Some of these local poet performers include Kim Addonizio, ASHA, Lorenz Mazon Dumuk, Kimy Martinez, Eli Hansen, Lita Kurth, Mark Heinlein, Bill Cozzini, Robert Pesich, and Mighty Mike McGee. We will continue the night with a collage of short poetry films, some of which capture the lives of poets in a documentary format and others are engaged directly in the words of the poet, taking you on a surreal journey. Travel in the decades of decaying trains that seem to have a destination unknown in "Destiny Nation". Find yourself being mesmerized in the meditating spinning motions of objects in "Screw". Poetry films include work by Alan Soldofsky, Bill Cozzini, Gary Singh, Kimy Martinez, Chris Knight, Thomas Bryan Michurski, and Danny Madden. Celebrating the publication’s 150th year, Reed Magazine will present the internationally renown writer Kim Addonizio as our featured poet. Addonizio, an award-winning poet, has received fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts, two Pushcart Prizes, and the John Ciardi Lifetime Achievement Award. She has published over a dozen books, including guides on the craft of writing poetry. Her latest books are the poetry collection Mortal Trash and a memoir-in-essays, Bukowski in a Sundress. Addonizio is also a blues harmonica player who has recorded two word/music CDs: Swearing, Smoking, Drinking, & Kissing (with Susan Browne) and My Black Angel. We will screen two of her poems that have been produced as short films through the non-profit arts organization based in Minnesota, Motionpoems. Her two poems that were selected for the project were "Cigar Box Banjo" and "Creased Map of the Underworld". Both films stunningly capture the musical syntax of Kim Addonizio’s poetry. Reed would like to thank Poetry Center of San Jose for their sponsorship for the event. Poet Performers Biographies Lita Kurth Lita Kurth practices and preaches the dark arts of creative writing in public, in private, and in cyberland. A co-founder of Flash Fiction Forum, she loves the San Jose literary community and is proud to be part of it. Gary Singh Film Green Tea Ice Cream Stockings Gary Singh is currently a Steinbeck Fellow in Creative Writing at San Jose State University. As a scribe, he's published over 1000 works including newspaper columns, travel essays, art and music criticism, profiles, business journalism, lifestyle articles, poetry, and short fiction. For nearly 12 years, his columns have appeared in Metro, the alternative weekly newspaper of San Jose and Silicon Valley. Mark Heinlein Mark Heinlein is the author of Everything We Call Ordinary, a poetry collection that delves into the chaotic minutiae of living in our complicated world. Squeezed between the drudgery and intensity of our daily lives, luminous acts of intimacy take hold, arousing us to glimpse "light, and more light." ASHA An artist, educator, and revolutionary. ASHA is originally from LA, where she fell in love with Hip Hop and lyrics. Her passion for social justice focuses on educating youth, currently as an 8th grade teacher in San Jose. She has toured London showcasing her poetry including at the famous Troy Bar. Lorenz Mazon Dumuk Lorenz Mazon Dumuk is a San Jose poet and mixed media artist. He has two collections of poetry, Ay Nako: Writing Through the Struggle, and I Think In Poetry. A highly imaginative person whose heartfelt work gives space for his audience to feel connected with themselves and the world around them. Robert Pesich Robert Pesich is the editor and publisher of Swan Scythe Press, President of Poetry Center San José, and coordinator for The Well-RED Reading Series. Nominated three times for the Pushcart Prize, he has received fellowships from Silicon Valley Creates, Silicon Valley Community Foundation, and Djerassi Resident Artist Program. Bill Cozzini Bill Cozzini has been performing and promoting poetry in San Jose since 1989. He studied theater and English, graduating with an English degree from San Jose State University in 1991. He is currently a board member of Poetry Center San Jose and working as a documentarian. Mighty Mike McGee Mighty Mike McGee is a funny stand-up poet from San Jose, California. He's performed his comedic storytelling and poetry in thousands of cities and towns for millions of ears throughout the U.S., Canada, and Europe. McGee won all of the most coveted U.S. poetry slam titles and is one of the best known and liked people in the world of chatty writers. He’s been featured on CBC, NPR and HBO multiple times and takes pride in making people laugh and cry from the stage. Kimy Martinez Kimy Martinez is currently obtaining her MFA degree in Poetry and Screenwriting at San Jose State University. She has been awarded the James D. Phelan Award for graduate free verse, the Dorrit Sibley Poetry Award for excellence in poetry, the Ida Faye Sachs Memorial Scholarship Endowment for poetry, the Graduate Equity Fellowship Scholarship and has currently been nominated for a national award, the AWP’s Intro Journals Project. She is co-founder and president of Stabbydoll Media, which has recently produced a full feature film. Eli Hansen Eli Hansen is an MFA candidate at San Jose State University. His nonfiction piece "The Smell of Freedom" was published in the 69th issue of Reed Magazine. He lives in San Francisco with his many books. Myles Forman Myles Forman is an upright and electric bass player out of San Jose, CA. Myles earned a B.A. in Philosophy from San Jose State University. He has played in many projects but is most proud of his current work in the San Jose based soul rock band ‘Melted State.' Arlene Biala Arlene Biala is an award winning poet who has been participating in poetry performances and workshops in the Bay Area for over 20 years. She is currently Poet Laureate of Santa Clara County for 2016-17. Her poetry has been described as "grounded in ritual object and ritual practice, mantras that resonate within the body, and plant the body firmly in the world." She is the author of several collections of poetry: bone, (Helmut Press), continental drift (West End Press), and her beckoning hands (Word Poetry Press, 2014), which won the 2015 American Book Award.