forWord

Open Mics

Sun, 12 May 2013 22:57:00 -0700

UPDATE: We are back on a performance hiatus as a collective until an undetermined date. However, we are still active in the scene in other ways. Mark helps organize The Definitive Soapbox (TDSB) every last Friday of the month at The Mirage Cafe in Long Beach. Stephanie and Eddy are co-founders/organizers of Sunday Jump every 1st and 3rd Sunday at Kapistahan in Historic Filipinotown. We encourage self-expression over everything so please come support your poetry open mic spaces!

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Next Sunday on May 19th as part of our Lineage Edition series, we will be honoring Carlos Bulosan, Filipino-American novelist and poet! Please bring your favorite poems by him to share so we can together celebrate his legacy.

“The old world is dying, but a new world is being born. It generates inspiration from the chaos that beats upon us all. The false grandeur and security, the unfulfilled promises and illusory power, the number of the dead and those about to die, will charge the forces of our courage and determination. The old world will die so that the new world will be born with less sacrifice and agony on the living…” - Carlos Bulosan

RSVP via Facebook here.

forWord Special Performance for One Night!

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 16:31:27 -0700

Happy National Poetry and Writing Month!

Seemingly out of thin air, forWord will be breaking out of our performance hiatus and will be back on the mic as one of the night’s special performances at the 7th Annual Mr. Hyphen on Saturday, April 27th in San Francisco! Come watch the final four talented and charismatic API men perform and compete for the crown and a $1000 cash prize to benefit the non-profit they represent.

Steph, Mark, and Eddy will be driving up from LA/OC while Susan already bought her ticket and will be taking flight from Seattle, so this is going to really happen! (We barely can believe it ourselves, but it’s true.) So excited to come back and support a great cause for our API community!

“Older Sister, Younger Brother” by Stephanie...

Fri, 18 Jan 2013 20:00:19 -0800

“Older Sister, Younger Brother” by Stephanie Sajor

This is a spoken word performance by Stephanie Sajor at the Anaheim Art Crawl Experience in Anaheim, CA. This is a fictitious account of a sister and brother which reflects on the nature of war and its power to both destroy and create.

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Connect with us!

contact: forword.collective@gmail.com
like: http://www.facebook.com/forwordcollective
follow: http://forwordcollective.tumblr.com
tweet: http://www.twitter.com/fWcollective

egana: tortillapower: Practice What You Preach!Eddy M....

Tue, 08 Jan 2013 18:52:41 -0800

egana:

tortillapower:

***Practice What You Preach!***

Eddy M. Gana Jr.
“Everybody Wants to Be an Activist”

I just found his channel through his tumblr =)

I guess I’m not going to sleep anymore!

Thanks for giving a listen to my poem. Analyze, organize, mobilize!

“Untitled” by Mark Maza (Recorded Studio...

Tue, 08 Jan 2013 14:00:35 -0800

“Untitled” by Mark Maza (Recorded Studio Performance)

This poem is from “forWord: Hear What We’re Saying,” which is part of a composed list of original spoken word poems recorded in the studio.

This is the first time we released a track off from our recordings. We only previously had this available at our live performances. More to come!

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Get in contact with us!

contact: forword.collective@gmail.com
like: http://www.facebook.com/forwordcollective
follow: http://forwordcollective.tumblr.com
tweet: http://www.twitter.com/fWcollective

A Year of RAIZ 2012 Video RAIZ is a youth organization in Santa...

Mon, 07 Jan 2013 19:48:00 -0800

A Year of RAIZ 2012 Video

RAIZ is a youth organization in Santa Ana that seeks to empower and organize the youth around social justice issues affecting our community through art, cultural, and popular education.

In 2012, we as forWord had the opportunity to connect and build with RAIZ at the Youth and Resistance Conference. They are an amazing organization that truly makes a difference in the community. By putting theory into practice, RAIZ analyzes, organizes, and mobilizes a youth movement in Santa Ana. We wish them nothing but the very best for the start of a new year!

www.youthinresistance.org

“The Things They Said” by forWord Stephanie Sajor,...

Wed, 02 Jan 2013 17:00:42 -0800

“The Things They Said” by forWord

Stephanie Sajor, Eddy M. Gana Jr., and Susan perform their spoken word piece “The Things They Said” at Uncultivated Rabbits Presents Poetry Showcase at their alma mater University of California, Irvine, CA. This piece came from our looming anxiety not knowing whether we will have a bleak or bright future after college graduation.

Interesting Fact: forWord met through Uncultivated Rabbits, the one and only spoken word organization, at UC Irvine. They served as board officers and are Lifetime Rabbits.

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Connect with us!

contact: forword.collective@gmail.com
like: http://www.facebook.com/forwordcollective
follow: http://forwordcollective.tumblr.com
tweet: http://www.twitter.com/fWcollective

Gifts of the Past for the New Year

Mon, 31 Dec 2012 16:31:00 -0800

A few days ago, we were able to meet and catch up with each other. Fun times for the memories. (Cheesecake Factory did not turn into a hookah lounge, we swear.)

Currently, we are still on a performance hiatus until an undetermined date. We are all doing other things now from graduate school to maintaining jobs to community organizing. However, we fortunately rediscovered some videos and tracks during our daily grind days of yesteryear. Starting tomorrow, we will gradually release them at www.youtube.com/forwordcollection. So if you were not able to see us live or are unfamiliar with our work, we will have a good amount to begin the new year on a positive note.

Happy New Year to all y’all on the eastern time zones! We are still waiting for 2013 here on the west side of the world. Have fun and be safe everyone!

egana: #forWord reunion! Feels good to be back together and...

Sun, 30 Dec 2012 18:10:44 -0800

egana:

#forWord reunion! Feels good to be back together and drinking poetry. Cheesecake Factory soon! @mangoforsale (at FiRE + iCE Grill + Bar)

We may not be active performing spoken word anymore, but we made time to hang out and enjoy each other’s company this Winter Break: The Hobbit; FiRE + iCE Girl + Bar; Cheesecake Factory at Gardenwalk, the place of forWord’s birth; and a late night random conversation in the car about TV shows, Scientology, and ghosts until 2 AM. What a great way to close out 2012 together.

Hi!... atus

Wed, 03 Oct 2012 21:46:28 -0700

Hello world! We would like to announce that we are currently on a performance hiatus. Instead, we will be working on our writing starting… right now! Thank you to all for your continuous support from each of us!

Until we come back…

Onward, FORWORD!

- Susan, Eddy, Mark, and Steph

forWord Feature at FilAm ARTS Presents: FPAC 21

Fri, 07 Sep 2012 16:20:25 -0700

On behalf of FilAm ARTS, we’d like to extend an invitation to our family, friends, fans, and wandering nomads to experience the largest annual celebration of Filipino Arts & Culture in Southern California! Festival of Philippine Arts and Culture (FPAC) is a two-day weekend of arts, culture, fun, and community, and yearly audiences of over 25,000 inter-generational and multicultural supporters, representing 21 years of community tradition.

We, forWord, will be performing our spoken word poetry at this year’s FPAC on the Generation Stage THIS Sunday, September 9th at 2:30 PM!

FPAC take places at Pt. Fermin Park in San Pedro. The address is 807 Paseo Del Mar in San Pedro, CA.

FPAC is annually produced by FilAm ARTS, a certified 501 (c)(3) non-profit, community-based organization supported by the City of Los Angeles, the County of Los Angeles, and the California Arts Council for over a decade. FilAm ARTS three main programs are: Eskuwela Kultura, the Pilipino Artists Network, and the
Festival of Philippine Arts & Culture (FPAC). For more information, please visit www.filamarts.org.

Thank you for your support of forWord, FPAC, FilAm ARTS, and the Filipino-American community throughout Southern California. We are so honored to be a part of this weekend celebration! Come celebrate culture with us! We can’t wait to see you at FPAC 21!

Tuesday Night Project presents: In collaboration with FilAmARTS...

Fri, 31 Aug 2012 19:28:00 -0700

Tuesday Night Project presents:

In collaboration with FilAmARTS highlighting the Festival of Philippine Arts and CultureThe 1st & 3rd Tuesday Night Cafe

September 4, 2012

Hello fond followers!!! Did you know forWord is featuring at FPAC this year?! Awesome stuff, right? To get folks excited about FPAC they are teaming up with the equally excellent Tuesday Night Cafe to put on a little preview of what’s to come. This lineup includes our very own Mark Maza who will have his own 10 minute set! Are you wondering what he will do for 10 minutes?! Hmm… if that doesn’t entice you, something is wrong with your electrical wiring. Come out and support this man and enjoy one of the coolest outdoor open mic spaces in LA. If you cannot come out to enjoy the space, they have a live stream set up at www.tuesdaynightproject.org/

Say goodbye to summer the right way!

facebook event: http://www.facebook.com/events/271734226262319/

Tuesday Night Project: http://www.facebook.com/tnproject

Festival of Philippine Arts and Culture (FPAC): http://filamarts.org/fpac

forWord featuring at the Definitive Soapbox!

Fri, 24 Aug 2012 11:01:55 -0700

forWord featuring at the Definitive Soapbox!:

The theme for this week is, “Come on back toThedefinitvesoapbox!!” When is the last time you came to visit? When is the last time you shared your heart and art with Long Beach’s most supportive audience? ForWord is featuring and they are always amazing. Antonio PazOne Appling is hosting and he is always smiling. Spend two hours on Friday night with us @ #TDSB

Tonight is the night yall!!! Come check us out and share some of yourself on the mic in Long Beach before we go on a performance hiatus!

See you there!

http://www.facebook.com/events/272312292884719/

What’s next for us? Poetrypalooza 2012 on August 26th at...

Wed, 15 Aug 2012 18:07:08 -0700

What’s next for us? Poetrypalooza 2012 on August 26th at the Last Bookstore in Downtown LA from 2-6 PM. Workshop + performance. There will be live music, there will be performance art, there will be people (you!), and there will be POETRY. Absolutely free event sponsored by Nuvein Foundation for Literature and the Arts.

If you did not know, it’s already started with events left and right all throughout LA so be sure to check out http://poetrypalooza-la.weebly.com for more information.

RAIZ Presents: 2nd Annual Culture of Resistance Workshops!

Sat, 11 Aug 2012 11:40:00 -0700

There’s nothing more we love than workshopping with the youth. It was such an honor performing for and teaching a workshop about spoken word and how it can be utilized as an effective tool towards activism with RAIZ earlier this year. It was the beauty and power of the community that made that conference so inspiring.

Now, we have been invited back by RAIZ and we are extremely excited to collaborate again! We will be setting it off THIS Monday in Santa Ana!

RSVP at: https://www.facebook.com/events/106265429522540/

Spoken Word Workshop
Monday August 13th
6:30pm - 8:00pm
Presented by forWord

Explore the power of spoken word with Southern California’s own, forWord. This workshop will be an introduction to spoken word/ performance poetry as well as working on tapping into one’s emotions to express oneself and empower others to action.

***Stencils workshop - Tuesday
***Aerosol workshop - Wednesday

All workshops will be at:

El Centro Cultural de Mexico
313 N. Birch St, Santa Ana, CA 92701

Visit their website: www.youthinresistance.org

call for submissions: angry poetry corner

Fri, 10 Aug 2012 20:15:18 -0700

call for submissions: angry poetry corner:

Click the link for more details.

Calling all you lovely Angry Asian Poets! It’s time to get even more poetic up in here. We want your poems to showcase on the Angry Poetry Corner.

Got some poetry to share with the world? Submit up to three pieces for review by Friday, August 10, 11:59 pm EDT for a chance for your work to be featured on this site. Here are the guidelines:

Writing Workshop Tomorrow!

Tue, 24 Jul 2012 22:57:00 -0700

We are getting back on the grind!

Tomorrow, Wednesday, we will be facilitating a writing workshop about emotions and how it is the original muse for why we all write. Emotions, after all, are what make us human. They are so infused in our lives that we sometimes forget to recognize their insurmountable power: we don’t think about what we are feeling, we just feel. But with anything as precious and infinite as our emotions, we must remember to not let our emotions control us, but learn how to channel them. Especially as writers, our emotions are the special moves to lay down when everything else we do becomes mundane. They keep us going. They remind us we are living. Thus our workshop will delve into how you can channel emotions in your writing.

This is a private event for the high school youth of Upward Bound at Chapman University. We are all super excited! This may just be text you are reading, but I am hoping you can FEEL it. =).

- Eddy M. Gana Jr.

Inkslam '12...IT HAS BEGUN!!!

Fri, 13 Jul 2012 18:29:59 -0700

Inkslam '12...IT HAS BEGUN!!!:

What’s going on ya’ll. You know that hot, sweaty, humid, down-south type weather all of us Southern California folks have been experiencing lately? Ohhh, it’s no coincidence. It just the many many ways of the world telling us it is SLAM SEASON. And with that comes INKSLAM 2012. Hosted at Da Poetry Lounge.

Now, last night, was the Indie Slam and we had Storm Thomas taking the crown…or should I say the robot. Now if you’re saying, “Aww man! I totally missed it”, then have I got some good news for you. The individual slam was just the salad of this poetical smorgasbord that only happens once a year here in LA.

Tonight will be the main course aka the Team Slam Semifinals competition where 10 Teams from around the country will compete to be crowned Inkslam Champs. And it will be wonderful. Now if you’re saying, I can’t afford to go, then check out the live stream tonight starting at 8PM. Those who do go, bring 15 dollars with you and get ready for poetry times infinity for the whole evening.

Now I gotta go folks, my ride is literally waiting for me…but go. In the words of Ashley Catherine, “This is a rare event, where you get to see teams that will be competing at NPS” here in Los Angeles.

Da Poetry Lounge is at 544 Fairfax Avenue, Los Angeles. It’s gonna be a beautiful evening!

Tonight! commongroundoc: July 5th is our “PERSPECTIVES” show....

Thu, 05 Jul 2012 15:54:29 -0700

Tonight!

commongroundoc:

July 5th is our “PERSPECTIVES” show. Come on over and share yours!

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Featuring:

Vietnamese International Film Festival // community spotlight
http://www.vietfilmfest.com/

DJ nPrevail // guest DJ

Yuki Akaishi // guitar and vocals
www.yukiamusic.com

Siwaraya Rochanahusdin // poetry
www.facebook.com/pages/The-ReWrite/210434242330425?ref=ts

Audrey Kuo // spoken word
http://audreykuo.wordpress.com/

Hatefas Yop // youth spotlight
www.facebook.com/duendelongbeach

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Doors open at 6:30pm
Open Mic sign ups start at 6:30pm and end at 7pm. We have limited open mic space so come early to sign up. Priority will go to first timers at the mic.
The show starts at 7:30pm.

RSVP here.

fongtranpoetry: “I Hate Being Vietnamese” by Fong Tran Vid...

Tue, 19 Jun 2012 11:11:38 -0700

fongtranpoetry:

“I Hate Being Vietnamese” by Fong Tran

Vid Credits go to Dou Her

We met Fong Tran at our very first APIA Spoken Word and Poetry Summit in the Bay Area of 2009. A lot has happened since then. It is always so wonderful to see where the people we met and connected with so long ago are now today. Recently he shared a poem written specifically for the South East Asian Graduation Class of 2012 at UC Davis. Check it out!