Staceyann Chin, an “out poet and political activist,” will present her memoir reading and poetry at Scripps College’s Balch Auditorium on Thursday, October 7, at 7:30 p.m. A book signing and reception will follow the presentation in the Hampton Room, Malott Commons. These events are free and open to the public.
Chin, an artist, poet, writer, and activist, is a resident of New York City and a Jamaican National. She has won numerous poetry slams, including: the 1999 Chicago People of Color Slam; the 1998 Lambda Poetry Slam; the 1998 and 2000 Slam This!; and WORD: The First Slam for Television. Chin performs her work at the Nuyorican Poets’ Café, in one-woman off-Broadway venues, international poetry workshops, and on Russell Simmons’ Def Poetry Jam on Broadway. She credits her long list of “things she has done” to her grandmother’s hard-working history and the pain of her mother’s absence.
Chin’s poetry can be found in a variety of publications, including: Jane, the New York Newsday, Everybody, Mosaic, Curve, and The New York Foundation for the Arts’ FYI. Her performances have been featured in national publications such as the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Pittsburgh Daily.
On Friday, October 8, there will be a Writing Workshop and lunch with Chin at Pomona College’s Queer Resource Center from 11:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. Those interested in the lunch must RSVP with their ID number.
Chin’s presentation and workshop are sponsored by the Alexa Fullerton Hampton Speaker Series: Voice and Vision, Scripps Communities of Resources and Empowerment (SCORE), Scripps College’s Gender and Women’s Studies, the Queer Resource Center, the Asian American Resource Center, Pomona College’s Draper Center for Community Partnerships, and the Pomona Writing Center.
For more information about the event, please contact the Scripps College Malott Commons at (909) 607-9372.