The Practice of Poetry – Beau Sia in Dialogue With Suheir Hammad

Beau Sia is a Chinese-American poet from Oklahoma City whose work is featured in the award-winning film “Slam” and documentary “Slam Nation.” He is the author of A Night Without Armor II: The Revenge and his writing appears in anthologies including Def Poetry Jam on Broadway… and more, Why Freedom Matters, and Spoken Word Revolution. His two spoken word CD’s are Attack! Attack! Go! and Dope and Wack. He was a recipient of the California Arts Council Writer-in-Residence grant for Youth Speaks in 2001-2002, and was the lead artist for the Creative Work Fund. Beau was the 2008 recipient of the Local Hero Award from KCET for Asian American Heritage Month.

Beau appeared on all seasons of HBO’s “Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry,” and performed on ESPN’s 2000 Winter X-Games, “Showtime! at the Apollo,” and the 2003 Tony Awards. He is an original cast member of Def Poetry Jam on Broadway, a 2003 Special Event Tony Award Winner and toured with Declare Yourself, dedicated to increasing young voters in the 2004 election.

He is currently writing the lyrics for the upcoming East West Players musical “Krunk Fu Battle Battle.”

Co-sponsored by: Tisch School of the Arts