Southern Illinois University Edwardsville/Eugene B. Redmond Writers Club/East St. Louis Higher Education Center: 618 650-3991; eredmon@siue.edu

TO: All Media; Art, Dance, English & Music Departments; Poets & Writers

November 17, “2009”: “Break Word” with EBR Writers Club & Friends . . .

East Saint Louis, IL—“2009: Reflections & Projections in Poetry, Dance, Jazz, and Visuals”—a feature of the Eugene B. Redmond Writers Club’s annual “Break Word with the World” program—will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 17 at 6:00 p.m. in Bldg. D of the SIUE/East St. Louis Higher Education Center, 601 J.R. Thompson Drive. The public is invited to this free event.

Featured Poets/Performers will include members of the Soular Systems Ensemble— Roscoe Crenshaw, Susan Lively, Charlois Lumpkin, Darlene Roy, and Eugene B. Redmond—along with these rich voices: Michael Castro, K. Curtis Lyle, Patricia Merritt, Jeffrey Skoblow, Lena J. Weathers, and Treasure Williams. “2009” will also feature an open mic segment.

The “2009 Experience in Dance,” offered by SIUE/ESL’s Center for the Performing Arts (directed by Theo Jamison), will also be presented, along with “Michael’s Magic, Miles’ Smiles, Motown’s 50th, Michelle’s Show-&-Tell & Other 2009 ‘Milestones,’” a mixed media exhibit of “festivals & funerals.”

Curated by Alfred Henderson II, an SIUE graduate student and special assistant to Eugene B. Redmond, the exhibit will feature photos, posters, newspapers, magazines, art work, book and (LP) album covers, t-shirts, and other memorabilia from the EBR Collection.

Rounding out “2009,” will be “Jazz to the 2009th Degree,” an eclectic repertory from the East St. Louis Senior High School Concert Band, directed by Delano Redmond.

The Eugene B. Redmond Writers Club, founded in 1986 and named for East St. Louis’ Poet Laureate, is enjoying its 23rd year. All writers are welcome to meetings, held at the SIUE/ESL Center on the first and third Tuesday, September through May. Club Trustees include Maya Angelou, Amiri Baraka, Avery Brooks, Walter Mosley, Quincy Troupe, Jerry Ward Jr., and Dr. Lena J. Weathers. Darlene Roy is president.

Besides the Club, other sponsors of “2009” include “Drumvoices Revue,” SIUE, Black River Writers Press, and the East St. Louis Cultural Revival Campaign Committee.

For more information about the Writers Club or area cultural-literary activities, call 618 650-3991 or write the group at P.O. Box 6165, East St. Louis, Illinois 62201; eredmon@siue.edu.