With P&W support, I've become a force in the literary community! Since 1994, I have received P&W funding for a number of programs, including: Trini Girls Take Brooklyn, The Womens Reading Series at McNally Jackson Books, and the Calypso Muse House Reading Series. The series' poets reminded audiences that every voice is authentic and deserves celebration. P&W gave Calypso Muse its first grants of twenty five dollars per reader! The support we received helped to nuture our stories. Poets from Calypso Muse past have parlayed their voices into writing careers! Hal Sirowitz was awarded an NEA, Suheir Hammad won the Audre Lorde Writing Award, and Rodlyn Douglas was the P&W-supported writer at Lincoln Square Neighborhood Center's senior writing program. The series boasted a bevy of poets from diverse backgrounds, some of the poets included: Sekou Sundiata, Jewelle Gomez, Elena Georgiou, and Cheryl Clarke. We opened that September to a full house! Rodlyn Douglas, Suheir Hammad, and Hal Sirowitz were my first features, along with a stirring open mic. My next call was to my friend Sigrid, who owned a small cafe in SoHo. Next, I contacted P&W to inquire about its Readings/Workshops program. They were thrilled and jumped at the opportunity to share their work. First, I called some of my favorite poets to tell them about the series. I wanted to create a place where Caribbean poets could nuture their work and native dialect. In the summer of 1994, I founded the Calypso Muse Reading Series. Poet and presenter of literary events Cheryl Boyce Taylor, blogs about the P&W-supported Calypso Muse Reading Series in New York City.
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