Fold Passion Into Poetry at Lyrical Origami
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Nov. 3, 2015) — Join the University of Kentucky Student Activities Board’s Cultural Arts Committee at 7 p.m. tomorrow, Nov. 4, in Memorial Hall for an evening of spoken word featuring the intimate but explosive performances of Suli Breaks, Bianca Spriggs, and Jasmine Mans.
After graduating from the University of Sheffield, Suli Breaks has spent the last five years touring colleges and universities as a career poet. He had breakout success with his poem “I will not let an exam result decide my fate.” The track topped the Top 3 in the Spoken Word chart on iTunes in 2013. He has appeared on TEDx twice and been featured in papers such as Washington Post, Upworthy.com, and The Guardian.
“Any University of Kentucky student, faculty or staff who is drawn to the art of the spoken word is encouraged to attend,” said Taylor Hamilton, SAB director of Cultural Arts. “The aim of this event is to introduce audience members who are unfamiliar with performance poetry to a form of expression that is ever-growing in popularity.”
Rising through the ranks through social media and YouTube, Jasmine Mans first entered the poetry scene with her rhymes titled “Nicki Minaj,” gaining more than 550,000 views on YouTube. Soon thereafter, she was featured with The Striver’s Row collective at numerous touring events. Since completing her B.A. in African-American Studies at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, she has pursued poetry and writing full time.
Bianca Spriggs is a multidisciplinary artist who lives and works in Lexington, Kentucky. Named one of the Top 30 Performance Poets in the country by The Root, Spriggs is the recipient of a 2013 Al Smith Individual Artist Fellowship in Poetry, multiple Artist Enrichment and Arts Meets Activism grants from the Kentucky Foundation for Women and a Pushcart Prize Nominee. She is also the author of "Kaffir Lily" and "How Swallowtails Become Dragons" with several works coming out in the next year.
“I think that the diverse range of topics that will be touched on by these performance poets will serve to entertain students of many disciplines across campus," Hamilton said. "There are no better poets to accomplish this task than Suli, Jasmine and Bianca. They each have a unique way of folding their passion into poetry and inspiring others along with them.”
SAB brings more than 60 entertaining, educational and enriching programs that are reflective of contemporary issues and trends to the University of Kentucky annually. These programs are designed to enhance the college experience for students, faculty, staff, and the greater Lexington community.
Connect with SAB at http://www.uksab.org, follow them on Twitter at http://twitter.com/UKSAB, or like them on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/UKSAB/. For more information about SAB and events, email publicrelations@uksab.org.
SAB CONTACT: Jazmine Byrd, Email: publicrelations@uksab.org, Phone: (859) 257-8868
MEDIA CONTACT: Katy Bennett or Rebecca Stratton, katy.bennett@uky.edu or rebecca.stratton@uky.edu, (859) 257-1909/(859) 323-2395