National Queer Arts Festival Press Releases
Word UP! Queer Poets and Spoken Word Artists SAY IT @ NQAF 2003!

(May 1, 2003 -- San Francisco) Produced each year during Pride month by the Queer Cultural Center (Qcc), the National Queer Arts Festival (NQAF) celebrates and promotes the work of local, national and international queer artists, and is dedicated to encompassing the queer community's full diversity and artistry. This year, it's all about the word, and the word can be heard! Queer poets and spoken word artists let it loose with the power of language, examining everything from queer femininity to cultural diversity. ANNA CAMILLERI, CHLOË BRUSHWOOD ROSE, and MICHELLE TEA celebrate femme stories and experiences of men, transsexual women, sex workers, darlings, drag queens and more from their book, BRAZEN FEMME; RICARDO BRACHO stages a reading from his new play, Querido; JOEL TAN & YOUTH SPEAKS challenge the next generation of queer poets and writers with an intergenerational exploration of dialogue and language; the brOTHERs educate and challenge misconceptions about women born/male identified people of color. And of course, there is plenty more! NQAF 2003 kicks off with the THE Q BALL on Saturday, May 31st, at The SF LGBT Community Center @ 6pm (1800 Market Street @ Octavia) with FREE food and drink, performances, music, and more! NQAF 2003 festivities continue through June 29th in various venues throughout San Francisco.

For complete schedule of events, reservations and more information, please visit the festival website at www.queerculturalcenter.org. Tickets can be purchased in advance starting May 1st, online at www.queerculturalcenter.org, by phone at (415) 3340-Qcc, by email at Qcc@queerculturalcenter.org, or in person at the venues one hour prior to event.


Wednesday, May 28th 6:00pm Reading
R. ZAMORA LINMARK & LISA ASAGI
Selected Readings from E.S.L., Leche, and Other Works
SomArts, 934 Brannan St @ 8th, SF
Tickets: Free
APICC (415) 864-4126 or info@apiculturalcenter.org or www.galeriadelaraza.org
R. Zamora Linmark will be reading from his poetry collection, E. S. L., and from his forthcoming novel, LECHE. He will be joined by Lisa Asagi, who will read from recent works and her work-in-progress. Co-produced by United States of Asian America (APICC) and Qcc.


Tuesday, June 3rd 6:00pm Reception; 7:00pm Reading
"QUERIDO"
Staged Reading of Ricardo Bracho's New Play
The SF LGBT Community Center/Rainbow Room, 1800 Market St @ Octavia, SF
Tickets: $7-12 sliding scale
Qcc Info & Box (415) 3340-Qcc or Qcc@queerculturalcenter.org or www.queerculturalcenter.org
Reception and staged reading of a new play by Ricardo Bracho, an adaptation of Jean Genet's novel and Rainer Werner Fassbinder's film, Querelle. Bracho is the recipient of a George Houston Bass Award, a Panelist's Choice Award from the Edward Albee Theatre Festival in Valdez, Alaska, and a Dean Goodman Choice Award for Outstanding Playwriting. Querido was commissioned by The Latino Theatre Initiative of the Mark Taper Forum, and is co-produced by QueLACo (Queer Latino/ Artists Coalition), Qcc and The SF LGBT Community Center.


Tuesday, June 3rd 8:00pm
BRAZEN FEMMES: QUEERING FEMININITY
Lucky 3 on the Mic: Anna Camilleri, Chloë Brushwood-Rose and Michelle Tea
The SF LGBT Community Center/Ceremonial Room, 1800 Market St @ Octavia, SF
Tickets: $10-$20 sliding scale
Qcc Info & Box (415) 3340-Qcc or Qcc@queerculturalcenter.org or www.queerculturalcenter.org
From Canada! Brazen Femme: Queering Femininity is a manifesto for the unrepentant bitch, straddling the furious and fantastic. Undeniably celebratory and deeply troubling, this sharp-edged collection of fiction, prose poetry, personal essay, photographs, and illustration reveals the un-hyphenated femme experience emerging in performance, betrayal, violence, humor, and survival. Brazen Femme recognizes femme as an identity in flux and in motion, as constantly being reinvented. The collection includes the entertaining and challenging work of writers and artists whose stories are missing from existing explorations of femme that exclude experiences of men, transsexual women, and sex workers. Whether by choice or necessity, these frenzied femmes each explore their desires to make (and remake) femininity fit their own queer frames. Darlings, drag queens, whores, and action heroes…a femme by any other name is spectacular. Brazen Femme has been nominated for a Lambda Award.


Saturday, June 7th 8:00pm
REVOLUTION! BRAKE HERE: UNPLUGGED POETRY IN THE CITY
SFinX: San Francisco in Exile Live at JSC
Jon Sims Center for the Arts, 1519 Mission St @ 11th, SF
Tickets: $7-$12 sliding scale, no one turned away for lack of funds
JSC Info & Box (415) 554-0402
This spoken word hoedown will give the lowdown on the life of queer urban poets, featuring Nyati, Juicy, Carol Hill, Exodus Williams. Curated by Exodus Williams



Sunday, June 8th 7:00pm
TAKING IT TO THE STREET
Sketches, Poems and Monologues with the brOTHERs
SomArts Theater, 934 Brannan St @ 8th, SF
Tickets: $7-$12 sliding scale
Qcc Info & Box (415) 3340-Qcc or Qcc@queerculturalcenter.org or www.queerculturalcenter.org

brOTHERs is a year old theatrical performance and spoken word collective of artists of color from a variety of cultures, races, classes and creeds, who fall somewhere on the spectrum from masculine female to transman. With a mission of Opening The Heart and Erasing Restrictive Stereotypes surrounding gender identity, race and sexuality, their work challenges the many misconceptions about who they are as women born/male identified people of color, living in a binary, often hostile and heterosexist world. They collaborate on different issues specific to their lives to give voice to the unimagined and unconventional. brOTHERs is a recipient of a Qcc Creating Queer Community grant.


Thursday, June 12th 8:00pm
LIT @ JSC
Reading and Discussion with Uchechi Kalu and MR Daniel
Jon Sims Center for the Arts, 1519 Mission St @ 11th, SF
Tickets: $7-$12 sliding scale, no one turned away for lack of funds
JSC Info & Box (415) 554-0402
LIT @ JSC is pleased to host the visionary work of two deeply engaging, and very different, writers and performers of the African Diaspora - Uchechi Kalu and MR Daniel. The reading will be followed by a discussion and a reception.


Friday, June 27th 6:00pm Reception; 7:00pm Reading
QUELACO'S POETRY EVENT
Latino Community Poetry Readings
La Galeria De La Raza, 2857 24th St @ Bryant
Tickets: $5
La Galeria de la Raza Info & Box (415) 826-8009 or www.galeriadelaraza.org
Latino/a poetry readings from the community. Co-produced by QueLACo (Queer Latino/a Artists Coalition) and Qcc.


Saturday, June 28th 8:00pm
QUEERIOSITY & THE MONSTER DEBUT
In Celebration of the Next Generation of Queer Youth Writers
ODC Theater, 3153 17th St @ Shotwell
Tickets: $5 Youth; $10 Adult
ODC Theater Info & Box (415) 863-9834 or www.Ticketweb.com
In support of the next generation of queer youth writers, Queeriosity & The Monster Debut will bring together established writers and youth poets of Youth Speaks. Curated by Joel Barraquiel Tan debuting his first book of poetry, MONSTER, out on Noise Press, the evening will feature readings from the selected works of Joel Tan, Philip Huang, Alfred Arteaga, Maiana Minahal, and Jaime Cortez by the authors themselves, and a preview of the soon-to-be published works of the Youth Speaks Small Press Project from emerging writers Chinaka Hodge, Stephen Pickens, Eli Marienthal, Gabe Crane, and Tim Arevalho. Interlaced with musical intermissions, this event also features Lolan Sevilla of Flip Dyke poets, and Tim'm from DeepDikCollective. Presented by Youth Speaks.



NQAF's producing entity, the Queer Cultural Center (Qcc), is a multiracial community building organization that fosters the artistic, economic and cultural development of San Francisco's queer arts community. Qcc's programs promote the careers of LGBT artists, and serve queer and non-queer audiences alike. Supporters of NQAF 2003 include the California Arts Council, Grants for the Arts, San Francisco Arts Commission, Rainbow Grocery,Horizons Foundation, Open Meadows Foundation, Astraea Foundation, Bayview Opera House, Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts, SomArts, Hispanics in Philanthropy, SF Weekly and the Zellerbach Family Fund.

For complete schedule of events, reservations and more information, please visit the festival website at www.queerculturalcenter.org. Tickets can be purchased in advance starting May 1st, online at www.queerculturalcenter.org, by phone at (415) 3340-Qcc, by email at Qcc@queerculturalcenter.org, or in person at the venues one hour prior to event.

For More Information Contact:
Vivien Dai, ArtAxcess Productions (510) 290-3388



CALENDAR LISTINGS
B/W Images included. COLOR and additional B/W images available upon request.


Who: National Queer Arts Festival 2003

When: Saturday, May 31st 6:00pm-12:00am

What: THE Q BALL!
NQAF 2003 Opening Night GAY-la!

Where: The SF LGBT Community Center, 1800 Market @ Octavia Street

Tickets: Donations of $5 to $50,000 gladly accepted in support of Queer anti-war groups!

Info & Box: (415) 3340-Qcc or Qcc@queerculturalcenter.org or www.queerculturalcenter.org

Who: National Queer Arts Festival 2003

When: Wednesday, May 28th 6:00pm Reading

What: R. Zamora Linmark & Lisa Asagi
Selected Readings from E.S.L., Leche, and Other Works

Where: SomArts, 934 Brannan Street @ 8th Street

Tickets: Free

More Info: APICC (415) 864-4126 or info@apiculturalcenter.org or www.galeriadelaraza.org

Who: National Queer Arts Festival 2003

When: Tuesday, June 3rd 6:00pm Reception; 7:00pm Reading

What: "Querido"
Staged Reading of Ricardo Bracho's New Play

Where: The SF LGBT Community Center/Rainbow Room, 1800 Market @ Octavia Street

Tickets: $7-12 sliding scale

More Info: Qcc Info & Box (415) 3340-Qcc or Qcc@queerculturalcenter.org or www.queerculturalcenter.org

Who: National Queer Arts Festival 2003

When: Tuesday, June 3rd 8:00pm

What: Brazen Femmes: Queering Femininity
Lucky 3 on the Mic: Anna Camilleri, Chloë Brushwood Rose and Michelle Tea

Where: The SF LGBT Community Center/Ceremonial Room, 1800 Market @ Octavia Street

Tickets: $10-$20 sliding scale

More Info: Qcc Info & Box (415) 3340-Qcc or Qcc@queerculturalcenter.org or www.queerculturalcenter.org

Who National Queer Arts Festival 2003

When: Saturday, June 7th 8:00pm

What: Revolution! Brake Here: Unplugged Poetry in the City
SFinX: San Francisco in Exile Live at JSC

Where: Jon Sims Center for the Arts, 1519 Mission Street @ 11th Street

Tickets: $7-$12 sliding scale, no one turned away for lack of funds

More Info: JSC Info & Box (415) 554-0402

Who: National Queer Arts Festival 2003

When: Sunday, June 8th 7:00pm

What: Taking It to the Street
Sketches, Poems and Monologues with the brOTHERs

Where: SomArts Theater, 934 Brannan Street @ 8th Street

Tickets: $7-$12 sliding scale

More Info: Qcc Info & Box (415) 3340-Qcc or Qcc@queerculturalcenter.org or www.queerculturalcenter.org

Who: National Queer Arts Festival 2003

When: Thursday, June 12th 8:00pm

What: LIT @ JSC
Reading and Discussion with Uchechi Kalu and MR Daniel

Where: Jon Sims Center for the Arts, 1519 Mission Street @ 11th Street

Tickets: $7-$12 sliding scale, no one turned away for lack of funds

More Info: JSC Info & Box (415) 554-0402

Who: National Queer Arts Festival 2003

When: Friday, June 27th 6:00pm Reception; 7:00pm Reading

What: QueLACo's Poetry Event
Latino Community Poetry Readings

Where: La Galeria De La Raza, 2857 24th Street @ Bryant

Tickets: $5

More Info: La Galeria de la Raza Info & Box (415) 826-8009 or www.galeriadelaraza.org

Who: National Queer Arts Festival 2003

When: Saturday, June 28th 8:00pm

What: Queeriosity & The Monster Debut
In Celebration of the Next Generation of Queer Youth Writers

Where: ODC Theater, 3153 17th Street @ Shotwell

Tickets: $5 Youth; $10 Adult

More Info: ODC Theater Info & Box (415) 863-9834 or www.Ticketweb.com

For complete schedule of events, reservations and more information, please visit the festival website at www.queerculturalcenter.org. Tickets can be purchased in advance starting May 1st, online at www.queerculturalcenter.org, by phone at (415) 3340-Qcc, by email at Qcc@queerculturalcenter.org, or in person at the venues one hour prior to event.