ALVIN LAU: From Chi-town to GREEN!

LAST WEEK: Music was large and in charge at the Palmer, as we had a number of off-the-chain jazz musicians get down on the open mic, as well as some of our regular loudmouths...and SONYA RENEE took care of business during her feature, one eyelash off and keeping us captivated from start to finish...

THIS WEEK: We bring you for the first time at Green, one of the powerhouses of performance poetry, ALVIN LAU! Check the stats:

Alvin Lau is a Chicago native, son of Chinese immigrants, and writer of poetry and prose. An avid competitor in poetry slams, he is a two-time national youth champion, a unified grand slam champion of both the Green Mill and Mental Graffiti poetry slams, and two-time Midwest individual champion. He has ranked among the top seven poets in the country four times in as many years, a feat no other competitor has accomplished, and he is youngest poet to ever make individual finals in national competition. His work has featured in numerous literary journals including Red River Review and Rattle Magazine's Tribute to Slam, as well as multiple newspapers including the Chicago Tribune, Santa Cruz Sentinel, and Georgetown Voice. Recently, he was also featured on NPR, the Poetry Foundation online, and HBO's Def Poetry Jam. In 2007 he was named Amnesty International's Poet on Conscience and nominated for the Pushcart Prize in poetry. In addition to performing on three nationwide tours, he regularly hosts lectures and creative writing workshops at dozens of universities across the country including Sarah Lawrence College, Grinnell, the University of Chicago, and Yale. Favorites include redheads, tequila, and Kanye West.

So there ya have it! Support touring poets! Support your local scene! Support good friends, good food, and good drinks! GET THEE TO THE PALMER!!!

See you on Monday,
rob/slim and jedi.

BOOM! SONYA RENEE AT GREEN!

LAST WEEK: It was the Return of the Jedi, as our beloved deejay came back with a vengeance...AND: We had the Green feature debut of DAMNYO, who ripped through a hot set of poems and made us remember why we do this! Big ups!

THIS WEEK: One of our favorite poets to ever grace our stage is fixing to mess you up and love you down with a full set of her amazing words...straight from the Boom Crew, Green welcomes the hot-to-death SONYA RENEE!

SONYA'S BIO (AKA If You Don't Know...):


Everything has a spin, Right? News, radio, poetry: It is hard to find the reality in reality TV let alone our daily lives. But at the door of politics and pretense enters performance poet, actress, educator, activist and National Individual Poetry Slam Champion, Sonya Renee ready to do what she does best, REAL. Few artists are willing to be soul naked in front of complete strangers but Sonya Renee knows the healing that comes from the truth. Healing for herself and all who hear her. This desire to tell the truth, her truth, led her to her first open mic reading in April of 2003. Just sixteen months later Sonya was representing the United States as the number 1 ranked performance poet in the country. Three continents, two national tours and hundreds of stages later, Sonya Renee is still keeping it real all around the globe. Her work has appeared in several publications, translated into Dutch and German and has most recently appeared in the book Growing Up Girl: An Anthology of Voices from Marginalized Spaces. Her work has been used as curriculum at the University of Santa Barbara among other universities. Sonya Renee has shared stages with Oscar Award winner Whoopi Goldberg, Senator Hillary Clinton, Grammy Award Winner Peabo Bryson, Ani DiFranco , Tony Award winner Poetri and countless others. In the 2004, her honest, raw and very real poetry led to an invitation to perform at the National March for Womens Lives in the nations capital to an audience of over 1.6 million people marching for reproductive justice. Sonya Renees slam credits include 2004 National Individual Slam Champion, 3rd ranked 2005 International Slam Championship in Rotterdam, Netherlands, finalist in the 2006 Individual World Poetry Slam, Austin International Poetry Festival Slam Champion, first ever 2x Lake Eden Arts Festival National Slam Champion, 2004 Southern Fried Regional Slam Champion and many many more. Combining an M.S.A in Non-Profit Management, B.A in Sociology, and extensive experience in womens issues, HIV prevention, social justice and work with at-risk youth Sonya Renee has learned that poetry can change lives but only when we get real with ourselves. This understanding has allowed Sonya to write and perform with a candidness that reminds us that we are at our very core, the same. Black, White, Asian Latino, male, female, young, old, it doesnt matter. Sonya Renee will tell your story by telling hers; reminding us of the thread that tethers each of us together, humanity. Sometimes all that is left is to get Real. Sonya Renee . Is! www.SonyaReneeIS.com! Smile it is really contagious!

Tell your friends! Tell your enemies! TELL YOURSELVES TO GET TO THE PALMER!

See you on Monday,
R, J, and J.