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Voices of the Rainbow: Celebrating the Oral Tradition

Since 1993, the English Department of Long Island University's Brooklyn Campus has been hosting a series of poetry and fiction readings entitled "Voices of the Rainbow: Celebrating the Oral Tradition." This series, funded by the Brooklyn Campus Provost's Office and the New York State Council on the Arts, is free and open to the public.

Below is a complete list of past programs.

Several programs have been presented in collaboration with the School of Education’s Department of Teaching and Learning, the Women's Studies Program, and the English Club.

Watch the English Department blog (The Longest Island) for information about the next event.

List of Past Readings


2012

November 14, 2012 Martha Witt & Glenville Lovell
October 9, 2012 Elizabeth Nunez & Kamala Nair
October 3, 2012 Paolo Javier & Irina Reyn
March 29, 2012 A’Lelia Bundles
March 28, 2012 Patricia Smith & David Mills
February 27, 2012 Jayne Cortez & Bernice McFadden
February 23, 2012 Alison Bechdel (Paumanok Lecture)
February 16, 2012 Terrance Hayes

2011

November 14, 2011 Tina Chang
October 13, 2011 Heidi Durrow & Dahlma Llanos Figueroa
October 5, 2011 Paola Corso & Sandra Maria Esteves
September 27, 2011 Eduardo Chirinos
April 29, 2011 Harryette Mullen
April 13, 2011 Patricia Spears Jones & Alicia Berbenick
April 4, 2011 Gary Shteyngart & Sonya Chung
March 28, 2011 Sapphire
March 3, 2011 Valzhyna Mort

2010

Nov. 1, 2010 Afaa Weaver & Merrill Feitell
Oct. 28, 2010 Kevin Young & John Morillo
Oct. 6, 2010 Michael Thomas & Anton Nimblett
Apr. 19, 2010 Susan Choi & Patrick Rosal
Apr. 14, 2010 William Burgos & Tejan Green
Mar. 2, 2010 Colum McCann
Feb.22, 2010 Merle Collins & Sandra Maria Esteves
Feb. 11, 2010 Michael Thomas

2009

Nov. 10, 2009 Roger Sedarat & Tiphanie Yanique
Oct. 26, 2009 Kevin Baker
Oct. 7, 2009 Thomas Sayers Ellis & Jacqueline Bishop
Apr. 15, 2009 Charulata Dyal (MFA student), Michael Hassan (English Department adjunct professor) & Uche Nduka (MFA student)
Apr. 7, 2009 Ellen Litman & Nathalie Handal
Apr. 2, 2009 Colum McCann (CANCELLED)
Mar.11, 2009 Suheir Hammad & Joyce Zonana
Feb. 23, 2009 Kwame Dawes & Willie Perdomo

2008

Dec. 10, 2008 Charles Dickens' Holiday Story The Chimes, performed by David Houston
Nov. 6, 2008 Kelly Zen-Yie Tsai
Oct. 8, 2008 Gary Shteyngart & Marie-Elena John
Oct. 2, 2008 Walter Mosley (Paumanok Lecture)
Apr. 9, 2008 Pamela Sneed, Lara Stapleton & Margot Marie Nasti
Apr. 1, 2008 Ishle Yi Park
Mar. 24, 2008 Major Jackson & Kwame Dawes
Mar. 4, 2008 Gregory Pardlo & Jennifer Knox
Feb. 20, 2008 Sandra Maria Estevez & Cheryl Boyce Taylor
Feb. 4, 2008 Elizabeth Nunez

2007

Nov. 13, 2007 Monique Truong & Heidi W. Durrow
Nov. 6, 2007 Taha Muhammad Ali
Oct. 17, 2007 Jayne Cortez & Annecy Baez
Oct. 1, 2007 Edgardo Vega Yunqué & Janice Erlbaum
Apr. 17, 2007 John High, Cecelia Muhlstein & Jeremy Beauregard
Apr. 12, 2007 Paul Muldoon
Apr. 2, 2007 Nahid Rachlin, Kym Ragusa & Patrick Rosal
Feb. 12, 2007 David Mills
Feb. 5, 2007 Toure

2006

Nov. 16, 2006 Susan Choi
Oct. 30, 2006 Sapphire
Oct. 25, 2006 Gary Shteyngart & Nathalie Handal
Oct. 17, 2006 Linton Kwesi Johnson
Oct. 4, 2006 Marita Golden
Jun. 15, 2006 Patricia Smith, Cheryl Boyce Taylor & Tish Benson
May 25, 2006 Sapphire
Apr. 12, 2006 Joseph Bruchac
Apr. 6, 2006 Giannina Braschi
Apr. 5, 2006 Barbara Henning, Anele Rubin & Ashley Carter-Sinclair
Mar. 2, 2006 Ha Jin
Feb. 13, 2006 Meena Alexander & Patrick Rosal

2005

Nov. 17, 2005 Lara Vapnyar and Mia Yun
Nov. 9, 2005 Nathalie Handal, Luis Francia, and Sholeh Wolpe
Oct. 11, 2005 Sandra Maria Estevez
Oct. 10, 2005 Piri Thomas
Oct. 4, 2005 Bernice McFadden
Apr. 13, 2005 Angie Cruz & Sandra Maria Estevez
Apr. 6, 2005 Danny Hoey, Sarah Kolbasowski & Sherry Mason
Mar. 30, 2005 Caryl Phillips
Feb. 17, 2005 Ishle Yi Park
Feb. 9, 2005 Randall Kenan

2004

Nov. 10, 2004 Daniela Gioseffi & Paola Corso
Oct. 19, 2004 Tracy K. Smith & Tina Chang
Oct. 13, 2004 Dorothy Allison
Oct. 4, 2004 Tish Benson & Bonair Agard
Apr. 13, 2004 Jay Wright
Mar. 29, 2004 Jayne Cortez & Zohra Saed
Feb. 25, 2004 Touré
Feb. 12, 2004 Danzy Senna

2003

Nov. 12, 2003 E. Ethelbert Miller
Oct. 21, 2003 Open Mike & Tracie Morris
Oct. 15, 2003 Marjorie Agosin
Oct. 2, 2003 Louis Reyes Rivera & Kenji Jasper
Apr. 16, 2003 Merle Collins
Apr. 1, 2003 Christina Chin & Nahid Rachlin
Mar. 3, 2003 Meera Nair & Kenji Jasper
Feb. 25, 2003 Willie Perdomo
Feb. 10, 2003 Edwidge Danticat

2002

Nov. 6, 2002 Alexander Chee
Oct. 28, 2002
Cornelius Eady
Oct. 10, 2002
Judith Ortiz Cofer
Oct. 2, 2002
Carmen Boullosa & Mia Yun
Oct. 1, 2002
Cheryl Boyce Taylor
Apr. 17, 2002
Wayne Berninger, Andrea Libin & Mei-Luen Liu
Apr. 8, 2002
Jeffrey Renard Allen & Kelvin Christopher James
Mar. 28, 2002
Suheir Hammad & D. H. Melhem
Mar. 7, 2002
Angie Cruz & Nellie Rosario
Feb. 25, 2002
Cheryl Boyce Taylor
Feb. 13, 2002
Piri Thomas

2001

Nov. 19, 2001
 Carolyn Ferrell & Thomas Glave
Nov. 13, 2001
 Wanda Phipps
Nov. 5, 2001
 Ernesto Quinonez and Abraham Rodriguez
Oct. 18, 2001
 Ken Corsbie
Oct. 11, 2001
 Chang-rae Lee
Apr. 18, 2001
 John High, Lisa Jarnot, Earl Clark & Phaedra Moore
Apr. 9, 2001
 Nuruddin Farah
Apr. 4, 2001
 Elizabeth Nunez
Mar. 1, 2001
 Patricia Chao & Wanda Phipps
Feb. 22, 2001
 Wesley Brown

2000

Nov. 14, 2000
 Willie Perdomo
Nov. 13, 2000
 Colin Channer and Staceyann Chin
Nov. 1, 2000
Ernesto Mestre
Oct. 10, 2000
 Ernesto Quinonez
Oct. 3, 2000
 Victor LaValle & Cheryl Boyce Taylor
Apr. 12, 2000
 Jessica Hagedorn & Wang Ping
Apr. 5, 2000
 Jacqueline Woodson
Mar. 6, 2000
 Loida Maritza Perez & Willie Perdomo
Feb. 29, 2000
 Evangeline Blanco
Feb. 24, 2000
 Junot Diaz & Colin Channer
Feb. 10, 2000
 Maryse Conde

1999

Nov. 15, 1999
 Kimiko Hahn & Ameena Meer
Nov. 1, 1999
 Manchild in the Promised Land
Oct. 14, 1999
 Omar Tyree
Apr. 6, 1999
 Glenville Lovell
Apr. 5, 1999
 Women of the Calabash
Mar. 8, 1999
 Fae Myenne Ng
Feb. 23, 1999
 Amiri Baraka
Feb. 10, 1999
 Christina Garcia

1998

Nov. 10, 1998
Jayne Cortez & Andrea Louie
Oct. 29, 1998
Martin Espada
Oct. 5, 1998
Ntozake Shange, Edwidge Danticat, Sapphire & Abena Busia
Apr. 16, 1998
Jessica Care Moore
Apr. 7, 1998
Cenen & Jack Agueros
Mar. 19, 1998
Lloyd Brown
Mar. 9, 1998
Ishmael Reed
Feb. 4, 1998
Raouf Mama

1997

Nov. 18, 1997
Kwadwo Kamau & Junot Diaz
Oct. 20, 1997
James McBride
Sep. 25, 1997
Paule Marshall
Apr. 23, 1997
Miguel Algarin
Apr. 14, 1997
Cheryl Clarke
Apr. 8, 1997
Patricia Smith
Mar. 5, 1997
Fay Chiang & Julio Marzan
Feb. 3, 1997
Gloria Naylor

1996

Dec. 5, 1996
Cenen & Glenville Lovell
Nov. 6, 1996
Rosa Guy
Oct. 9, 1996
Yevgeny Yevtushenko
Apr. 22, 1996
David Lamb & Edwidge Danticat
Mar. 12, 1996
Kimiko Hahn
Feb. 7, 1996
Gwendolyn Brooks

1995

Dec. 6, 1995
Claude Brown
Nov. 9, 1995
Malika Lee Whitney
Oct. 11, 1995
Nicholasa Mohr
Apr. 27, 1995
Reg E. Gaines & Tracie Morris
Apr. 3, 1995
Jon Yasin & Friends
Mar. 6, 1995
Yelena Khanga
Feb. 15, 1995
Ntozake Shange

1994

Dec. 9, 1994
Jayne Cortez & Sapphire
Nov. 10, 1994
Edwidge Danticat & Sandra Maria Esteves
Oct. 11, 1994
Paul Keens-Douglas
Apr. 18, 1994
Grace Nichols
Mar. 21, 1994
Yelena Khanga
Feb. 23, 1994
The Jones Twins

1993

Dec. 10, 1993
Sapphire & Reg E. Gaines
Dec. 1, 1993
Amiri Baraka
Oct. 28, 1993
Abena Busia