Small Group Discussion and Mini-Workshop
with Ken Arkind

Students: Don't miss this opportunity to meet Ken Arkind in a small group. Arkind will discuss his work and lead a mini-workshop. Arkind is a National Poetry Slam champion and long-time poetry slam coach. Bring your questions about the intersection of poetry and performance for this unique time with one of slam poetry's top poets and performers.

Celebrate imagination, voice, and persistence this April.
Celebrate National Poetry Month.

April 19, 2011 | 3-4 p.m.

Parrington Hall Forum, room 309 | Map to Parrington Hall

Space is limited; registration required.

> Also: Sign up for Poetry: From Pulitzer to Performance with Philip Levine and Ken Arkind and a Small Group Discussion with Philip Levine. 

Ken Arkind is a National Poetry Slam Champion, Nuyorican Poets Cafe Grand Slam Champion and full-time touring artist who has performed in almost all of the lower 48 states, Hawaii, Canada, and at more than 200 colleges and universities. With Panama Soweto, he is one-half of The Dyamic Duo, the nation’s most-highly-booked spoken word act.

Arkind has been featured in the documentaries “SPIT!” and “Slamplanet” as well as on HBO, CBS, NBC, and Borders.com’s Open Door Poetry series alongside former U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins. A regular fixture in the Denver music scene, Arkind has opened for such acts as The Flobots, Gil Scott Heron, Devotchka, Sage Francis, Ani DiFranco, Cloud Cult, P.O.S., and NPR’s Amy Goodman. The only poet signed to Hot Congress Records, Arkind’s work has been published in numerous literary anthologies and journals across the country, including The Good Things About America. His first collection of poetry, I Know Why Georgia Turner Waited by the Train Tracks, will be available summer of 2011 from Penmanship Books.

He is currently the executive director and head coach for the Denver Minor Disturbance Poetry Project, an independent literary arts organization dedicated to helping Colorado youth find their voices through poetry and performance.

Arkind’s poem, “An Experiment in Noise, in A Sharp Major,” is featured in the 2010 UW Common Book.

"The selection committee wanted to have slam poetry be represented in the Common Book. We saw it as an underrepresented genre in the academic community and also saw it as a genre that really registered with students. Arkind's poem, had a message that we thought would resonate well with students. It had momentum. It had beautiful imagery. And it worked great on the page. You can't help but like him."
--Sam Kolodezh, student ambassador for the UW Common Book, on the inclusion of "An Experiment in Noise, in A Sharp Major (Poem to be Read as a Pledge)" in the Common Book.

This event is sponsored by Undergraduate Academic Affairs Office of the Dean and First Year Programs.

The University of Washington is committed to providing access, equal opportunity and reasonable accommodation in its services, programs, activities, education and employment for individuals with disabilities. To request disability accommodation contact the Disability Services Office at least ten days in advance at 206-543-6450/V, 206-543-6452/TTY, 206-685-7264 (FAX), or e-mail dso@uw.edu.