January 4th, 2010—The Saint Paul Almanac celebrates the start of the New Year with its first literary program of 2010, an event of the monthly Lowertown Reading Jam Series featuring emerging Native American writers. Hosted by Marcie Rendon, Anishinabe, the Monday, January 4 Lowertown Reading Jam takes place from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the Black Dog Café, 308 Prince Street, located across the street from the Saint Paul Farmer’s Market. Rendon has been instrumental in creating a viable Native presence in the Twin Cities artistic community, and she wears many hats including those of poet, playwright, children’s author, freelance writer, and performance consultant. Joining Rendon are six participants in the 2009 Native American Cycle of the Loft Inroads Program, coordinated by The Loft Literary Center. Among the readers is the program’s 2009 mentor, Gwen Griffith, Dakota. Griffith’s essays and poems have appeared in journals and books, and she has a forthcoming collection of poetry in Dakota and English, Follow the Blackbirds. Five of the programs mentees are also reading their work: Jay Thomas Bad Heart Bull, Marisa Carr, Colleen Casey, Emily Johnson, and Alexander Wanna. Rendon participated in the Loft Inroads Program in 1991 under the mentorship of Jim Northrup, an experience which she said dramatically changed her writing career. Northrup encouraged his mentees to find opportunities to read their work publicly, something which has played a significant role in helping Rendon get her work known and published. She says this of her inspiration for the January 4 Reading Jam, “Hosting an evening of new Inroads mentees is my way to continue and give back what my mentor gave me. I want to provide these writers with exposure and experience, as well as give our audience the experience of hearing Native worldview.” The Lowertown Reading Jam Series continues at the Black Dog Café on the first Monday of the month through July. Each session is hosted by a well-known writer or spoken word artist, and Saint Paul artist Lara Hanson interprets the readings through drawings using Japanese ink brushes. Free hors d’oeuvres are served, and the Black Dog Café offers its “Monday Madness” special featuring a large pizza and bottle of wine or a large pizza and four Summit beer taps for just $20. All Reading Jams are American Sign Language (ASL) interpreted.

• published: 06 Nov 2011
• views: 51

January 4th, 2010—The Saint Paul Almanac celebrates the start of the New Year with its first literary program of 2010, an event of the monthly Lowertown Reading Jam Series featuring emerging Native American writers. Hosted by Marcie Rendon, Anishinabe, the Monday, January 4 Lowertown Reading Jam takes place from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the Black Dog Café, 308 Prince Street, located across the street from the Saint Paul Farmer’s Market. Rendon has been instrumental in creating a viable Native presence in the Twin Cities artistic community, and she wears many hats including those of poet, playwright, children’s author, freelance writer, and performance consultant. Joining Rendon are six participants in the 2009 Native American Cycle of the Loft Inroads Program, coordinated by The Loft Literary Center. Among the readers is the program’s 2009 mentor, Gwen Griffith, Dakota. Griffith’s essays and poems have appeared in journals and books, and she has a forthcoming collection of poetry in Dakota and English, Follow the Blackbirds. Five of the programs mentees are also reading their work: Jay Thomas Bad Heart Bull, Marisa Carr, Colleen Casey, Emily Johnson, and Alexander Wanna. Rendon participated in the Loft Inroads Program in 1991 under the mentorship of Jim Northrup, an experience which she said dramatically changed her writing career. Northrup encouraged his mentees to find opportunities to read their work publicly, something which has played a significant role in helping Rendon get her work known and published. She says this of her inspiration for the January 4 Reading Jam, “Hosting an evening of new Inroads mentees is my way to continue and give back what my mentor gave me. I want to provide these writers with exposure and experience, as well as give our audience the experience of hearing Native worldview.” The Lowertown Reading Jam Series continues at the Black Dog Café on the first Monday of the month through July. Each session is hosted by a well-known writer or spoken word artist, and Saint Paul artist Lara Hanson interprets the readings through drawings using Japanese ink brushes. Free hors d’oeuvres are served, and the Black Dog Café offers its “Monday Madness” special featuring a large pizza and bottle of wine or a large pizza and four Summit beer taps for just $20. All Reading Jams are American Sign Language (ASL) interpreted.

• published: 06 Nov 2011
• views: 51