On Friday, Oct. 26, Omanii Abdullah, Georgia Popoff and Jackie Warren-Moore will be honored with the 2018 Poetic Icon Award at Verbal Blend’s fifth annual Spoken Word Poetry Institute.
The Poetic Icon Award recognizes poets who have been trailblazers within their approach to spoken word poetry and have made a significant global contribution to poetry through their body of published poems, books, interview, lectures, performances, articles and workshops in universities and communities. The award is presented by Verbal Blend, the premier spoken-word poetry program coordinated by the Office of Multicultural Affairs.
“It’s important to give them their roses while they are able smell them and to write about them,” says Cedric T. Bolton, coordinator of student engagement in Office of Multicultural Affairs.
The presentation of the awards follow a panel discussion and reading, “Voicing the Revolution,” featuring six alumni poets and an open mic. The panel begins at 7 p.m. in Schine Student Center Underground. Tickets for the event are free, but required. Students, faculty, staff and community members can get tickets at the Schine Student Center Box Office. Students can request additional tickets for parents and family members visiting during Family Weekend.
Jackie Warren-Moore is a poet, playwright, theatrical director, teacher, newspaper columnist and freelance writer. Warren-Moore has published nationally and internationally. She identifies as a survivor of racism, sexism, childhood sexual abuse and physical abuse. She regards her poetic voice as the “roadmap of her survival, a way of healing herself and of speaking to the soul of others.”
Omanii Abdullah is a poet and retired adjunct professor in the Department of African American Studies at Syracuse University. Abdullah’s poetry has been described as “life experience poetry.” Omanii has six books of poetry and his subject matter includes topics on parenting, love, racism, crime, family, growing old and the joy of life.
Georgia A. Popoff is a community poet, educator, editor and spoken word producer. She is the author of three poetry collections. She has served as the Comstock Review editor for 20 years and managing editor for five years. Popoff is the workshop coordinator for the YMCA’s Downtown Writers Center.
For more information, contact Bolton at ctbolton@syr.edu or 315.443.9676.
