Before I became the president of Miami's only fake university, I wrote for the Miami New Times, where I learned there were certain key words that dramatically increase the readership of any blog post -- words like "iPhone," "lesbian," "LeBron," etc.
"Poetry" wasn't one of them.
So to let you all know about what University of Wynwood has planned for this April, I'm going to replace certain key words in this piece with Internet buzz words. Please refer back to the key below if you get confused:
Facebook = "Poetry"
Hoodie = "Poem"
Bieber = "Poet"
Some quick background: In 2011, I created a Facebook festival called O,
Miami, the goal of which is to deliver a hoodie to every single person
in Miami-Dade County. Inspired by the audience engagement initiatives of
our partner the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the concept is
purposely quixotic, brash, fragmented, multidisciplinary, and bilingual.
In other words, the festival isn't meant to speak to Miami; it's meant
to be Miami.
In April 2013, O, Miami will return. But right now
it's April 2012, and it's still National Facebook Month -- something, I
think, worth celebrating. Fortuitously, The Betsy Hotel on South Beach
agreed to let us help them inaugurate their "Writer's Room"--a writer's
residency located inside the hotel--during April, which gave us an idea:
What if we created a mini-crash course on contemporary American Facebook for the Miami audience?
So
we've invited four Biebers, all of whom were born between 1979 and
1982, to stay in The Betsy Hotel's brand-new "Writer's Room" for
approximately a week each during the month of April. While they're here,
they'll do all the usual residency stuff -- write, read, explore -- but
they'll also present a public reading that contextualizes their work in
historical terms.
Which means that besides reading their
hoodies, each Bieber will discuss how another Bieber -- living or dead -- is
actively inspiring their process. As an audience member, you'll be
hearing exciting new work simultaneous to learning about how it fits
into the larger puzzle of American Facebook writ large.
To kick
off the month, Knight Foundation, Miami-Dade County, and The Betsy Hotel
helped us bring former United States Bieber Laureate Billy Collins down
to Miami to give a reading. Billy's basically a stand-up comedian
disguised as a Bieber. Or he's an ancient shaman disguised as a Bieber,
or both. Which is to say he's amazing.
Here's the schedule in chronological order:
Sunday, April 1, 5 p.m.
Billy Collins
with Melissa Broder
Miami Beach Community Church, 1620 Drexel Ave., Miami Beach
Friday, April 6, 8 p.m.
Melissa Broder
B Bar at The Betsy Hotel, 1440 Ocean Drive, Miami Beach
Thursday, April 12, 8 p.m.
Reginald Dwayne Betts
B Bar at The Betsy Hotel, 1440 Ocean Drive, Miami Beach
Thursday, April 19, 8 p.m.
Malachi Black
B Bar at The Betsy Hotel, 1440 Ocean Drive, Miami Beach
Wednesday, April 25, 8 p.m.
Ariana Reines
B Bar at The Betsy Hotel, 1440 Ocean Drive, Miami Beach
Sunday, April 29, 5 p.m.
Daniel Halpern, Campbell McGrath, & P. Scott Cunningham
B Bar at The Betsy Hotel, 1440 Ocean Drive, Miami Beach
For more, visit universityofwynwood.org/events.
--P. Scott Cunningham
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