Oscar Bermeo and Barbara Jane Reyes: December 1, 2016

The Poetry Center presents Oscar Bermeo and Barbara Jane Reyes reading and in conversation. Bermeo reads unpublished work. Reyes reads new unpublished work, and from her books For the City That Nearly Broke Me (Aztlan Libre Press, 2012), Diwata (BOA Editions, 2010), and To Love as Aswan (PAWA, Inc. Publications, 2015). Following her reading, Kuwentuhan (Talkstory), a short film produced by San Francisco State University’s Documentary Film Institute and edited by Daewon Kim is screened, with the film incorporating a reading by Reyes of Joy Harjo's poem "Perhaps The World Ends Here." Kuwentuhan (Talkstory) is a project of the Poetry Center and Barbara Jane Reyes, supported by the Creative Work Fund. The film is followed by a conversation between the poets and the audience.

Originally Recorded By
DocFilm Institute
Location
The Poetry Center, SFSU
Date
12/01/2016
Total Run Time
01:41:14
Contributor
Steve Dickison, Frances Phillips
Rights
©© American Poetry Archives. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. For all other uses please email poetry@sfsu.edu
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3933
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309

Oscar Bermeo (00:30:03)

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Steve Dickison discusses the Kuwentuhan project and introduces Oscar Bermeo. Bermeo reads "I'm Just Asking," "Eviction," "Interrogation," "A Personal History and Reflection on 30 Years in the City by the Reverend JT," "Ode to Government Cheese," "Back to Talking With the City," "Litany for Anthony Baez: The Bronx, New York, 1994," "Unsolved Crimes Perpetrated by Invisible Men as Reported by an Unreliable Witness," and "Eulogy for Guru of GangStar."

Barbara Jane Reyes (00:37:22)

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Steve Dickison introduces Barbara Jane Reyes who reads "My California," and "West Oakland Suture for the AK47 Shooter at 3AM," from her chapbook For the City That Nearly Broke Me. She continues with "Why Girls Do Not Speak," from her book Diwata and "To Answer 2," from To Love as Aswang. She then reads "Consume," from an unpublished manuscript, "Song for Mary Jane Veloso," and "Song For Jennifer Laude," from her book Diwata, as well as "The Day," "Swing," and "Queen." Following her reading, Kuwentuhan (Talkstory), a ten minute experimental documentary film of the culminating performance of the April 2016 Kuwentuhan residency is screened.

Conversation (00:20:09)

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Oscar Bermeo and Barbara Jane Reyes take questions from the audience. They discuss poetry as a calling, living in West Oakland, engaging with work of other artists, and branching out of their chosen genre.

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