NEWS RELEASE
 |
| Shin Yu Pai |
Poet and artist Shin Yu Pai will be the featured speaker at Park University's Ethnic Voices Poetry Series on Wednesday, Oct. 10, beginning at 7 p.m., at the American Jazz Museum, 1616 E. 18th St., Kansas City, Mo. A reception will precede the event at 6:30 p.m. Pai will be the first presenter in the 2012-13 poetry series.
Pai is the author of Adamantine, Haiku Not Bombs, Works on Paper, Sightings: Selected Works, 2000-2005, The Love Hotel Poems, Unnecessary Roughness and Equivalence. Her work is anthologized in America Zen: A Gathering of Poets and The Wisdom Anthology of North American Buddhist Poetry. Her work has been displayed in multiple states, including at the Dallas Museum of Art.
"Because Shin Yu Pai is a visual artist as well as a poet, she brings an extra dimension to her performance," said Virginia Brackett, Ph.D., associate professor of English and assistant dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. "Her artwork will be on display at the American Jazz Museum, and the combination of her words with visual images will be exciting for the audience."
The purpose of Park University's Ethnic Voices Poetry Series, which started in 2007, is to expose individuals to artistic thought and expression that challenges preconceptions about those whose experiences and points of view differ from their own. Because all literature focuses on the human condition, a sharing of that literature promotes a sharing of ideas regarding the challenges, disappointments and celebrations of all people, and the written and verbal expression of emotions that those activities promote. The Ethnic Voices Poetry Series is funded in part by a Missouri Arts Council grant, a state agency and division of the Missouri Department of Economic Development.
Scheduled speakers in this year's series include:
• Denise Low-Weso, Ph.D., 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 24, McCoy Meetin' House
• Latino Writers Collective, 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 27, McCoy Meetin' House
• Gary Jackson, 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 21, Kansas City Public Library (branch location to be announced)
For more information about the Ethnic Voices Poetry Series, visit www.park.edu/ethnicpoetry, or contact Brackett at virginia.brackett@park.edu or (816) 584-6818.
