You are invited to
a reading of new work
from members of Our Side,
a Creative Nonfiction Writing Workshop on Cultural Identity
led by Nancy Agabian
Sunday, August 16, 2009 at 1 pm
at Topaz Arts Center
(http://www.topazarts.org)
55-03 39th Avenue
Woodside, Queens
Subway: 7 train to 61 St. or the R, V, G trains to Northern Blvd.
Free admission
Seating is limited Please rsvp at rsvp@topazarts.org
Readers: Milena Abrahamyan, Gilmarie Brioso, Vianey Camela, Claro de los Reyes, Tenaz H. Dubash, Beatriz A. Gil, Erin Ming Lee, Soniya Munshi, K Sherbetdjian, Margarita Soto,
Hannah Szteinbok, and Antonius Wiriadjaja.
During the summer of 2009, thirteen writers of all levels and with roots all over the world came together in Our Side to write about the worlds they live in, past and present. After ten weeks of reading and discussing the work of contemporary writers, experimenting with writing exercises, and engaging in group feedback, they will read to the public the results of their work. Their memoirs, narratives and personal essays will address issues of emigration, dislocation from homeland, assimilation to a new land, maintenance of cultural identity, and transnationalism.
The free public reading takes place at 1:00pm on Sunday, August 16, 2009, at TOPAZ ARTS, located at 55-03 39th Avenue in Woodside, Queens.
Details and directions are available at www.topazarts.org.
Facilitator: Nancy Agabian is the author of Me as her again: True Stories of an Armenian Daughter, a memoir on her Armenian American family history. Currently, she is working on a book about her experiences living in a community of artists in Yerevan, Armenia, and an article on the history of the Turkish and Armenian communities in Sunnyside, Queens. Since 1994, she has been teaching community-based writing workshops in Los Angeles, New York and Yerevan, Armenia. She teaches writing at CUNY Queens College and the Gallatin School of Individualized Study at New York University. She lives in Astoria, Queens. www.nancyagabian.com
The Our Side Workshop is made possible in part with funds from Poets and Writers, Inc., and by the Queens Council on the Arts with public funding from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.
TOPAZ ARTS, Inc. is a nonprofit organization founded in 2000 by artists Todd Richmond (composer/visual artist) and Paz Tanjuaquio (choreographer/dancer). TOPAZ ARTS fosters the creative process, produces the collaborative works of its founders and provides public programs for the performing and visual arts. TOPAZ ARTS maintains a 2,500 sq. ft. multidisciplinary arts center in Woodside, Queens housing a dance rehearsal studio, audio room, and gallery. Providing affordable space, technical support, residencies and presentation opportunities, TOPAZ ARTS enables artists to realize their projects and the process shared with audiences.
TOPAZ ARTS, Inc. is made possible, in part, by public funds from the NYC Dept. of Cultural Affairs; New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency; National Endowment for the Arts; Carnegie Corporation of New York; Dance Theater Workshop’s Outer/Space Program; Foundation for Contemporary Art; The F.B. Heron Foundation; QCA Queens Community Art Fund; Material for the Arts, a program of NYC’s Department of Cultural Affairs, Dept. of Sanitation and Board of Education; and the generosity of private individuals.