The Prose Bowl: A Night Of Spoken Word with Get Lit
- The Crawford, 474 S. Raymond Ave., Pasadena
It’s a celebration of L.A. poetry at LAist with Get Lit - Words Ignite! Get Lit youth poets, standout local artists, and a nationally-renowned featured poet will get together for a night of spoken word performance hosted by Get Lit’s Mason Granger (he/him). Come early to enjoy snacks, sips, a DJ set from Mike Merchant, and tons of cool people to connect with in the name of poetry. Drinks, music, and bites from Shappy Pretzel start at 6 p.m. and the show kicks off at 7 p.m.
Featured poet will be Phil Kaye (he/him).
GET LIT YOUTH POETS
- Austin Antoine
- Aman K. Batra
- Darian Dauchan
- Max Moriwaki*
- Tatyana Orlando
- Christian Perfas
- Leroya Sanford
- Brandon Santiago
- Ashley Tahay*
This program may contain some mature language or themes.
ABOUT MASON GRANGER
Mason Granger is the Deputy Director at Get Lit. Originally from Philadelphia by way of Willingboro, NJ, Mason is a poet with 19+ years of professional experience on stage & in classrooms across 49 states and six countries as part of the performance poetry trio, The Mayhem Poets. In 2014, he created SlamFind, a digital platform to connect fans of poetry videos with the poets & live poetry venues where these videos are born. Connecting the poetry community to itself and the rest of the world continues to be the foundation of his work to this day.
Between 2016-2018, Mason was the official videographer for Poetry Slam Inc., producing several iconic poetry videos that continue to garner millions of views across multiple platforms. In the spirit of his mission of always keeping the ‘live’ in ‘live poetry’, he also hosted the weekly PoetNY open mic at Bowery Poetry Club in NYC from 2017-2019 while also serving as Executive Director of Bowery Arts & Science through 2019.
Now as a Los Angeles resident in his fourth year with Get Lit, Mason continues to pursue creative projects while helping to shape the future of spoken word poetry education in the state of California and beyond.
ABOUT PHIL KAYE
Phil Kaye is a Japanese-American artist. His work has been featured in settings ranging from The New Yorker to the New York Museum of Modern Art, and viewed millions of times online. He has performed his original poetry in twenty countries and was invited to open for His Holiness The Dalai Lama for the celebration of his 80th birthday. He is the co-director of Project VOICE, an organization that partners with schools to bring poetry to the classroom. Phil is a National Poetry Slam finalist, and the two-time recipient of the National College Poetry Slam (CUPSI) award for “Pushing the Art Forward”, given for outstanding innovation in the art of live poetry. A former teacher of weekly poetry workshops in maximum security prisons, Phil was the head coordinator of Space in Prisons for the Arts and Creative Expression (SPACE). His book, Date & Time, was published in 2018 by Button Poetry.
ABOUT THE POETS
Austin Antoine is a multifaceted performance artist that blends the lines between music, poetry, and theatrics. All of his passions effortlessly mix with abilities that span from singing soulful solos to conquering an opposing rapper in a contest of improvised wit. After graduating California Institute of the Arts in the Bachelor of Fine Arts program for theater, Austin has sustained artistic success through touring performances, musical collaborations, and hosting creative workshops. His work can be seen with Sofar Sounds, Guinness Book of World Records, Buzzfeed, TeamBackPack, Joomanji, and TheyGotTime. He is also featured in the upcoming 2020 film “Summertime”, directed by Carlos López Estrada.
Christian Perfas is a spoken word and teaching artist born and raised in Red Hook, NY and currently based in the Greater Los Angeles Area. Going by the moniker "Soul Stuf" within the poetry community, Christian has been writing and performing poetry for over 7 years, honing his skills through institutions such as Palms Up Academy, Spoken Literature Art Movement, and The Community Literature Initiative. Christian has taught students of all ages and backgrounds through organizations such as Creative Acts, Young Storytellers, and The Story Pirates (and now, Get Lit - Words Ignite!) and has performed nationally on multiple book tours. Lastly, Christian is also a decorated performing artist: a former "Top 25 Poet of The World" at the Individual World Poetry Slam of 2018 and a two-time Write Club Story Slam Champion of Los Angeles.
Darian Dauchan is an award winning actor, writer, poet, and musician who has appeared on both Broadway(Twentieth Century starring Alec Baldwin and Anne Heche) and Off Broadway theater(Jean Cocteau Rep., Classical Theatre of Harlem). TV and Film credits include Law and Order, Nickelodeon's Bet the House as Darian the "SoundFX" Guy, and the Lionsgate feature film Things Never Said. Darian is most known for The Brobot Johnson Project, an Afrofuturism, Sci Fi Hip Hop transmedia piece which won for Outstanding Comedy Series at the LA Web Festival. The show The Brobot Johnson Experience is a critically acclaimed Ben Brantley New York Times Critics' Pick. Most recently Darian was nominated for a Drama League award for Darian's piece Brobot PSA in the AFO Solo Short series and is a New Music USA grantee. Newly released singles Ohm and Dead can be found on Spotify and other streaming platforms.
Aman K. Batra is a nationally touring, Punjabi-American poet from Artesia, CA. She graduated from UCLA with a BA in Creative Writing, and is currently obtaining her MFA in poetry at Antioch University. She is a TEDx speaker, a National Poetry Slam finalist, and a member of the 2016 and 2017 Hollywood Slam Team. Aman’s poetry is heavily tied to her work as an educator, activist, and intersectional feminist. Her work has been featured on All Def Poetry, Button Poetry, Vibe, BeSe, and The Huffington Post. She has been published in The Los Angeles Press, LA County Arts Commission, and Fight Evil With Poetry Anthology.
*Get Lit Players
The Get Lit Players (GLPs) are our award-winning performance troupe of youth poets. They’ve performed at the United Nations, Hollywood Bowl, Lincoln Center and White House — to name a few! Every year they perform live for over 50,000 of their peers, and their videos have been watched online over 300 million times. Each of our Get Lit Players will spend the next year honing their skills and enjoying exciting and unique workshops, paid performance and networking opportunities, and a lifetime of support from Get Lit’s community.
ABOUT GET LIT
Los Angeles-based nonprofit GET LIT ignites student engagement, literacy, and young voices around the globe using the power of spoken word, technology, and community.
ACCOMMODATIONS
LAist is committed to providing access and accommodation for individuals with disabilities at our events. To request accommodations, please email events@laist.com or call us at (626) 585-5222 at least 7 days in advance of the event.