|  Smart
Gals Presents
7th Annual Dead Poets Slam:
Hot Poet / Cold Poet
Sunday, September
9th
5:00pm
Skylight Books
1818
N. Vermont Ave., L.A. 90027
323.660.1175
Admission: Free
Smart Gals’ Dead Poets Slam, a rowdy celebration
of the work of deceased scribes, returns to Skylight Books
for another scintillating, nail-biting night of lyric and
non-lyric competition. Last year we pitted Monarchs against
Minions. This year we bring you Hot Poet/Cold Poet.
Do snowy winters make better writers?
What effect does too much sunshine have on verse?
Will poets who had to wear coats trump those who found their
voices in more temperate zones?
No matter who prevails, everyone will get to hear the works
of well known and not-so-familiar dead poets performed anonymously
by experienced performers who will give life to their works:
Nöel Alumit, Lana Buss, Terry Carr, Kathleen Coyne,
Juli Crockett, Lori Yeghiayan Friedman, Amy French, Jill
Paxton and Rita Williams. This year’s panel of “celebrity”
judges includes Neda Pourang Disney, David Markland and
Kwynn Perry.
The 2011 slam was standing room only, so please arrive early
to save yourself a seat.
Rhymes? Queries? Conundrums? 323.302.2257 or christine@smartgals.org
Why step out on a Sunday? Because mingling is good for your
mental health.™
WHO’S WHO
Nöel Alumit wrote the novels "Letters
to Montgomery Clift" and Talking to the Moon."
He's grateful to be slamming again with Smart Gals.
 Lana
Buss holds an MFA in Acting from Arizona State
University. She has worked with The Shakespeare Co. (D.C.),
The Judith Shakespeare Co. (NYC), and the LA Women's Shakespeare
Co. Most recently she performed with Kevin Kline in The
Lover and The Poet (Southwest Shakespeare Company,
AZ) and currently teaches and performs improvisation locally
at The
Hothouse.
 Terry
K Carr is a writer living in Silver Lake, California,
currently working on a Novella about the music scene in
New York, 1970 while her first novel is being shopped. Visit
her memoir in progress at HeyHarryCarrWasMyDadToo.com
and at TheHuffingtonPost.com,
where she is an occasional feature contributor.
 Kathleen
Coyne loves theatre. Kate is an Associate Artist
with Cornerstone Theatre Company and with Company of Angels,
and is a member of the Elephant Theatre and Ensemble Studio
Theare/LA. She has appeared on all of their stages as well
as others in LA, New York and in between. Television and
films? Yes.
 Juli
Crockett: singer/songwriter, playwright/director,
retired (undefeated) professional boxer, ordained minister,
and leader of the alt-country/Americana band The Evangenitals.
Her work has been presented from the REDCAT and 24th Street
Theatre (LA) to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival (Scotland).
BFA (Acting, NYU), MFA (Directing/CalArts), completing her
PhD (European Graduate School), she is addicted to letters.
 Neda
Pourang Disney juggles two careers; she is a costumer
and designer for film, theater and TV and a writer who has
reported for public radio's Radiolab and Studio 360. She
lives in Los Angeles with her husband, Tim Disney, their
one year old daughter and two stepsons.
 Amy
French is an actress, writer and director of average
height. She acts in a ton of television commercials, writes
a ton of jokes, and directs whatever she can, including
the surprise dance number at your sister's wedding, if you
want. All this and more at ameliafrench.net.
 Lori
Yeghiayan Friedman is always happy to slam a dead
poet, and this time is no different. When not performing,
she does public relations and social media for a global
HIV/AIDS nonprofit. She holds an MFA in Theatre from the
University of California, San Diego.
 David
Markland is the writer/editor of CreepyLA.com,
the Los Angeles Halloween blog covering ghost stories, urban
legends, and fun horrifying stuff to do in L.A. He lives
in Hollywood with his pagan girlfriend, and believes Grover's
"The Monster At the End Of This Book" is the greatest
novel ever written.
 Christine
Louise Mills (née Berry) is the Founding
Artistic Director of Smart Gals Productions, happily married
mother of one, and dutiful Dead Poets Slam host. She lives
in Elysian Valley with her family, their five cats and myriad
chickens, where she is editing a feature documentary about
Boyle Heights, East L.A. Interchange.
 Jill
Paxton: Having trod many a stage from Off-Broadway
to Berlin, Jill's latest gig entertaining her 4 month old
daughter is without a doubt the most rewarding. Jill is
thrilled to be making her poetry slam debut. She figures
once you've pushed a person out your vagina, there's really
nothing you can't do.
 Kwynn
Perry is a USC Ph.D. student in the School of Cinematic
Arts. A Bay Area native, Kwynn has lived in Los Angeles
with her husband, who she fell in love with at a poetry
slam, for 6 years. In her time away from school, she enjoys
watching her 18 month old son grow, and smashing chicks
on the roller derby track.
 Rita
Williams was raised by the last African American
widow of a Civil War union soldier. Her memoir, If the
Creek Don’t Rise, is about that experience. Her
work has appeared in Best Food Writing for 2007, The Los
Angeles Times, O, The Oprah Magazine, Los Angeles Review
of Books, Saveur, The Utne Reader and Fins and Feathers.
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