Join Bob Holman, a leader of the spoken word poetry movement, for a screening of the documentary Language Matters TONIGHT, Thursday, October 1 at 6 p.m. at the Schaible Auditorium at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
Bob Holman
Language Matters, a film by David Grubin, has aired on PBS and was filmed around the world: on a remote island off the coast of Australia where 400 Aboriginal people speak 10 different languages, all at risk; in Wales, where Welsh, once in danger, is today making a comeback; and in Hawaii, where Hawaiians are fighting to save their native tongue.
Holman is currently traveling to Alaska communities to highlight the importance of language revitalization. He will speak about the experience of making this film, and language revitalization efforts around the world.
Holman teaches at Columbia and NYU and is founder of the downtown New York spoken word mecca, the Bowery Poetry Club. He produced five seasons of “Poetry Spots” for WNYC-TV, winning three Emmys, and his five-part PBS series, “The United States of Poetry” won an INPUT (International Public Television) Prize. He was the host of MTV’s “Spoken Word Unplugged,” appeared on “HBO Def Poetry Jam,” and created the first major spoken word record label, Mouth Almighty/Mercury.
- Meet & Greet, Friday, October 2, noon, Gathering Room in the Brooks Building at UAF
- Poetry Slam, Friday, October 2, 6 p.m., Effie Kokrine Charter School
This event is brought to you with generous support from the Ford Foundation, Alaska Native Language Center and Doyon Foundation.