SEPTEMBER 8-OCTOBER 1, 2020 ONLINE, ACROSS THE GLOBE At its core, Poetry is about the exchange of music, language, and ideas. The festival began in 2005 to showcase the voice of our first exiled writer-in-residence, Chinese poet and author Huang Xiang. Although Huang Xiang spoke TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY no English, pairing his words with the music of renowned saxophonist allowed his poetry to transcend differences in language and enabled Huang Xiang to express himself freely to his neighbors in Pittsburgh. Sept. 8 Sept. 10 Waclaw Zimpel Thoth Trio: Meditations on Quarantine Over the last 15 years, Jazz Poetry has grown from a one-night concert in a Northside alley, to a month-long with Alex Frieheit ft. Poets Richard Blanco, Asieh Amini, Joy festival, “known ’round the world.” And never has that moniker been more true than in 2020. Register now for free Katz, & Natalie Diaz Register now for free Sept. 15 Sept. 16 The eight concerts of Jazz Poetry 2020 virtually connect international musicians and poets, bringing together a diverse set of voices to collaborate, to exchange ideas, and engage in a conversation about freedom of expression. The Jaak Sooäär Trio Off Minor Jazz: Nat King Cole, the with Kai Aareleid Pianist ft. Poets mónica teresa ortiz, Grace Register now for free Shuyi Liew, Mansur Rajih, & Sara Borjas Register now for Poetry 2020 closes City of Asylum’s 15th anniversary season and although it’s been a dramatically unexpected Sept. 22 Sept. 24 season, there is still much to celebrate. This festival allows us to grow the virtual home we’ve built for artists over the last several months, continue to connect artists and audiences, and grow our international community Mihály Borbély Yoko Suzuki Trio: with Tibor Zalán The Music of committed to protecting and celebrating creative freedom of expression. Register for free Register now for free Sept. 29 Oct. 1 All programs start at 7:00 PM EDT

Kaja Draksler with “Tallahatchie LullaBye, Baby” TUESDAY, September 8 Irena Tomazin ft. Poet Doug Kearney Waclaw Zimpel: PROGROM ft. Poet Alex Frieheit Register now for free Register now for free

THURSDAY, September 10 Thoth Trio: Meditations on Quarantine ft. Poets Richard Blanco, Asieh Amini, Joy Katz, Ways to Watch & Natalie Diaz All programs on the Jazz Poetry Month TUESDAY, September 15 channel are streamed on Crowdcast. See (and click on) the event listings to The Jaak Sooäär Trio ft. Poet Kai Aareleid the left for access and registration.

WEDNESDAY, September 16 All programs are streamed at 7:00 PM. Off Minor Jazz: Nat King Cole, the Pianist ft. Poets mónica teresa ortiz, Grace Shuyi Missed a program? Don’t worry—all Liew, Mansur Rajih, & Sara Borjas programs will remain archived and accessible on the City of Asylum TUESDAY, September 22 Crowdcast page. Mihály Borbély Quartet ft. Poet Tibor Zalán All poetry programs will be captioned and made available in accessible format THURSDAY, September 24 7 days after their original air date. These Yoko Suzuki Quartet The Music of Geri Allen accessible videos can be found on “past events” on the City of Asylum Crowdcast TUESDAY, September 29 page. Kaja Draksler ft. Irena Tomazin

THURSDAY, October 1 “Tallahatchie LullaBye, Baby” ft. Poet Doug Kearney 3 PHEEROAN AKLAFF: DRUMMER Pheeroan akLaff reflects music centered in ritual and THURSDAY, OCTOBER 1, 7:00 PM imagination. He is most noted for his performances and recordings with a milieu of music pioneers Tallahatchie LullaBye, Baby including , Andrew Hill, Anthony Run time: 90 minutes Braxton, , , Oliver Lake, , , , Yamashita Yosuke, , Liu Sola, and A riveting, vital poem—a lullaby to Emmett Till with four national several international creative musicians. He maintains collaborations jazz greats creating new pieces in response. Read by author Douglas with a wide range of composers and multidisciplinary artists. Originally Kearney, compositions and performances by Pheeroan akLaff, Dee from Detroit, Pheeroan moved to New York in 1978. In 1981 he lived Alexander, Orrin Evans, and Nicole Mitchell. Co-curated by MacArthur and worked in Abidjian Cote D’Ivoire and Lagos Nigeria. His travels in Fellow Terrance Hayes. Africa, India and Japan are influential in his music. His compositions are heard on his LP, House of Spirit: Mirth, EP Fits Like A Glove, and CD’s; Sonogram, Global Mantras, The Willisau Concert and Live at Yahagi. This concert features multiple interpretations and multiple hearings of In 2000 he was awarded a NYFA composer grant, and in 2018 a New one piece, created in response to longstanding issues of systemic social Music USA project grant. He has conducted workshops and lectures in injustice and racial inequality. Saalfelden Austria; My-Uni Conference on Art and Spirituality, in Bogota, Colombia; University de Javierna, in Toronto, Canada; The Music Gallery, and in Jyderup,Denmark; Jyderup Accordion. He co-founded DOUGLAS KEARNEY: POET Seed Artists Inc. (www.seedartists.org) to enrich multi-generational Douglas Kearney has published six collections, including communities with festivals, concerts, youth art workshops, and jazz Buck Studies (Fence Books, 2016), winner of the Theodore listening series in Montclair, and New York. akLaff is also an Roethke Memorial Poetry Award, the CLMP Firecracker Advisory Board Member at City Of Asylum, Pittsburgh, and a teacher Award for Poetry, and California Book Award silver of drums at Wesleyan University. akLaff is also involved in Music and medalist (Poetry). M. NourbeSe Philip calls Kearney’s neuroscience projects with Dr. Psyche Loui, Dr. Julian F. Thayer, Scott Robinson and Milford Graves, and the release of akLaff’s new album

Photo: Bao Phi ® collection of libretti, Someone Took They Tongues (Subito, 2016), “a seismic, polyphonic mash-up.” Kearney’s Mess Hana Dharma with Aska Maret is marked for release in Winter 2021. and Mess and (Noemi Press, 2015), was a Small Press Distribution Handpicked Selection that Publisher’s Weekly called “an extraordinary book.” His newest collection, Sho (Wave, 2021) is forthcoming. His operas include Sucktion, Mordake, Crescent City, Sweet Land, and next year’s Comet / Poppea. He has received a Whiting Writer’s Award, a Foundation for Contemporary Arts Cy Twombly Award for Poetry, residencies/fellowships from Cave Canem, The Rauschenberg Foundation, and others. Kearney teaches Creative Writing at ORRIN EVANS: PIANIST the University of Minnesota–Twin Cities and lives in St. Paul with his family. Orrin Evans is an American jazz pianist. Evans was born in Trenton, New Jersey and raised in DEE ALEXANDER: VOCALIST . He attended , and Dee Alexander is one of Chicago’s most gifted and then studied with . He worked as a respected female vocalist/songwriters. Her talents span sideman for , Ralph Peterson, Duane every music genre, from Gospel to R&B, from Blues to Eubanks, and Lenora Zenzalai-Helm, and released Neo-Soul. Yet her true heart and soul are experienced in his debut as a leader in 1994. He signed with Criss their purest form through her performance of Jazz music. Cross Jazz in 1997, recording prolifically with the label. He was awarded From a soft, sultry traditional ballad, to a contemporary a 2010 Pew Fellowships in the Arts. Evans was recently named the Jazz-Funk groove; from a high flying swing, to a scat-filled new pianist in . Through 25 albums as a leader and co- romp, Dee Alexander delivers each style with a passion and love of music leader, including his neo-soul/acid jazz ensemble Luv Park and the that comes across in each and every note, and with a style and grace that bracing collective trio Tarbaby, Evans has always followed a vigorously is truly her own. Dee has also formed the Evolution Ensemble which is an individual path. acoustic group that consists of string instruments and percussion with a strong Biographies continued on next page emphasis on original compositions. 5 OTHER CITY OF ASYLUM VIRTUAL PROGRAMS

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 1, 7:00 PM Visit alphabetcity.org for the most current schedule. Click on an event below to register. Tallahatchie LullaBye, Baby Biographies continued

NICOLE MITCHELL: FLUTIST Nicole Mitchell is an award-winning flutist, composer, conceptualist, bandleader, and educator. Her research centers on the powerful legacy of contemporary African American culture, its ongoing expression of resistance and resilience, its intriguing dialogue within the African diaspora and its transformational impact on culture throughout the globe. Mitchell composes for contemporary ensembles of varied instrumentation and size (from solo to orchestra and big band) while incorporating improvisation and a wide aesthetic expression. As a flutist she has developed a signature language of improvisation through her use of extended techniques informed by jazz, classical and world music traditions of flute playing. She has been a repeated recipient of the “Top Jazz Flutist” awards from Jazz Journalists Association and Downbeat Magazine from 2010-2019. Professor Nicole Mitchell is the William S. Dietrich II Chair for Jazz Studies, where she works to continue the visionary legacies of her predecessors Geri Allen and Nathan Davis.

TERRANCE HAYES: POET Terrance Hayes’s most recent publications include American Sonnets for My Past And Future Assassin (Penguin 2018) and To Float In The Space Between: Drawings and Essays in Conversation with Etheridge Knight (Wave, 2018). To Float In The Space Between was winner of the Poetry Foundation’s 2019 Pegasus Award for Poetry Criticism and a finalist for the 2018 National Book Critics Circle Award in Criticism. American Sonnets for My Past And Future Assassin won the Hurston/Wright 2019 Award for Poetry and was a finalist the 2018 National Book Critics Circle Award in Poetry, the 2018 National Book Award in Poetry, the 2018 TS Eliot Prize for Poetry, and the 2018 Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award. Hayes is a Professor of English at New York University.

7 DONATE TODAY BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Our mission at City of Asylum is to protect, celebrate, and build community on creative free expression. BOARD OF DIRECTORS ADVISORY BOARD ADVISORY BOARD Mia Alvar Feyisola Akintola, 2019 Founding North American Board: Russell Banks Jill Bialosky We provide sanctuary to persecuted international writers so that their voices are not silenced and they can continue Carol Brown, 2015 Angie Cruz to write. We are the largest writer sanctuary program in the world, with three writers-in-residence currently living Anne Billiet Lackner, 2013, Vice President Dionne Brand Craig Dunham in Pittsburgh. Michael McLean, 2011 Carolyn Forche Amy Finnerty Gwendolyn Moorer, 2011 * Michael Ondaatje Michael Formanek Our program of literary and music events is how we celebrate freedom of expression. We provide a platform for Charles F. O’Hanlon III, 2010, Secretary/ Caryl Phillips artists not often heard in other venues, and partner with organizations to create a platform for under-represented Treasurer Salman Rushdie John Freeman voices from Pittsburgh and beyond. Henry Reese, co-founder, President * Wole Soyinka Tomas Fujiwara Audrey Russo, 2017 Derek Walcott Mary Halvorson We believe that everyone should have access to culture and the arts, regardless of means. This is why all of our Diane Samuels, co-founder * Oliver Lake programs are free to access - both in person at our Northside home, Alphabet City, or online on our streaming Akhil Sharma, 2015 Claire Messud channel. Ken Segel, 2019 Viet Thanh Nguyen Eric Shiner, 2017 Marc Nieson Please join our community and help advance our mission by Juliet Lea Hillman Simonds George Packer Barbara Talerico, 2015 * Richard Powers making a donation today. Laura Secor In these uncertain times, sustaining support is more important than ever. Please consider becoming a monthly *Resident Central Northside Kamila Shamsie donor, and spreading your gift throughout the year. This helps create stability for our organization and allows us to plan for the future. James Wood As of September8,2020 Donate today CITY OF ASYLUM STAFF

R. Henry Reese Mahtab Nadalian Daniel Harris City of Asylum is a registered 501(c)(3) charitable organization. All donations are tax-deductible. No goods or Co-Founder and President Production Coordinator Facility Manager services are provided in exchange for your contribution. Our EIN is 20-2810099. Diane Samuels Erin Roussel Victoria Peechatt Co-Founder Manager of Special Projects Administrative and Development Assistant

PROGRAMMING ADMINISTRATION BOOKSTORE Abby Lembersky Tommy Nelson Lesley Rains Director of Programs Director of External Relations Bookstore Manager

Karla Lamb Allison M. Ruppert Jennifer Kraar Senior Program Manager Manager/ Marketing Manager Children’s Bookseller Volunteer Coordinator Amy Gilligan Khalil Zeigler Director of Finance and Operations Program Coordinator Tuhin Das Alexis Jabour Accountant Production Coordinator

9 ABOUT US CITY OF ASYLUM BOOKSTORE @ ALPHABET CITY

OUR MISSION City of Asylum® Bookstore is committed to showcasing marginalized voices from City of Asylum® builds a more just community by protecting and celebrating creative freedom of around the world. Our store is notable for its considered commitment to diverse expression. We provide sanctuary to literary writers exiled under threat of persecution, so that they can voices for readers of all ages. continue to write and are not silenced. And we offer a broad range of free literary, arts presenting, and humanities programs in a community setting to build social equity through cultural exchange. We anchor We hope book lovers come into our store with an open heart and an open mind. neighborhood economic development by transforming blighted properties into homes for our programs.

City of Asylum® Exiled Writer Residencies The City of Asylum® Exiled Writer Residency Program is a long-term residency for literary writers who are in exile from their home countries and under threat of persecution because of their writing. The goal of this sanctuary program is to enable each writer-in-residence to continue to write while transitioning to a stable, independent life in exile. Works by Exiled Writers in Residence

City of Asylum® House Publications City of Asylum® rehabilitates houses on Pittsburgh’s Northside for use by writers-in-residence, and commissions a public artwork that incorporates a literary text for the façade of each house. City of Asylum calls this process Shop online or in-person house-publishing.

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Translated new releases ALL LIVE- JJaazzzzSTREAMED ppSEPooTEMBeEeR 8 - ttOCTrrOBERyy 1, 2020 FREE