Cedric Tillman's Blog, page 3
October 26, 2022
Oct. 15, 2022-West End Poetry Festival
I'm grateful for the invite to be a featured reader at the West End Poetry Festival in Carrboro. I remember going up several years ago to see/support one Reginald Dwyane Betts, long before his MacArthur grant win-hopefully it (and his work ethic) rubs off on me... It was good to be in community again with folks I hadn't seen since my time in Virginia and to read with Jessica Jacobs, Nickole Brown, Jacinta White, Alan Shapiro, Joan Barasovska, Fred Joiner, and Alana Dagenhart.
May 12, 2022
April 14- Visit to Dr. Malin Pereira's African American Poetry Course
Oops-nearly forgot...
I'm always honored and humbled to be invited to my former professor and mentor Dr. Pereira's class. She taught Jericho Brown's award-winning instant classic The Tradition this semester and invited me to talk about the collection as she was aware that I'd met him at the Cave Canem Workshop for Black Poets. She'd also asked if any of my work related to or could be viewed as being in conversation with any of his, and I mentioned "Light Reading," a poem from In My Feelins which was kind of a reaction to his poem "Like Father," from his first collection Please. I read his poem and mine and the class discussed the tensions in both pieces, including those around black orthodox Christianity and discussing sexuality, especially regarding LGBTQ identity, with parents.
We went on to discuss several other pieces, including "The Virus" (after which I read "Predestination" from Feelins), "Of The Swan," and "After Essex Hemphill." I'd hoped to get to "Riddle," "Bullet Points," and "I Begin With Love," but I talked away too much of our time. I'd had the book a while, since I'd gone to see him read from the book when he visited the city during my time in DC, but I hadn't gotten to it-so I was happy to have my reading of the collection expedited by the opportunity to speak with the class.
I'm always honored and humbled to be invited to my former professor and mentor Dr. Pereira's class. She taught Jericho Brown's award-winning instant classic The Tradition this semester and invited me to talk about the collection as she was aware that I'd met him at the Cave Canem Workshop for Black Poets. She'd also asked if any of my work related to or could be viewed as being in conversation with any of his, and I mentioned "Light Reading," a poem from In My Feelins which was kind of a reaction to his poem "Like Father," from his first collection Please. I read his poem and mine and the class discussed the tensions in both pieces, including those around black orthodox Christianity and discussing sexuality, especially regarding LGBTQ identity, with parents.
We went on to discuss several other pieces, including "The Virus" (after which I read "Predestination" from Feelins), "Of The Swan," and "After Essex Hemphill." I'd hoped to get to "Riddle," "Bullet Points," and "I Begin With Love," but I talked away too much of our time. I'd had the book a while, since I'd gone to see him read from the book when he visited the city during my time in DC, but I hadn't gotten to it-so I was happy to have my reading of the collection expedited by the opportunity to speak with the class.
April 28-The Mixer, a reading by The Friendship Project Charlotte
I'm grateful to organizer Kayla Brooks (who I met at the aforementioned Charlotte SHOUT festival dropping some fye spoken word) for the invite to her open mic at Bernardin's Restaurant downtown (this place has been dinner goals since I first got out of college...I gotta get by there!)
The event caters (but is not exclusive to) black millennials, so I just missed the age cut off ;) -but Kayla graciously invited me anyway. I learned that quite a few of the attendees met through Stephen Furtick's Elevation Church. I was so impressed by the collection of fly (Gen X term), engaging young professionals, many of whom were HBCU or UNCC grads and had moved to the city for school or work. I couldn't help thinking I was looking at Charlotte's future black middle class and that I hoped they all paired up and got married (lol). (An aside-young brother on the music was spinning some early 2000's r&b and I THOROUGHLY impressed w/the playlist-had to show him love when things were over.)
It was such a warm vibe in the room and everyone showed the readers (& singers) love. My highlight of the night was reading some work I don't think I've ever read from Lilies in the Valley. I asked if anyone knew the song I named the book after (knowing they did)-but man, when I started singing it, they joined in so enthusiastically and I think the handful of folks who maybe hadn't heard the song before got a real treat-we sounded like a mass choir! It was a truly unforgettable moment. I'm hoping to send some younger folks I know to the next event. Shout out for Bernardin's for being such gracious hosts of such a great event.
The event caters (but is not exclusive to) black millennials, so I just missed the age cut off ;) -but Kayla graciously invited me anyway. I learned that quite a few of the attendees met through Stephen Furtick's Elevation Church. I was so impressed by the collection of fly (Gen X term), engaging young professionals, many of whom were HBCU or UNCC grads and had moved to the city for school or work. I couldn't help thinking I was looking at Charlotte's future black middle class and that I hoped they all paired up and got married (lol). (An aside-young brother on the music was spinning some early 2000's r&b and I THOROUGHLY impressed w/the playlist-had to show him love when things were over.)
It was such a warm vibe in the room and everyone showed the readers (& singers) love. My highlight of the night was reading some work I don't think I've ever read from Lilies in the Valley. I asked if anyone knew the song I named the book after (knowing they did)-but man, when I started singing it, they joined in so enthusiastically and I think the handful of folks who maybe hadn't heard the song before got a real treat-we sounded like a mass choir! It was a truly unforgettable moment. I'm hoping to send some younger folks I know to the next event. Shout out for Bernardin's for being such gracious hosts of such a great event.
April 9 "Page & Stage" reading, Charlotte SHOUT! Festival
In the 4.5 years I was away from home, Charlotte's changed a lot. It's considerably more gentrified, like everywhere-but as Charlotte is often maligned (even by us natives) for its lack of a artistic "scene," I'm happy to see events like Charlotte SHOUT! take off.
CS is described as "an aspirational multi-week festival designed to showcase our community by celebrating Charlotte's creativity and innovation through art, music, food, and ideas." There were various events in and around downtown and organizer Jennifer Dow reached out to me to invite me to participate in an April 9 poetry reading headlined by my fellow Cave Canem Workshop participant and sister, author Mahogany Browne (#supastah!) After the reading, organizer Jennifer Dow provided refreshments and we all got to hang out a bit and chat. The organizers from two other open mics were amongst the participants, and I've since read at their venues. I'm hoping all of our paths will cross again around town.
CS is described as "an aspirational multi-week festival designed to showcase our community by celebrating Charlotte's creativity and innovation through art, music, food, and ideas." There were various events in and around downtown and organizer Jennifer Dow reached out to me to invite me to participate in an April 9 poetry reading headlined by my fellow Cave Canem Workshop participant and sister, author Mahogany Browne (#supastah!) After the reading, organizer Jennifer Dow provided refreshments and we all got to hang out a bit and chat. The organizers from two other open mics were amongst the participants, and I've since read at their venues. I'm hoping all of our paths will cross again around town.
AWP- March 23-26, 2022-Philly
It was so good to see so many old friends in person again at the first post-pandemic in-person AWP in Philly. I want to get back up there and really drive around the city. I got to participate in the Cave Canem AWP reading unexpectedly-I'd been placed on the wait list, and when it became clear one of the expected readers wouldn't make it, I was invited to read. As it turned out, I ended up closing out the night and the poems I read from In My Feelins ("colony, or my side of the bed," "Feed My People (The Toxicology Prayer)", and "Spew") were well received.
I'm not sure I'll be headed up to Seattle again in '23, but there are some folks up that way I'd like to see. I definitely plan to use AWP '24 as an excuse to get to Kansas City.
I'm not sure I'll be headed up to Seattle again in '23, but there are some folks up that way I'd like to see. I definitely plan to use AWP '24 as an excuse to get to Kansas City.
January 25, 2022
CarolinaPoets reading, Feb. 10, 2022, with Fred Joiner and Tyree Daye
On Feb. 10, I'll be sharing the CarolinaPoets (online) stage with poets Fred Joiner & Tyree Daye. This will be my second CarolinaPoets reading with Tyree, author of River Hymns & Cardinal. Fred is an old friend from my DC days at American U. and we have a host of mutual friends-I'm looking forward reading with him for the first time. The reading will be on Facebook and simulcast on YouTube.
Jan. 18 & 20, 2022 | Class Visit, UNCC (Dr. Jeffrey Leak, Intro to African-American Literature)
I was honored to learn at the last minute that Dr. Leak, who I had for Af-Am Lit 22 years ago, was teaching Lilies in the Valley last week. It was an absolute treat to talk to the students and read poems that I rarely read or had never read. I sat in on both of last week's courses via Zoom and it was extremely gratifying to be a part of all the frank and intimate discussion that the poems elicited on topics from race and family to relationships and sexuality. This was only my second virtual class visit (h/t to poet/novelist Destiny Birdsong, who taught the book back in '14/'15 at Vanderbilt and invited me in remotely as well as in person.) I'm looking forward to getting up to the alma mater in person sometime this semester.
January 6, 2022
Reading at Harvey Gantt Center for African-American Arts & Culture, Charlotte, NC
As part of the wind-down for the Visual Vanguard Celebration, an exhibition of the artwork of 25 black Carolinas artists, I'll be participating in a reading and conversation/Q&A with poets D'Angelo Dia & Rock Hill (SC) Poet Laureate Angelo Geter. Mask up and come through!
7-8:30 pm , January 12, 2022
Event link & Registration (optional)
https://www.ganttcenter.org/calendar/...
7-8:30 pm , January 12, 2022
Event link & Registration (optional)
https://www.ganttcenter.org/calendar/...
November 12, 2021
Today (Nov. 12)! - Reading at Goodyear Arts with Jennifer Falu and deAngelo Dia, 7 pm, Charlotte
7 PM
Goodyear Arts
301 Camp Rd, #200
Charlotte, NC
I'm pleased to be reading in person for the first time at home in over 5 years and in person anywhere since Feburary of 2020. I'll be reading ahead of Jennifer Falu, a powerful spoken word/performance poet/teacher/activist/writer. (Check her out here-she's got a lot of work on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=maF7n...)
Grateful for deAngelo's kind invite and the opportunity to share the stage. More on Ms. Falu and the event below.
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Celebrated slam poet, performance artist, & activist Jennifer Falú (NYC) with de’Angelo Dia, and Cedric Tillman. In collaboration with Cave Canem: A Home for Black Poetry.
This event is FREE and open to the public thanks to Women's Impact Fund.
**
Falú
Jennifer Falú's passion for creative expression through poetry is the foundation of her professional and personal life. At age fourteen she wrote her first poem and began reciting her poetry at sixteen. She is a celebrated performance artist throughout NYC and across the country. As a member of the 2006, 2009, 2012 and 2014 Nuyorican Poets Café Slam Teams, she became the top female poet of the year in 2006, and ranked 3rd in both 2009 and 2012 and was 1/4 of the Tri-State area's first All Female Poetry Slam Team. As a performer, Falú has shared the stage with Jennifer Holliday and Patti LaBelle. She made her film debut in the movie, “Mania Days” alongside Katie Holmes, as well as the Rza directed "Love, Beats, Rhymes”, alongside Jill Scott and Common, where she is credited as a writer.
She is also featured in an Emmy Award winning documentary following the 2016 Brooklyn Slam Team, in which they compete against 90 other teams, ultimately ranking 5th in the Nation. In addition to being a dynamic and visceral poet, Falú is well known for her teaching, coaching and workshop leadership ability, working with Young Writer’s Academy, Boston Breadloaf, Sports & Arts In Schools Foundation and Achievement First-East New York, just to name a few. Recently accepted to Pratt's MFA Writing and Activism program, she is currently a Leadership Coordinator for a middle school and has been featured on panels to discuss topics like 'Being A Womanist' and 'Identifying as AfroLatina'. A Cave Canem Fellow, as of 2016, she is using her writing as activism work for Black Poets Speak Out and Black Lives Matter. Her creative expression is further established in the four books authored by Falú entitled, “Ten Things I Want To Say to A Black Man,” “The Wet on My Tongue,” “When Ears Collide with Souls” and “& This We Know.” She is published in several anthologies, including ‘”30/30” and “His Rib “and received a full spread in Urban Ink Magazine. She was also contracted by the Sports and Arts in Schools Foundation to write their current poetry curriculum and helped implement a “Redefining Manhood” curriculum for young, Black men in high school. Falu’s other passion projects include 'Niggas Die Everyday', an art gallery she co-built and exhibit she co-curated that reconciles the legacy of racial injustice in the United States with the angst and aggression of the hip-hop generation. Sermon editorial consultant for some of today’s most promising preachers and rocking stages and colleges with her poetry collectives. Jennifer Falú is the proud mother of two children, a loyal Brooklynite and believes in fashion. Seriously! Connect with Jennifer Falú on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter or via email at Jennifer.falu@gmail.com
Goodyear Arts
301 Camp Rd, #200
Charlotte, NC
I'm pleased to be reading in person for the first time at home in over 5 years and in person anywhere since Feburary of 2020. I'll be reading ahead of Jennifer Falu, a powerful spoken word/performance poet/teacher/activist/writer. (Check her out here-she's got a lot of work on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=maF7n...)
Grateful for deAngelo's kind invite and the opportunity to share the stage. More on Ms. Falu and the event below.
------
Celebrated slam poet, performance artist, & activist Jennifer Falú (NYC) with de’Angelo Dia, and Cedric Tillman. In collaboration with Cave Canem: A Home for Black Poetry.
This event is FREE and open to the public thanks to Women's Impact Fund.
**
Falú
Jennifer Falú's passion for creative expression through poetry is the foundation of her professional and personal life. At age fourteen she wrote her first poem and began reciting her poetry at sixteen. She is a celebrated performance artist throughout NYC and across the country. As a member of the 2006, 2009, 2012 and 2014 Nuyorican Poets Café Slam Teams, she became the top female poet of the year in 2006, and ranked 3rd in both 2009 and 2012 and was 1/4 of the Tri-State area's first All Female Poetry Slam Team. As a performer, Falú has shared the stage with Jennifer Holliday and Patti LaBelle. She made her film debut in the movie, “Mania Days” alongside Katie Holmes, as well as the Rza directed "Love, Beats, Rhymes”, alongside Jill Scott and Common, where she is credited as a writer.
She is also featured in an Emmy Award winning documentary following the 2016 Brooklyn Slam Team, in which they compete against 90 other teams, ultimately ranking 5th in the Nation. In addition to being a dynamic and visceral poet, Falú is well known for her teaching, coaching and workshop leadership ability, working with Young Writer’s Academy, Boston Breadloaf, Sports & Arts In Schools Foundation and Achievement First-East New York, just to name a few. Recently accepted to Pratt's MFA Writing and Activism program, she is currently a Leadership Coordinator for a middle school and has been featured on panels to discuss topics like 'Being A Womanist' and 'Identifying as AfroLatina'. A Cave Canem Fellow, as of 2016, she is using her writing as activism work for Black Poets Speak Out and Black Lives Matter. Her creative expression is further established in the four books authored by Falú entitled, “Ten Things I Want To Say to A Black Man,” “The Wet on My Tongue,” “When Ears Collide with Souls” and “& This We Know.” She is published in several anthologies, including ‘”30/30” and “His Rib “and received a full spread in Urban Ink Magazine. She was also contracted by the Sports and Arts in Schools Foundation to write their current poetry curriculum and helped implement a “Redefining Manhood” curriculum for young, Black men in high school. Falu’s other passion projects include 'Niggas Die Everyday', an art gallery she co-built and exhibit she co-curated that reconciles the legacy of racial injustice in the United States with the angst and aggression of the hip-hop generation. Sermon editorial consultant for some of today’s most promising preachers and rocking stages and colleges with her poetry collectives. Jennifer Falú is the proud mother of two children, a loyal Brooklynite and believes in fashion. Seriously! Connect with Jennifer Falú on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter or via email at Jennifer.falu@gmail.com
Nerdacity Podcast with DuEwa Frazier, June 28
Thanks to Dr. Frazier (@duewawrites) for her gracious invite to share work from IN MY FEELINS on her IG podcast (@nerdacitypodcast). We talked poetry and between poems we talked about how my faith impacts my poetry, basketball, and challenges presented to educators who teach Black kids suffering from the lingering effects of centuries of racist policy. This last topic arose from my reading of "Bad Haiku Workshop," published a few years ago in Barzakh Magazine. Some rough segues there...
The broadcast can be viewed here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGoKA...
The broadcast can be viewed here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGoKA...
