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WORD CIRCUS: CELEBRATING BLACK HISTORY MONTH WITH SPOKEN WORD


February 6, 2020

New year, new format! Please join Inlandia on the first Thursday of the month on the first floor of the Riverside Public Library downtown for our newly-rebranded monthly Arts Walk series "Word Circus”!

Join poets Romaine Washington and Eric DeVaughnn for a night of spoken word, self-guided writing activities, shorter reading sessions, and open mic! February 6, 7 pm at 3581 Mission Inn Avenue.

Spoken word poetry is as much contemporary as it is ancient. It is as much performance as it is poetic. Its delivery can be rhythmic, rhyming, and dramatic. It can include physical gestures and facial expressions.

Topics can be satirical, political, provocative, emotional, anecdotal, musical, and any combination of material where an artist finds his or her passion.

The spoken word poem is one that lives the moment, that doesn’t only communicate on the page, but thrives with live execution and audience.

Audience has the chance to connect on a visceral level, enjoy the sounds of words, and relate to the meaning behind them.

Get in the groove of the new year with Inlandia's first Arts Walk event of 2020! Inlandia invites you to sign up for open-mic! Bring your family-friendly writing downtown and meet us at the library where a smiling audience awaits!

This month’s Riverside Arts Walk marks Inlandia’s first installment of “Word Circus,” a monthly series of brief reading segments and activities inspired by words.

Romaine Washington, M.Ed. is the author of a collection of poems, Sirens in Her Belly, (Jamii Publishing). She is a facilitator for the San Bernardino Inlandia Writing Workshop and a fellow of the Inland Area Writing Project, U. C. Riverside and The Watering Hole, South Carolina. Ms. Washington is an educator who has been published in numerous literary periodicals and has recited and performed her poetry in a variety of venues.

“Radio spills saxophone sounds through open windows / breeze swirls / music summersaults into a surreal finger poppin’ frenzy” —Romaine Washington, “A Tribute to Spike Lee,” Sirens in Her Belly

Performing under the moniker Thought Requires Uncommon Effort, or T.R.U.E, Eric DeVaughnn is a father, poet, author, and educator. He has hosted an open-mic, facilitated a poetry and performance workshop with the local literary laureate, and is a cofounder of innateDIVINITYbooks. He has two self-published collections: Aggressive: The Inherent Violence of my Beastly Unbecoming and The Beauty of Dragons. A new title is forthcoming.

“A good poem will paint the air around your head and season your whole mouth.” —Eric DeVaughnn

This event is free and open to the public. It is supported by the Friends of the Riverside Public Library.

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