Monday, March 28, 2011

Ocean Vuong & David Perez Read in NYC 4/1/11 @ Cornelia St. Cafe

FRIDAY, APRIL 1, 2011
Featured poet: Ocean Vuong | Spotlight poet: David Perez
PLUS NYC's Best Open POETRY Mike | Hosted by Kat Georges

Born in 1988 in Saigon, Vietnam, Ocean Vuong is the author of Burnings (Sibling Rivalry Press 2011). He currently resides in New York City as an undergraduate English Major at Brooklyn College, CUNY. His poems have received an Academy of American Poets Prize, the Beatrice Dubin Rose Award, the Connecticut Poetry Society's Al Savard Award, as well as three Pushcart Prize nominations. His work appear in Word Riot, the Kartika Review, Lantern Review, SOFTBLOW, Asia Literary Review, and PANK among others. "It is not just that Ocean can render pain as a kind of loveliness, but that his poetic line will not let you forget the hurt or the garish brilliance of your triumph; will not let you look away. These poems shatter us detail by detail because Ocean leaves nothing unturned, because every lived thing in his poems demands to be fed by you; to nourish you in turn." --Roger Bonair-Agard, two time National Slam Champion, author of Tarnish and Masquerade

Writer, editor, journalist and actor David Pérez was born and raised in the South Bronx of parents of Puerto Rican descent. Growing up in the Millbrook Houses in the 1960s and navigating his way through Catholic school comprise much of the storyline for his “memoirito” Wow! (11B Press), which New York Times bestselling author Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez calls: "A coming-of-age story that is universal in scope: lovely, funny, rich and evocative." David has written hundreds of published articles and has performed on stage and film. He lives in Taos, New Mexico with his wife, poet Veronica Golos.

The featured reading follows the fabulous Son of a Pony open reading at the cafe. Poet & acclaimed mistress of ceremonies Kat Georges hosts. Doors open at 5:45 p.m.; the open reading begins at 6 p.m. Admission is $7, which includes a free drink.

Cornelia Street Cafe is at 29 Cornelia Street, between W. 4th Street & Bleecker, just around the corner from the W. 4th Street subway station. Phone: 212-989-9319. www.corneliastreetcafe.com