Taylor Mali To Appear At The Capitol Center For The Arts 10/13

Taylor Mali, one of the most well-known poets to have emerged from the poetry slam movement, will perform at Concord's Capitol Center for the Arts on Thursday, October 13, at 7:30pm. Tickets for this evening are $25 for adults and $15 for students.

Mali is one of the few people in the world to have no job other than that of "poet." Articulate, accessible, passionate, and downright funny, Mali studied drama in Oxford with members of The Royal Shakespeare Company and puts those skills of presentation to work in all his performances. He was one of the original poets to appear on the HBO series Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry and was the "Armani-clad villain" of Paul Devlin's 1997 documentary film SlamNation. His poem "What Teachers Make" has been viewed over 4 million times on YouTube and was quoted by the New York Times' Thomas Friedman in one of his commencement addresses.

He is vocal advocate of teachers and the nobility of teaching, having spent nine years in the classroom teaching everything from English and history to math and S.A.T. test preparation. He has performed and lectured for teachers all over the world and has a goal of creating 1,000 new teachers through "poetry, persuasion, and perseverance." He is working on his first inspirational book entitled What Teachers Make, a short, passionate defense of teachers drawing on his own experiences, both in the classroom and as a traveling poet.

Born in New York City into a family some of whose members have lived there since the early 1600s, Taylor Mali is an unapologetic WASP, making him a rare entity in spoken word, which is often considered to be an art form influenced by the inner city and dominated either by poets of color or otherwise imbued with the spirit of hip-hop.

Mali is the author of two books of poetry, The Last Time As We Are (Write Bloody Books 2009) and What Learning Leaves (Hanover 2002), and four CDs of spoken word. He received a New York Foundation for the Arts Grant in 2001 to develop "Teacher! Teacher!" a one-man show about poetry, teaching, and math which won the jury prize for best solo performance at the 2001 U. S. Comedy Arts Festival. Formerly president of Poetry Slam Incorporated, the non-profit organization that oversees all poetry slams in North America, Taylor Mali makes his living entirely as a spoken-word and voice-over artist these days, traveling around the country performing and teaching workshops as well as doing occasional commercial voiceover work. He has narrated several books on tape, including "The Great Fire" (for which he won the Golden Earphones Award for children's narration).

Tickets are available now by calling 603-225-1111, online at www.ccanh.com, and at the box office on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturday 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Ticket are $25 for adults and $15 for students. Performance presented in association with The NHEAF Network Organizations.

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