Wondering Home

All things new

2009-05-21T14:43:00.002-04:00

It's been a while - almost a whole year! - since I last posted.

In the meanwhile, I began and completed my first year in the MFA program at Washington University in St. Louis.

In the meanwhile, a few more poems entered cyberspace: four poems in diode and two poems in PANK.

In the meanwhile, I made a new website: www.wonderinghome.com.

In the meanwhile, I've been gathering people to write together this summer.

Fort Greene Summer Creative Writing Workshop

2008-06-25T09:55:00.006-04:00

Looking for some mid-summer/mid-week/mid-day creative inspiration? I'll be leading a 4-week creative writing workshop in Brooklyn! Email me to register or for more info.

Wednesdays, noon-2 pm
July 16 - Aug 6
$120
80 Hanson Place, Fort Greene, Brooklyn
Open to writers of all levels and genres

A relaxed, fun workshop to help you spark your creativity and get your pen moving again or for the first time.

This short, summer workshop might be just the thing for stay-at-home moms and dads, retired folks, students, or professionals working from home.

In my workshops, I create safe spaces where people can discover and develop their voices. It's a great method for beginning writers, experienced writers who are struggling with writer's block, or anyone who just wants time, space, and inspiration to generate new work.

Led in association with the NY Writers Coalition.

To register, email tamikob-at-gmail-dot-com

Three June Readings

2008-06-06T16:29:00.006-04:00

Three - count 'em, three! - upcoming readings this month. Perhaps you might be interested in...

Sulu Series
@ Bowery Poetry Club
Sunday, June 15, 9 pm
$8 for general public, $5 for students

In which I attempt to stay up past my bedtime to read some poems along with other cool, queer Asian performers.

or

Uncalled-For Readings
@ Unnameable Books
Wednesday June 18, 7 pm
Free

In which I get to be part of the inaugural reading of what promises to be a fantastic Brooklyn series.

or

Agent 409 Reading
@ Bluestockings
Monday, June 23, 7 pm
Free

In which I read with my beloved, amazing writing group, Agent 409, as we celebrate four years together and our brand-spankin'-new zine.

~~~~

A lot more information, if ya want it:

On Sunday June 15th, SULU SERIES presents...
A Queer Asian Spectacular (In Honor of L.G.B.T. Pride Month)
9 PM - 12 AM
$8 for General Public
$5 for students

Guest Host: Danny Katz

Justin Woo
Kevin Nadal
Tamiko Beyer
Kay Barrett
Vik Mishra

Sulu Series Every Third Sunday of the Month!
Bowery Poetry Club
308 Bowery, New York, NY 10012
212.614.0505
(foot of First Street, between Houston & Bleecker
F train to Second Ave, or 6 train to Bleecker)
www.BoweryPoetry.com

Hosted by Regie Cabico, curated by Taiyo Na, with music by DJ Boo, and brought to you by the Sulu Artist Network, Sulu Series is a
monthly showcase featuring established and emerging Asian American
artists in music, spoken word, video and multidisciplinary performance
from the local and national scenes.

:: :: ::

Uncalled-For Readings
@ Unnameable Books
Mostly Poets, Some Wednesdays.

First Reading! Wednesday June 18 2008 7:00 pm, free

Tamiko Beyer Ana Božičević Tisa Bryant & Daniel Lin

Unnameable Books can be found at 456 Bergen Street (between Flatbush Ave. & 5th Ave.) in Brooklyn, NY, one half block from the 2/3 at Bergen, or a short walk from 4/5/B/D/N/Q/R at Atlantic/Pacific.
Readings are held down one flight of stairs in the basement.

:: :: ::

Agent 409 Reading
Monday, June 23rd @ 7PM - Free
Bluestockings

It's been four amazing years, and yes, we're counting, 'cause it's time again for the writers at Agent 409 to scour racism, wipe away gritty capitalism, dissolve encrusted patriarchy, and penetrate transphobic spots. An unruly bunch of multi-racial queers and trannies, Agent 409 is anti-everything oppressive and wrong, and pro-everything liberating and good. Come hear the agents read their newest: Tamiko Beyer, Danielle Morgan Feris, Jane Koh, Adedoyin Ola, Cory Schmanke Parrish, Daniel Lynn Rose, Ronica Sanyal and Judy Yu.

Bluestockings is located in the Lower East Side of Manhattan at 172 Allen Street between Stanton and Rivington - 1 block south of Houston and 1st Avenue.
(1 block south of the F train's 2nd Avenue stop and just 5 blocks from the JMZ-line's Essex / Delancey Street stop.)

Poetry is Not A Luxury*

2008-04-25T18:07:00.002-04:00

It's almost time for the third annual NY Writers Coalition (NYWC) Write-a-Thon! Will you sponsor me this year, and join me in supporting the important work that the NYWC does every day?

This daylong writing marathon and festival on May 17 will benefit NYWC's free creative writing programs. I'll join other writers at Manhattan's NY Center for Independent Publishing to write, attend workshops, and meet other writers. Your pledges will help NYWC continue to offer free, unique and powerful creative writing workshops in neighborhoods throughout NYC.

I lead a writing workshop for LGBT homeless youth through the NYWC. It's so inspiring to witness the fierce creativity of these youth when they're given a space where their voices are honored and nurtured. Can you help make sure these workshops continue?

*Audre Lorde, Sister Outsider

Read, Write, Resist!

2008-03-11T15:32:00.004-04:00

Join Agent 409 at the Split This Rock Poetry Festival in Washington D.C., March 20- 23

On Friday, March 21, Agent 409 will present the following workshop:

Sustaining Ourselves: Creating Peer Writing Workshops That Work
Tamiko Beyer, Danielle Feris, Jane Koh, Cory Schmanke Parrish, Daniel Lynn Rose

For over three years, the members of Agent 409 have been meeting weekly to write and workshop in a collaborative, non-hierarchical environment. This hands-on workshop will give participants tools to establish a sustainable writing workshop that meets their needs as both writers and as workers/organizers/activists for social justice. In this session we will share our workshop model– explaining what has worked for us, what challenges we have faced and how we have dealt with those challenges. This workshop will help writers set up their own creative community that support their work as poets and as activists/organizers/workers.

About the Festival
Split This Rock Poetry Festival will bring poets and writers to Washington, D.C. on the fifth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, in the midst of the presidential election, for four days of collaboration, learning, and performance. The festival will feature opportunities to build community and celebrate the many ways that poetry can act as an agent for change. Join us as we celebrate poetic diversity and the transformative power of the imagination. Learn more and register at www.splitthisrock.org.

February Updates

2008-02-19T13:58:00.003-05:00

"Forget" was chosen for the Best of the 'Net 2007 Anthology. Many thanks to Boxcar Poetry Review who originally published, and nominated, the poem! If anyone has any updates on what happened to Keshav Jiwani, please email me - I would love to know.
"In this metropolis" was published in February's issue of The Progressive.
I will be reading and celebrating the great Audre Lorde at this event:

The Audre Lorde Project presents:

Remembering Spirit, Remembering Audre

Thursday February 28, 7pm Bluestocking Bookstore, Lower East Side

Join ALP in honoring the work and life of Audre Lorde. A reading of her poetry, essays and memoirs as we celebrate her birthday (February 18th). Joined by writers and artists such as Cheryl Clarke, Andrew Blint, Holiday Simmons, Victor Tobar, Tamiko Beyer and Cristina Izaguirre, as they share with us pieces of her legacy. $10-$20, sliding scale, no one turned away.

Directions: 172 Allen St. btwn Stanton and Rivington. F train to 2nd Ave or JMZ to Essex / Delancey.

All proceeds go to ALP, a community organizing center for Lesbian, Gay,
Bisexual, Two-Spirit, Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming people of color communities. For more information contact Marcos Gutierrez @ marcos_gutierrez@ml.com or 646-265-4280

2008 Datebook

2008-01-05T16:56:00.000-05:00

Recently, I got an email from the Feminist Majority promoting a few feminist 2008 calendars - including the Women Artists Datebook from the Syracuse Cultural Workers, in which I have a poem. So I thought I should mention it here. It's a nicely designed, compact datebook with poems and color artwork by 30 women, including Anna Oneglia, Ellen Bass, Terry Ehret and Susan Deer Cloud.

Check it out!

Featuring at Cornelia St. Cafe

2007-12-14T12:03:00.000-05:00

Join me and Jee Leong Koh for a cozy reading tonight!

Friday December 14th, 2007 at 6PM:
Pink Pony West Reading Series
features
JEE LEONG KOH & TAMIKO BEYER
+ Limited Open Mic (about twenty 3-minute slots)
@
The Cornelia Street Café
29 Cornelia Street
NYC 10014
212.989.9319
Take 1 to Christopher St.
or A|C|E|D|F|B to West 4th St.
6PM - 8PM
$7 cover includes house drink
Hosted by Roxanne Hoffman

Reading at Barnes and Noble - Tonight!

2007-10-05T15:36:00.000-04:00

I'll be reading with fabulous writers who also lead NYWC's weekly workshops - sure to be a fun event!

Friday, October 5, 7 PM
Barnes & Noble
Astor Place
4 Astor Place, Manhattan
Free!

Readers:
Tamiko Beyer
Clarissa Cummings
Diane Goettel
Kaitlyn Greenidge
Alex SametsRaina Wallens
Kesha Young

Cheers To Muses!

2007-09-10T15:10:00.000-04:00

I recently received my contributor copies of Cheers to Muses: Contemporary Works by Asian American Women, published by Asian American Women Artists. It's a beautiful book - 128 pages richly illustrated with 46 color plates, featuring 64 artists and 77 visual and literary works by artists ranging in age from 14 to 85 - and I'm proud to be part of it.

Check out a nice review here.

For more info or to order a copy, visit www.aawaa.net.

And if you're in the Bay Area, check out these readings of fabulous poets and writers appearing in Cheers to Muses.

Wednesday September 12, 7:00-9:00 PM
Modern Times Bookstore
888 Valencia Street, San Francisco
Poets & Writers: Clara Hsu, Vanessa Merina, Roshni Rustomji, Shizue
Seigel, lolan buhain sevilla

Tuesday October 2, 6:00-8:00 PM
SF Public Library, Koret Auditorium
100 Larkin Street, San Francisco
Poets & Writers: Nancy Hom, Grace Illagan Angel, Genny Lim, Anh-Hoa Thi
Nguyen, Roshni Rustomji, Debbie Yee

Thursday, October 11, 7:00-9:00 PM
Bird and Beckett
At its new location on 653 Chenery, San Francisco
Poets & Writers: Olivia Boler, Nancy Hom, Nellie Wong, Debbie Yee

Tuesday, November 13, 5:30-7:00 PM
Mills College, Mills Hall Lobby
5000 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland
Poets & Writers: Olivia Boler, Vanessa Merina, Anh-Hoa Thi Nguyen,
lolan buhain sevilla

Agent 409 at the USSF!

2007-06-27T14:24:00.000-04:00

Going to the US Social Forum? Come check out this workshop by my industrious writing group!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Writing Workshop for Activists and Organizers
Nurturing Creativity in Social Justice Movements
at the U.S. Social Forum
Friday, June 29, 2007
10:30am - 12:30pm
Delphi Room, Atlanta Marriott Downtown
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Workshop Description
Sometimes, in the furious midst of grassroots organizing, we forget about the very necessity of self-expression, the undeniable need to create, share, and witness "beautiful, radiant things" (Emma Goldman). Every movement needs its writers and artists to reflect the courageous, life-changing work we do. At the same time, writers and artists in the movement need nurturing and freedom to create this life- and movement-sustaining art.

In the midst of the furiously exciting U.S. Social Forum this year, the writers of Agent 409 invite you to join us in a 2-hour workshop that will give participants a place to come together and write, where all parts of their identities will be acknowledged and respected, where their creativity will be honored, and where they will gain the tools they need to establish their own writing space/group that fits into their lives a activists/organizers. We welcome everyone - no specific writing experience is necessary.

Reading and Open Mic - 7 Min. Max
Be sure to also check out Agent 409's reading and open mic:
Friday, June 29, 2007
3:30 - 5:30pm
Olympic A Room, Atlanta Marriott Downtown

A supportive space to hear fabulous progressive artists and share your work with the US Social Forum community.

Who is Agent 409?
Agent 409 (Alea Woodlee, cory schmanke parrish, Danielle Morgan Feris, Jane Koh, Judy Yu, Ronica Sanyal, Daniel Rose, and Tamiko Beyer ) gathers each week to write poetry, prose, and comedy for the revolution. An unruly bunch of multi-racial queers and trannies, we are anti-everything that is oppressive and wrong with this world, and pro-everything that is liberating and good. Members are involved in various national and international activist and artistic projects, and our work is a reflection of our individual experiences as well as out activist/artistic work in places as varied as Palestine, India, Japan, Korea, China, Cuba, and all over the United States. In the almost-three years of our existence, we have published 3 zines and performed in NYC, Boston, and Washington, DC.

Agent 409 strikes again!

2007-06-10T22:24:00.000-04:00

My fabulous writing group, Agent 409 will be releasing our new zine and raising funds for some of us to go to the US Social Forum. Come by and say hi!

Agent 409 (Alea Woodlee, cory schmanke parrish, Danielle Morgan Feris, Jane Koh, Judy Yu, Ronica Sanyal, Daniel Rose, and Tamiko Beyer) gathers each week to write poetry, prose, and comedy for the revolution. An unruly bunch of multi-racial queers and trannies, we are anti-everything that is oppressive and wrong with this world, and pro-everything that is liberating and good.

$5-10 sliding scale
Friday, June 15th, 7pm
Bluestockings
172 Allen Street
btw Stanton and Rivington
NYC

Tamiko Battles the Comics

2007-05-21T21:52:00.000-04:00

Come watch the showdown!

PVC: The POETRY Vs. COMEDY VARIETY SHOW
CHICKS & GIGGLES Extravaganza!

May 22nd, 8 PM
Mo Pitkins
34 Avenue A
F Train to Second Ave.
FREE
www.myspace.com/pvcshow

PVC: The Poetry vs. Comedy Variety Show brings together the high-paced excitement of a poetry slam with the astute hilarity of smart, observational comedy.

EMCEE:
Carolyn Castiglia (Caroline's)

STARRING:

Comedians
Brandy Barber (The Kissing Booth)
Desiree Burch (SMUT)
Katina Corrao (VH1's Best Night Ever)
Poets
Tamiko Beyer (Calyx)
Carol Novack (Mad Hatters' Review)
Leibya Rogers (My Nipples Taste Like Tofu)

MUSICAL GUEST:
Jessica Delfino ("A cross between Redd Foxx and Jewel" - The Onion)

Two NYC Events Next Week

2007-05-01T13:57:00.000-04:00

Next week, I'm curating a mixed-genre reading of emerging queer writers, and I'm performing in a fun show that combines poetry and improv. If you're in the NYC area, I'd love to see you at one or both!

UNDER THE INFLUENCE
The process is collaboration between poets and improvisers. The product is a unique artistic experience. Each week, the cast of Under the Influence invites a guest poet to read his or her original work. The actors, unfamiliar with the text, then perform scenes inspired by anything from a single word to an image to a tone that is set by the voice of the reader. The result is a performance in which various artists are truly affected by one another in a new way.The cast includes Magnet instructor Jean Villepique, Becky Drysdale, Matt Evans, George Basil, Rylan Morrison and Mark Grenier

Tuesday, May 8th, 8:00pm
MAGNET THEATER
254 W 29th St btw 7th and 8th
212-244-8824
www.magnettheater.com
Cost: $5

***

WRITING ALOUD
New York Writers Coalition's regular Reading Series continues with featured readers A. Naomi Jackson, An Xiao, Cupid, and Rachel Kahn, Ronica Sanyal. Curated by Tamiko Beyer.

Wednesday, May 9, 7:30 pm
Brecht Forum
451 West Street between Bank & Bethune Streets, Manhattan
Directions
www.nywriterscoalition.org

Boxcar and Muses

2007-04-01T09:35:00.000-04:00

A couple of annoucements:

* Boxcar Poetry Review has published one of my pieces.
* "Setagaya-ku Haiku" will be appearing in Cheers to Muses: Contemporary Works by Asian American Women, to be published in the coming months. Pre-publication discounts are available. Check it out!

Three Publications

2007-01-21T18:43:00.000-05:00

I'm happy to announce that I have poems in the latest issue of the following journals:

Mizna: Prose, Poetry, and Art Exploring Arab America
The Gay and Lesbian Review
The Drunken Boat (Link is in the left column, under "from the U.S.") I'm particularly pleased to be part of this issue with so many other Kundiman fellows, faculty, and staff.

Enjoy!

Girlsalon Redux

2006-11-28T09:50:00.000-05:00

I will be reading again at Girlsalon, along with the lovely An Xiao. Come hear us read fierce girl poetry.

Thursday, December 7th
6:30 pm
The Perch Cafe, Park Slope
365 5th Ave (btw. 5th & 6th Streets)
FREE!

Her Mark 2007 Datebook Now Available

2006-10-17T11:07:00.000-04:00

The Her Mark 2007 Datebook from Women Made Gallery in Chicago is out! It's a beautiful book, and I'm very proud to be part of it. The datebook also includes a gorgeous poem by another Kundiman Fellow, Purvi Shah, whose first book, Terrain Tracks, is just out.

Click here to read the poems, see the artwork, and buy it if you are so inclined.

Reading Sept. 16th, Identity House

2006-09-04T16:34:00.000-04:00

Join me for an evening of LGBTQ poetry & spoken word at Identity House!

Speaking My Mind
Saturday, September 16th, 7-9pm

The I Gallery
Identity House
39 W. 14th Street, Suite 205
New York, NY 10011
$5-10 suggested donation
www.identityhouse.org/igallery.html

Reading At GirlSalon

2006-08-14T17:37:00.000-04:00

I'm a Leo. I love to read my work and be on stage. Come hear me read at GirlSalon next week!

GirlSalon
Thursday, August 24
7 pm
Drama Cafe in Park Slope, Brooklyn
(5th Ave btw. 4th and 5th St)

Summer Poetry Adventures and News

2006-07-28T15:01:00.000-04:00

My poem, "Checkpoint, Fallujah" was recently nominated for Sundress Publication's Best of the Web Anthology by the editors of Triplopia, where it was originally published. We'll see what happens... More info about all that here.

Another poem, "Setagayaku Haibun" will be published in the 2007 Her Mark Calendar from Woman Made Gallery in Chicago, IL. Ordering info is not yet up on their site, but I'll be sure to post the info when it's available.

I recently performed at the 2006 Fresh Fruit Festival's Pure Poetry evening - a fun night of great poetry by queer writers. A webpage was created from that evening.

I also recently performed at Under the Influence, at the Magnet Theater. It was nothing like I'd ever done before. I would read a poem, then a brilliant improv troupe would create sad, funny, wacky scenes inspired by my poem, then I would read another poem, and more scenes were preformed...It went on like this for an hour. If you are apoet, I highly recommend getting in touch with Scott at the Magnet. They are looking for ore published poets, and it's a great experience.

And finally, at the beginning of July, I spent a wonderful week at VONA, The Voices Summer Workshops for Writers of Color. It was an amazing opportunity to work with and get to know Suheir Hammad, who is a powerhouse of a writer and teacher and a lovely human being. I was thrilled to spend the week connecting and writing with so many talented writers of color. The faculty reading on Thursday night was electric, and the student reading on Friday was powerful and moving.

Welcome!

2006-07-25T22:28:00.000-04:00

I will be posting information about my upcoming readings, publications, and other poetry-related information. I might also post some poems now and then, and an occasional random blog, perhaps.

Wonder back here again soon!