BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 CALSCALE:GREGORIAN PRODID:iCalendar-Ruby BEGIN:VEVENT LOCATION:Museum of History and Industry\n2700 24th Ave. E\n\nSeattle\, WA SEQUENCE:0 CLASS:PUBLIC DTEND:20091114T210000 URL:http://culturemob.com/events/6060894-bent-mentor-showcase-wa-seattle-mo ntlake-museum-of-history-and-industry?s=ical DTSTART:20091114T190000 UID:March 21\, 2010 07:44:44_838109360@diamond.culturemob.com DTSTAMP:20100321T074444 DESCRIPTION:BENT MENTOR SHOWCASE 2009 :: FEATURING Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Sam arasinha \n \n“All of the LGBTIQ community should lift our ears to recei ve Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha\,” says Bent founder\, Tara Hardy. Her vision stands to rearrange the ways we approach community\, creating a rt\, and loving. Every time I’ve heard her read I’ve come away new.” \n \nBent’s unique Mentor Showcase has become a fall tradition in Seattl e. Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha\, a queer Sri Lankan writer\, teacher a nd performer joins a fabulous line up of Bent writers for this year’s ann ual Showcase. Piepzna-Samarasinha’s work explores the interconnection of systems of colonialism\, abuse and violence. Bent is America's only writing institution for queers. \n \nTara Hardy has once again assembled the comic \, the tragic\, the downright magical and wildly diverse Bent writers who j oin Piepzna-Samarasinha on the Museum of History and Industry stage Novembe r 13th and 14th. The annual Showcase production is a wonderful opportunity to experience great writing before it hits national tours. Each of the Bent writers brings a unique voice\, history and insight to the stage. Now in o ur 8th year\, the showcase has grown from a class in Hardy's living room to become a highly anticipated and life-changing community event. \n \nBent & Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha \nMuseum of History and Industry\, 2700 2 4th Ave. E\, Seattle\, WA \nFriday November 13 & Saturday November 14 \nDoo rs 7:00pm / Curtain 7:30pm \n \nLeah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha Mentor Wri ting Workshop \nLifelong AIDS Alliance\, 1002 E Seneca\, Seattle\, WA \nSat urday\, November 14 \n11am-1pm \n \nTickets: brownpapertickets.com/85356 \n \nLEAH LAKSHMI PIEPZNA-SAMARASINHA:: Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha is a queer Sri Lankan writer\, performer and teacher. She is the 2009-10 Arti st in Residence at UC Berkeley’s June Jordan’s Poetry for the People pr ogram\, a 2009 Sins Invalid performer and the co-founder and co-artistic di rector of Mangos With Chili. Her one woman show\, Grown Woman Show\, has to ured nationally\, including performances at the National Queer Arts Festiva l\, Swarthmore College\, Yale University\, Reed College and McGill Universi ty. The author of Consensual Genocide\, her writing has appeared in Yes Mea ns Yes\, Visible: A Femmethology\, Homelands\, Colonize This\, We Don’t N eed Another Wave\, Bitchfest\, Without a Net\, Dangerous Families\, Brazen Femme\, Geeks\, Misfits and Outlaws\, Femme and A Girl’s Guide to Taking Over The World. She has performed her work nationally\, in venues as divers e as the National Queer Arts Festival\, La Pena\, the Nuyorican Poets Cafe\ , Bowery Poetry Club and Asian American Writers Workshop to immigrant right s protests\, queer youth center benefits and strike lines. She is finishing her second book of poetry and her first memoir\, and is happy about the fo rthcoming publication of The Revolution Starts At Home: Transforming Partne r Abuse Through Community Accountability\, which she co-edited with Ching-I n Chen and Jai Dulani\, by South End Press in 2010. \n \nBENT: Bent Arts\, a non-profit organization\, is the only queer writing institute in the nat ion. The mission of Bent is to promote and encourage written and spoken wor d among LGBTIQ people and in our communities. The concept and work of Bent began August 2000\, in the living room of Tara Hardy\, Seattle-based writer \, performer\, and Slam Champ. Since\, Bent has grown to a full institute\, having served over 200 students\, offering a variety of weekly classes and local and regional performances. \n \nMore information on Bent at www.be ntwriting.com \n \nMENTOR SHOWCASES: These annual spoken word showcases ar e a chance to see Bent students\, whose works are generating much attention both locally and nationally\, perform alongside a writer whose work they l ook up to and have chosen to honor. Moreover\, they are a chance to bring u nderrepresented voices to our greater communities. The showcases are Bent's largest annual fundraiser. There have been six other sold-out showcases an d workshops since June 2003\, with standing-room-only crowds and growing st udent rolls. The last showcase was housed at Piggot Hall at Seattle Univers ity\, met with two packed nights and critical acclaim. In these prior showc ases\, Bent has honored queer writers and mentors: Kate Bornstein\, D. Blai r\, Dorothy Allison\, Buddy Wakefield\, Juba Kalamka\, Justin Chin\, Michel le Tea\, Ivan Coyote\, and Sini Anderson. \n \nThis event supported by Poet s & Writers\, Inc. and GLAmazon SUMMARY:Bent Mentor Showcase END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR