October 29, 2011 at 4:30-6pm

New York City Book Launches for Say Word! Voices from Hip Hop Theater, edited and with an introduction by Daniel Banks

The Hip Hop Theater Festival hosts a joint launch: readings of selections from Say Word! and The Prophet Returns: The Hip Hop Generation Remix of a Classic by Bryonn Bain, followed by a book signing with the authors.

With Authors Daniel Banks and Bryonn Bain; playwrights Abiola Abrams and Antoy Grant and the Goddess City 10th Anniversary Reunion, Chadwick Boseman, Ben Snyder, and 2010 Pulitzer Prize Finalist for Drama Kristoffer Diaz; Performers Ines Garcia, Eboni Hogan, Antonio David Lyons, and DJ Reborn.

About the books:

The Prophet Returns, by celebrated performer, author, educator and activist Bryonn Bain, is a Hip Hop era remix of Khalil Gibran’s celebrated classic The Prophet. According to NY Times reviewer Idil Abshir, “In Mr. Bain’s remix the prophet is returning home from Riker’s Island, weaving his way through the streets of his childhood, witnessing how Brooklyn has changed in his absence, sharing insights with his fellow Brooklynites, and waxing poetic about injustice in America” (August 23, 2011). Working in prisons since the 1980s, Bryonn Bain has served for more than a decade as poet and activist, professor and artist-in-residence at Rikers Island Prison, NYU, Columbia University, the New School, and the Brooklyn Campus of LIU. He is a Nuyorican Grand Slam Poetry Champion and founder of Black Arts Collective.

In Say Word!, Editor Daniel Banks collects nine works (eight in print, one online) by contemporary artists who confront today’s compelling issues, ranging from racial profiling and police brutality to women’s empowerment; and from the commercial exploitation of Hip Hop to identity politics. These works tackle the issues of identity—culture, heritage, ethnicity, class, gender, sexuality, and difference—and are augmented with an extensive introduction and other informative commentaries.

For more information and to purchase a discounted copy, please visit www.saywordvoices.com.