Donika Kelly / Photo x John Jackson
Just Buffalo Literary Center is pleased to announce the first STUDIO event of the season on Thursday, October 6th, at 7:30 pm at Just Buffalo Literary Center, 468 Washington St, 2nd floor. Reading that night will be Donika Kelly, Matthew Klane with James Belflower, and Eve Williams.
STUDIO brings talented writers from Buffalo, Western New York and beyond to the downtown Just Buffalo Writing Center for readings, in-depth discussions, and more.
The STUDIO Series seeks to bring mid-career poets and authors on the cusp of breaking through to a wider audience, to give the local community access to exciting and important contemporary poetry. It’s made possible through major support from the New York State Council on the Arts, and a variety of additional individual, educational, foundation and collaborating partners.
More on the Authors:
Donika Kelly is new to the area, recently accepting a position at St. Bonaventure University. Her debut collection Bestiary was awarded the 2015 Cave Canem Poetry Prize selected by Nikky Finney. Forthcoming from Graywolf Press (the same press that published 2015-16 Just Buffalo Literary Center guests Maggie Nelson and Claudia Rankine), the book has recently been placed on the National Book Award Longlist for Poetry. Artistic director Barbara Cole notes “Graywolf Press continues to be at the forefront of innovative writing. Among the poetry collections books nominated for the National Book Award, three of the ten are published by Graywolf. We were so delighted to welcome Donika Kelly to the Western New York poetry community and booked her for this event before the nominations were announced last week. Her nomination is just icing on the cake! We hope that everyone in the literary community will come out to this event to celebrate the vibrant poetry scene here in Buffalo.”
She received an MFA from the Michener Center for Writers at the University of Texas at Austin and a Ph.D. in English from Vanderbilt University, where she specialized in American literature and film studies.
Matthew Klane may be a familiar name as he lived in Buffalo in the mid-2000s and was very active in the poetry community. He now lives in Albany where he co-curates the Yes! Poetry & Performance Series. He is the author of three books, with his most recent book My being published as an eBook by Fence.
James Belflower received a Ph.D. in Contemporary Poetry and Poetics from SUNY Albany. He is the author of The Posture of Contour (Spring Gun Press 2013), Commuter (Instance Press 2009), and Beard Leaves the Cornice, winner of the 2011 Spring Gun Press Chapbook Prize. His poems, essays, and reviews appear, or are forthcoming in: Aufgabe, Fence, New American Writing, 1913, and Drunken Boat, among others. He co-curates the Yes! Poetry & Performance Series whose mission is to bring writing into conversation with other art forms.
Klane & Belflower will be performing together using projection and music with their collaborative work.
Buffalo’s Eve Williams first entered the spoken word scene 15 years ago. She recently returned to poetry with renewed energy after taking a break due to a traumatic brain injury. “I first heard Eve at United Melanin Society’s Bodies of Light in February. She is a poet in complete control of her craft,” said Kevin Thurston, STUDIO co-curator. Williams’ work concentrates on her experiences as a multiracial Black woman in the US. She documents most of her work on her Facebook page Unfiltered.
About JUST BUFFALO LITERARY CENTER
Just Buffalo Literary Center’s mission is to create and strengthen communities through the literary arts. Established in 1975, and celebrating its 40th Anniversary in 2015-2016, Just Buffalo serves the region with author readings and conversations, literary events, writing workshops, interdisciplinary performances, a comprehensive website, and publications. Its signature international author series BABEL has been recognized as“…the most exciting literary series Buffalo has ever seen” and its newest program, the Just Buffalo Writing Center, offers after-school writing workshops, mentoring, and a writer-in-residence to teens in downtown Buffalo. Want to learn more? Go to justbuffalo.org.
STUDIO: Author Series
October 6, 2016 @ 7:30pm
Just Buffalo Writing Center – 468 Washington Street @ Mohawk, 2nd Floor, Buffalo
justbufflao.org
