Shin Yu Pai and Jerry Kelley
February 6 Saturday 8 pm at Paperbacks Plus
Dallas Poetry Slam
Reading Series at Paperbacks Plus
Members Salon
Avante!
Dallas Video Festival
Dallas Video Festival. November 5th-November 8th. Angelika Theater.
Northwood Literary Festival
Tuesday, October 20
Wordspace proudly co-sponsors this dynamic gathering of poets and fiction writers that takes place on the campus of Northwood University every fall. The event is held in Lambert Commons on Northwood’s 400 acre campus, located 25 minutes from downtown Dallas, just off Highway 67 south — the Joe Pool Lake exit.
Northwood University
1114 W FM 1382, Cedar Hill, TX 75104
FEATURED ARTISTS
Willard Spiegelman is the Hughes Professor of English at Southern Methodist University and has been editor of the Southwest Review since 1984. His latest book, a collection of meditations on happiness, is Seven Pleasures (FSG). He lives in Dallas, Texas.
Rock Baby, a native of Hattiesburg, Miss., is a natural per- former beginning with his television debut presentation on HBO’s Def Poetry Jam. His charismatic performances tap into the emotions of audiences. His honors and titles include Dallas Poetry Team Slam Master, Grand Slam Spoken Word City Champion 2003, and HBO Def Poet in 2003 and 2005.
Susan Briante is the author of the book, Pioneers in the Study of Motion (Ahsahta Press, 2007). Briante’s poetry, essays and translations have recently appeared in Ploughshares, Damn the Caesars, Fascicle, Bombay Gin and The Believer. Briante is the recipient of fellowships from the MacDowell Colony, the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, and the Djerassi Foundation, among others. From 1992-1997, she lived in Mexico City where she worked for the magazines Artes de Me?xico and Mandorla. Briante is an assistant professor of aesthetic studies at the University of Texas at Dallas.
Farid Matuk is a Peruvian-born translator, essayist and poet. He is the author of Is it the King? (Effing Press). Recent poems appear in Big Bridge, Barrelhouse, Typesetter, and The Boston Review. Translations from Spanish have appeared or are forth- coming in Bombay Gin and Translation Review. Matuk’s essays and reviews have appeared most recently in Cross Cultural Poetics, Sentence Magazine, and the Poetry Project Newsletter.
From Here Through Eternity
Sunday, November 1 at 8 p.m. Suggested donation: $5.
Hosted by Christopher Soden, founder of Dallas Poets Community.
Part ritual/part reading, this evening honors the legacies of great writers and artists who have transformed and influenced our work. Bring an object that reminds you of or is somehow connected to your favorite dead author to add to the ceremonial El Dia de Los Muertos tabla.
Paperbacks Plus Series
Location: Paperbacks Plus
6115 La Vista, Dallas, Texas 75214
What is the purpose of a Day of the Dead altar?
A Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) altar is meant to honor the memory of someone who touched your life. This can be anyone from the family pet to Mother Teresa. Anyone who had a positive impact on your life can be the subject of your Day of the Dead altar.
People also make altars to show their support for others. I have seen Dia de los Muertos altars made to those who have died due to AIDS related illnesses, to those lost in the World Trade Towers attack and the students at Columbine.
There are people who believe that those building an altar are trying to raise the dead. This can’t be farther from the truth, because the belief is that the dead are never really gone, so raising them would be redundant. There is nothing demonic about building a Day of the Dead altar.
Are we trying to communicate with the dead? Yes, and no. There are two aspects to altar making on el Dia de los Muertos (the Day of the Dead). The first is to communicate with those that are no longer physically with us. I don’t see how this is any different from people going to visit the graves of their dearly departed. It isn’t about witchcraft, it is about having an eternal dialogue with those that we love. The second aspect is the connection it provides us to the world at large and to our place in the after-life. By building an altar we are acknowledging that we go on and that not being physically present isn’t the same as being gone.
Altars should include:
- a picture of the one being remembered
- items they were fond of
- something to snack on
- candles
- flowers
- gifts
Altars could include:
- pictures of saints or religious icons
- toy skeletons, skulls or bones
- sugar skulls (recipe from Angela at mexicansugarskull.com)
- books
- tequila, or their favorite drink and a glass
- soap, water & a small towel (because being dead can be messy)
A Dia de los Muertos altar can be as simple or as elaborate as you want. The purpose of an altar is remembrance, with that in mind feel free to do what you think your honoree would enjoy. While we have included a few guidelines, these are by no means rules to live by. They are a starting place, where you end up is completely up to you.
Some people take up entire corners of their homes with Day of the Dead altars, others use a simple end table dressed up with fabric and other items. The point is, size doesn’t really matter, what matters is the heart you put into it.
BBC
Back Beat Café
Mosaic Building Suite 300
300 North Akard St. Dallas, Texas 75201
+1 214-665-2355
IAG
Its a Grind
2901 Indiana Boulevard, Dallas, TX 75226-1525
+1 (214) 954-7109
LPBN
Lincoln Park Barnes & Noble,
7700 West Northwest Hwy. Ste. 300 Dallas, TX 75225
+1 214-739-1124
