Next Event: Baltimore African American Book Festival – October 11, 2014

Posted on October 11, 2014 by BuddahDesmond611

Okay artists, writers, poets/spoken words artists, and book lovers: If you didn’t know, the Baltimore African American Book Festival (BAABF) is this Saturday, October 11, 2014 from 10AM-5PM at the Enoch Pratt Free Library.

Presented by the National Literary Network Organization and the Enoch Pratt Free Library, the BAABF will feature Trice Hickman (Best-Selling Author), Sheri Booker (NAACP Image Award Winning Author), Troy Johnson (AALBC.com Founder), Nikki Woods (Tom Joyner Morning Show Producer, Nikki Woods Media Founder, and Author), and Ella Curry (EDC Creations Founder). Other events include panels/workshops, kids activities, and live spoken word. The event is free and open to public.

I’ll have a table (#10) selling copies of Prevail and Exotic Shifter and will perform during the Spoken Word Hour from 1PM-2PM. My blogger buddy Marc Polite (Author, Blogger, and Founder and Editor in Chief of Polite On Society) and will be one of several authors appearing at the event as well.

So if you’re looking for a FREE event full of great edutainment, come check out the BAABF this Saturday in Baltimore, MD!

Peace, Love, and Many Blessings!

~ BuddahDesmond

Next Event: The Ask Rayceen Show – August 6, 2014 in Washington, DC

Posted on July 4, 2014 by BuddahDesmond611

I’m excited to announce that I’ll be performing in the Listening Lounge at The Ask Rayceen Show. You’ll be able to catch me in my element – singing and reciting poetry. Hosted by the FABULOUS Rayceen Pendarvis, the event takes place Wednesday, August 6, 2014 | 7PM (Doors open at 6PM) | Liv Nightclub (2001 11th St NW, Washington, DC | Above Bohemian Caverns).

Esteemed authors LaToya Hankins, R. L. Norman, and Wyatt O’Brian Evans will be featured in the Authors’ Corner. If you haven’t had a chance to pick up a copy of our books, you’ll be able to do so at the event. Poets, spoken word artists, and poetry lovers are also in for another treat as there will be a Poetry Slam. The winner will receive a $100 cash prize.

Best of all, the event is FREE and open to the public!

Check out the calendar for The Ask Rayceen Show for next few months.

So if you’re in the area on any of these dates, please check out The Ask Rayceen Show!

Until next time… Peace, love, and many blessings!

I’ll Be Reading at Warsan and Xperience J’s Book Signing in Camp Springs, MD on 3/29/2014

Posted on March 23, 2014 by BuddahDesmond611

I’m happy to announce my next poetry reading will take place at Warsan and Xperience J’s Tomorrow’s Seduction: Kiss of Death Book Signing event. The event will be held: March 29, 2014 | 1PM-3PM | Annie’s Art Gallery | 5814 Allentown Way Camp Springs, Maryland 20748.

Fans can bring a copy of their recently published book Tomorrow’s Seduction: Kiss Of Death or purchase a copy at the event for $15. There will be music and poetry/entertainment. Light refreshments and mimosas will also be served.

I agree with the authors that this will be a great opportunity to meet and connect with others in the community.

So if you’re in the area on March 29, 2014, please come through!

To RSVP for the event, please go to the Event page on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/255511394623816/.

To view the trailer for Tomorrow’s Seduction: Kiss of Death on YouTube, go to:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvITqnJL2TU.

To purchase a copy of the book in advance of the book signing on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Tomorrows-Seduction-Crystal-B-Judkins/dp/0615922880.

Like Tomorrow’s Seduction: Kiss of Death on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/TomorrowsSeductionKissofDeath.

I’ll Be Reading at the DC Metro Scholastic Writing Awards – 3/11/2014

Posted on March 8, 2014 by BuddahDesmond611

It’s with great happiness that I announce I’ve been selected to read a few works by this year’s American Voice Nominees at the 2014 DC Metro Scholastic Writing Awards! Performing, giving back, and highlighting some of the Greater Washington Area’s up-and-coming writers—does it get any better than that?

Each year, students in grades 7-12 are encouraged to participate in the The Scholastic Art and Writing Awards. Almost 200,000 students enter their art and writing “for review by panels of art and writing professionals, and compete for recognition, scholarships, and publication opportunities” (Writopia Lab | Scholastic Writing Awards). 2.5 million students have been awarded over $25 million in cash awards and scholarships since 1923. Scholastic Arts and Writing Awards Alumni include Sylvia Plath, Truman Capote, Robert Redford, Joyce Carol Oates, and Zac Posen.

Writopia Lab was selected by the Alliance of Young Artists and Writers to serve as the Scholastic Writing Awards Regional Affiliate in the Greater Washington Area. The Scholastic Writing Awards serve as not only a celebration, but also a platform for students to creatively express themselves with their budding talents.

The Scholastic Writing Awards will be held: March 11, 2014 | 6:30PM to 8:30PM | Artisphere’s Spectrum Theater | 1611 N. Kent Street Arlington, VA 22209. The event is open to the public. If you’re in the area, please come celebrate the brilliant talents of some of the DC-Area’s most promising teen writers.

Congrats to all of the nominees and winners!

Until next time… Peace, Love, and Many Blessings, BuddahDesmond

BuddahDesmond Full Poetry Reading from OutWrite 2012 [VIDEO]

Posted on January 25, 2013 by BuddahDesmond611

Finally, the full video of my reading as part of the head/heart/soul poetry event from OutWrite 2012. The following poems were recited: “Prevail,” “Gone Too Soon,” “Tonight,” “Power of Love: A Contemporary Aside,” “Luther Is Love,” “Past, Present, Future,” “Everyday Drugs,” and “Politicking.” These poems are featured in Prevail: Poems on Life, Love, and Politics.

Prevail: Poems on Life, Love, and Politics is available at iUniverse, Amazon (Paperback | Hardcover | Kindle, Barnes & Noble, Book-A-Million (Paperback | Hardcover), and other retailers.

Related Posts:
101 Days Project: Prevail
BuddahDesmond Reading Poetry at OutWrite 2012 [VIDEO]
OutWrite 2012 Was a Success
I’ll Be Appearing at OutWrite 2012 in DC 8/3/12 & 8/4/12

RIP Jayne Cortez, The Avant-Garde Jazz Poet

Posted on January 10, 2013 by BuddahDesmond611

Image courtesy of the Jazz Beyond Jazz website.

Jazz isn’t just one type of music, it’s an umbrella that covers the history of black people from African drumming to field hollers and the blues… In the sense that I also try to reflect the fullness of the black experience, I’m very much a jazz poet. ~ Jayne Cortez, 1997, The Weekly Journal

On December 28, 2012, the world lost Jayne Cortez, a masterful, fiery poet, performer, and activist. Ms. Cortez, who’s often referred to as an Avant-Garde or Jazz poet, came to prominence during the Black Arts Movement of the 1960s and 1970s. Her work is visceral, varied and rich, pulling from jazz, blues, the written tradition, the African/African-American oral tradition, jazz, blues, and the colloquy of social and political protest. “Meant for the ear even more than for the eye, her words combine a hurtling immediacy with an incantatory orality,” Margalit Fox of The New York Times said when describing her work.

Collectively, she produced nearly two dozen volumes of poetry and recordings, many of which were recorded with her band the Firespitters. Some of her volumes of poetry include: Scarifications (1973), Firespitter (1982), Poetic Magnetic: Poems from Everywhere Drums & Maintain Control (1991), and The Beautiful Book (2007); some of her recordings include: Unsubmissive Blues (1979), There It Is (1982), Taking the Blues Back Home (1994) and Find Your Own Voice: Poetry and Music, 1982-2003 (2004). She founded the Watts Repertory Theater Company, Bola Press, and co-founded the Organization of Women Writers of Africa (OWWA). Ms. Cortez was the recipient of the American Book Award, Langston Hughes Award, and International African Festival Award (amongst others).

Though Jayne Cortez is no longer with us, her authentic style and voice will continue to incite, inspire, teach, and uplift for many generations to come.

To learn more about Jayne Cortez, please go to her official website and check out her passionate, intense performance from the “Artists On The Cutting Edge” Series in the video below. (Warning: The beginning of the video contains flashing elements.)

BuddahDesmond Reading Poetry at OutWrite 2012 [VIDEO]

Posted on October 10, 2012 by BuddahDesmond611

There’s something about performing that makes it unlike anything else on this planet. The energy you get from the audience is intoxicating. Performing gives you a natural high that can take hours, even days, to come down from. I’ve said it before but performing takes me to a higher, deeper, spiritual place.

It’s been a few months but I’m happy to share excerpts of my poetry reading from the head / heart / soul event as part of OutWrite 2012. This fabulous event took place at the The DC Center on August 4, 2012. I will always look back on the event with much joy, as it was an honor to read alongside talented poets/writers such as Rashid Darden, Monica A. Hand, and Red Summer.

BuddahDesmond reading “Power of Love: A Contemporary Aside” from the “Love” section of Prevail

BuddahDesmond reading “Tonight” from the “Life” section of Prevail

Video of my entire reading will be forthcoming. Prevail: Poems on Life, Love, and Politics is available at iUniverse, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, and other retailers. If you like it/love it, please spread the word.

Related Posts:

Buddah Desmond

Author of Prevail: Poems on Life, Love, and Politics

Category Archives: Poetry Reading