Poetic Healing

What:
In celebration of National Poetry Month, National Library Week and Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, Cal State Fullerton is hosting readings by poets Karen An-hwei Lee and Traci Kato-Kiriyama. The free event, “Mending the World: Poetry, Activism and Healing,” is open to the public.

When:
Thursday, April 28
11 a.m. - 6 p.m. 

Where:
Cal State Fullerton Pollak Library, Rotary Club of Fullerton Room 130 
800 N. State College Blvd., Fullerton, 92831 

Schedule:
11-11:40 a.m.
Open poetry readings. Members of Cal State Fullerton’s faculty, staff, students and community members are invited to recite their poetry.

Noon-12:50 p.m.

Caption: Traci Kato-Kiriyama

Poetry reading and discussion on art, activism, passion and survival by Traci Kato-Kiriyama, a multidisciplinary performing artist, author, arts educator, community organizer and founder/director of the Tuesday Night Project and the “1st & 3rd Tuesday Night Café,” one of the longest-running free public arts series in Little Tokyo in downtown Los Angeles. She will read from “signaling,” her debut collection of poetry published in 2010.

1-2:15 p.m.
Kato-Kiriyama will lead a creative-writing workshop.

2:30-3:45 p.m.

Caption: Karen An-hwei Lee

Karen An-hwei Lee will lecture and read from her work, “Beauty from Ashes: A Woman Warrior's Journey of Awareness.” Author of “Ardor” (Tupelo Press, 2008) and “In Medias Res” (Sarabande Books, 2004), Lee is the winner of the Kathryn A. Morton Prize and the Norma Farber First Book Award. Her chapbook, “God’s One Hundred Promises,” received the Swan Scythe Press Prize. The recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts grant lives and teaches in Southern California.

4-5 p.m.
“World Languages Session,” with a special tribute to Liu Xiaobo, literary critic, poet and recipient of the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize “for his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China.” Student musician Brittany Su will provide a musical tribute.

5-6 p.m.
Open poetry readings. Members of Cal State Fullerton’s faculty, staff, students and community members are invited to recite their poetry.

More:
To participate in the open poetry readings, contact: Joy Lambert, 657-278-4055, jlambert@fullerton.edu; Irena Praitis, 657-278-2453, ipraitis@fullerton.edu; Tu-Uyen Nguyen, 657-278-4157, tunnguyen@fullerton.edu; or Jie Tian, 657-278-2569, jtian@fullerton.edu 

Parking:
$2 per hour or $8 for a daily permit. Details available online: http://parking.fullerton.edu/visitors 

Sponsors:
Pollak Library; Asian American Pacific Islander Community Resource Center; Asian American and Pacific Islander Faculty and Staff Association; Asian American Studies Program; Chicana and Chicano Resource Center; English, Comparative Literature and Linguistics Department; College of Humanities and Social Sciences; and the Multicultural Leadership Center. Poets and Writers Inc. is underwriting the event through a grant it received from the James Irvine Foundation.

Media Contacts:
Tu-Uyen Nguyen, Asian American Studies or 657-278-4157, tunnguyen@fullerton.edu 

Mimi Ko Cruz, Public Affairs, 657-278-7586 or mkocruz@fullerton.edu