White Space Official Selection of the Langston Hughes African American Film Festival April 15th

White Space is gearing up for a return to Seattle, the hometown of  the film's editor, Brett W. Bachman, as an Official Selection of the Langston Hughes African American Film Festival Monday April 15th at 9pm in the Shorts Program.  Tickets are available online through the festival.

The Langston Hughes African American Film Festival is a program of the Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center in Seattle, WA. The Festival is run by a core of committed community volunteers under the direction of Jacqueline Moscou, Langston Hughes’ Artistic Director. The annual event is actually the culmination of a year’s worth of community collateral-building through a series of smaller events designed to provide audiences with unique cinematic and filmmaking opportunities that result in an annual community-wide film festival held at the Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center.

 

 

White Space Star Ryan Lane on ALL ASL Episode of Switched at Birth on ABC Family Monday, March 4th 8/7pm Central

Ryan Lane has been busy since he took on the role of  The Poet in White Space.  Shortly after shooting the award-winning short film, Ryan was cast as the angst ridden heart-throb Travis on ABC Family's Switched at Birth.  What started as a few guest spots has turned into a steady gig for the talented actor.  He's become a fan favorite and will appear in the much anticipated "All ASL" episode of the popular ABC Family show.

 

In an ALL NEW episode of ABC Family's award-winning original series Switched at Birth, told entirely in American Sign Language (ASL), the students at Carlton School for the Deaf protest to keep their school open, based on real life events of the "Deaf President Now" protest held 25 years ago on the campus of Gallaudet University. The ground-breaking episode, a first for a scripted series on mainstream television, will air Monday, March 4 at 8/7c. The special episode, will be told from the perspective of the series' multiple deaf characters -- with open captions for hearing viewers.

The ambitious episode marks an important milestone in mainstream television and the exposure of ASL as a vibrant aspect of deaf culture in the United States. Through the 2013 Deaf Outreach Campaign, White Space Poetry Project will continue to illuminate mainstream images of ASL and deaf culture in television, film and literature. 

 

Audiences can tune into ABC Family's Switched at Birth, Monday, March 4th at 8/7c.

 

 

 

 

 

How to Kill Poetry: New Collection from White Space Poetry Anthology Poet Raymond Luczak

RAYMOND LUCZAK (pronounced as written but with a silent "c") is perhaps best known for his books, films, and plays.

Raymond was raised in Ironwood, a small mining town in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Number seven in a family of nine children, he lost much of his hearing due to double pneumonia at the age of seven months.

His forthcoming collection, How to Kill Poetry, will be released through Sibling Rivalry Press March 12, 2013.  In a recent review by Polar Magazine, writer Walter Beck praises the collection, "This book is simply astounding, there is nothing like it out there today... Even if you're not a big poetry reader, pick this one up, it's so surreal in its execution that it will leave you thirsting for more." 

With the ghosts of Emily Dickinson, Arthur Rimbaud, Sappho, and Walt Whitman leading the way, How to Kill Poetry showcases a highly selective overview of Western civilization poetic development from its oral traditions to the silence of pixels.  The narrative then jumps 200 years into the future where the unfortunate consequences of global warming creat a dramatic backrop against which poetry (if it is to have any redeeming value) must survive.

Luczak has literally traversed the white space between the hearing and deaf worlds through performance, film and literary work on the page throughout his prolific career which is highlighted on his website, www.raymondluczak.com .

After his high school graduation, Luczak went on to Gallaudet University, in Washington, DC, where he earned a B.A. in English, graduating magna cum laude. He learned American Sign Language (ASL) and became involved with the deaf community, and won numerous scholarships in recognition of his writing, including the Ritz-Paris Hemingway Scholarship. He took various writing courses at other schools in the area, which culminated in winning a place in the Jenny McKean Moore Fiction Workshop at the George Washington University.In 1988, he moved to New York City.

In short order, his play Snooty won first place in the New York Deaf Theater’s 1990 Samuel Edwards Deaf Playwrights Competition, and his essay "Notes of a Deaf Gay Writer" won acceptance as a cover story for Christopher Street magazine. Soon after Alyson Publications asked him to edit Eyes of Desire: A Deaf Gay & Lesbian Reader, which, after its appearance in June 1993, eventually won two Lambda Literary Award nominations (Best Lesbian and Gay Anthology, and Best Small Press Book). In January 1996, Deaf Life Press brought out his first book of poems, St. Michael's Fall. In July 2002, the Tactile Mind Press brought out two of his new books: Silence is a Four-Letter Word: On Art & Deafness and This Way to the Acorns: Poems. His play, Snooty: A Comedy, was published as a book by the Tactile Mind Press in February 2004. His first novel Men with Their Hands won a first-prize award from the Arch and Bruce Brown Foundation for Full-Length Fiction 2003 in the spring of 2004. The book has gone on to win first place in the Project: QueerLit 2006 Contest; Rebel Satori Press published it as part of their Queer Mojo imprint in November 2009.

A Midsummer Night's Press brought out his third collection of poems Mute in February 2010. Hot Off The published a very limited edition (10 copies only!) of his 12th title Notes of a Deaf Gay Writer: 20 Years Later; it is now available as an ebook for the iPad and the Kindle. Sibling Rivalry Press brought out his fourth poetry collection Road Work Ahead in March 2011.

His work has appeared in various anthologies and periodicals, and will be included in the forthcoming White Space Poetry Anthology. 

Outreach in the Deaf Community Campaign

White Space Writer/Director/Actress Maya Washington,
Actor CJ Jones, Interpreter Lisa Arroyos,
 Actress/Poet Tanya Alexander at
Hollywood Black Film Festival

Throughout the past year, White Space has made its way around the United States and remote parts of the world as far away as Budapest. Although the film has appeared in two deaf film festivals (Seattle Deaf Film Festival and Maine Deaf Film Festival) and one disability festival (Cinema Touching Disability Festival), 2013 will be focused on reaching deaf audiences with the work that has opened the eyes of many of in the hearing world.

The biggest challenge for White Space on the festival circuit is that most "mainstream" festivals do not present captioned versions of the films presented.  As a result, attendance by deaf or hard of hearing patrons at mainstream festivals is nearly non-existent.

Whenever possible, White Space Poetry Project curates screenings and other events to include American Sign Language interpreters, deaf actors, poets and community partners in the deaf community.  2013 presents a great opportunity to do even more.


Maya Washington and Lisa Arroyos

With the help of community partners, friends and others like Youth Performance Company, VSA Minnesota, Sign World TV and Greater Los Angeles Agency on Deafness, White Space Poetry Project will continue to provide accessible low to no-cost screenings of White Space, panel discussions, poetry performances and writing workshops for youth and adults. The push will involve outreach efforts in Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New York and Washington, DC.


Poetry Workshop Students





Hundreds of hearing students have engaged with the work of White Space Poetry Project throughout 2012.  Through the 2013 Deaf Outreach Campaign, the focus will shift to creating opportunities for hearing and deaf students, teaching artists and poets to work with both hearing and deaf audiences in addition to continued collaborations between deaf and hearing poets as well as "mainstream" educational environments.

White Space Poetry Project has created a unique experience for all who have come into contact with the magic of White Space and the idea that creative opportunity exists between the hearing world and the deaf world.  Creating bridges and common ground between hearing and deaf culture can be challenging for those on both sides of the equation, yet the rewards are great and the White Space that connects us all.

If you are interested in supporting the work of White Space Poetry Project in 2013, consider a tax-deductible gift to our annual giving campaign today!


Khary Jackson and Jonathan Roberts
at Loft Literary Center

 







White Space in the Winner's Circle

Shon Fuller and Maya Washington at HBFF Closing Night

White Space screened at Co- Kisser Poetry Film Festival on October 6th, 2012 at Minnesota College of Art and Design and Hollywood Black Film Festival at the Montalban Theatre in Hollywood on
October 27, 2012 

White Space took home three awards between the two festivals including "Best Short" at Hollywood Black Film Festival, "Best in Category," and "Best of the Fest" at Co-Kisser Poetry Film Festival.

White Space supporters came out in Los Angeles and Minneapolis in support of the audience favorite. White Space Poetry Project members and White Space cast were in attendance at the Hollywood screening. CJ Jones, Zendrea Mitchell, Tanya Alexander, Shon Fuller and interpreter Lisa Arroyos shined in Hollywood at the after party at the St. Felix.  MSU Hall of Famer, and retired NFL running back  Clint Jones (Vikings, Chargers) and family were also in attendance.

White Space singer/songwriter Herschel and the Detainees performed Herschel's poem, "Wednesday Love," the inspiration for the ASL poem, "White Space" from the film, after the screening at Co-Kisser to rave reviews. Also in attendance at Co-Kisser were White Space Poetry Anthology poets and artists Sandy Beach and Meghan Maloney-Vinz.



Herschel & the Detainees at MCAD

White Space in Wichita October 19th and 20th

White Space will screen Friday October 19th at 3:30pm and Saturday October 20th at 5pm in the Dramatic Shorts Program at Rock Island Studios during the Tallgrass Film Festival this weekend!

Tickets are available at the festival box office


From Tallgrass Film Festival:

“In a world overrun by film festivals, Tallgrass remains a largely undiscovered gem. The festival is big enough and smart enough to curate a top-notch program, but modest enough to nurture an atmosphere in which filmmakers mingle with each other and audience members.”
  -Geoff Edgers, producer/star of Do It Again and Boston Globe Arts Reporter

The 10^th Annual Tallgrass Film Festival will be held in and around downtown Wichita, Kansas, October 18 - 21, 2012. The festival showcases more than 120 films from around the world and is the largest independent film festival in the state of Kansas. The four-day event has become a hallmark of the city's cultural landscape and the festival is internationally renowned for its world-class cinematic programming.

September Outreach and Screenings

Ryan Lane and Maya Washington
 with CSUSB students

White Space Poetry Project was busy throughout the month of September starting with a private screening at California State University San Bernardino for student leaders during the CSUSB Club Conference on September 10th, 2012. Following an address by CSUSB President Tomás D. Morales, White Space Writer/Director and WSPP Creative Director Maya Washington motivated students with a keynote "How to Make a Dream a Reality" followed by a Q &A with Washington and White Space star and ABC Family's Switched at Birth actor Ryan Lane.



Kyla Marshall, Jonterri Gadson,
Maya Washington,
T'ai Freedom Ford, Shelby Stokes

The New York Premiere of White Space occurred at Urbanworld Film Festival September 22nd, 2012 which garnered a spotlight piece on Indiewire's Shadow and Act. White Space screened along side some amazing short films including award winners Ralph Scott's touching Barbasol and Jesse Atlas' suspense driven Record/Play.   Cave Canem poets T'ai Freedom Ford, Michelle Whitaker, Jonterri Gadson, Shelby Stokes, Kyla Marshall, L. Lamar Wilson and Juliet P. Howard attended the White Space screenings along with White Space Poetry Project friends and supporters.





Maya Washington

During Social Media Week, Creative Director Maya Washington participated in a panel discussion sponsored by California Youth Connection at W Hollywood on September 26th, 2012.  The panelists discussed how their organizations are using social media to connect with and empower youth.