Phil Kaye

Last updated

Phil Kaye
OccupationWriter
Notable workA Light Bulb Symphony (2011)
Date & Time (2018)

Phil Kaye is a Japanese-American poet, writer and filmmaker. [1] [2] He is the co-director of Project VOICE, and writes and performs as a spoken word artist both in solo and group projects. Kaye is the author of two books, A Light Bulb Symphony (2011) and Date & Time (2018). [1]

Contents

Life

Phil Kaye was born in California to a Japanese mother and Jewish-American father. [3] [4] As a child, Kaye spoke almost exclusively Japanese in his home until age five, when he was sent to American kindergarten. [5] Kaye's family, along with his Japanese and Jewish heritage, are recurring themes in his later work. [6] [5]

Kaye began performing spoken word poetry at the age of seventeen. [7] [8] [9] Kaye first discovered spoken word poetry at seventeen years old while attending the Student Diversity Leadership Conference. [5] Kaye went on to attend college at Brown University, where he joined a poetry club and eventually made the National Poetry Slam Finals in 2011. [3]

At Brown University, Kaye met Sarah Kay and the two began performing duet poems together. [1] The two currently act as co-directors of Project VOICE, an organization that partners with schools to bring live poetry performances and workshops to the classroom.

In addition to his poetry, Kaye is a former teacher of weekly poetry workshops in maximum security prisons. He was named head coordinator of Space in Prisons for the Arts and Creative Expression (SPACE), an organization that provided free arts workshops to incarcerated populations. [10]

Kaye currently lives in New York City, working as a writer, performer and co-director of Project VOICE. [1]

Poetry

Phil Kaye writes and performs poetry for audiences around the world. [1] In 2015 Kaye opened for the Dalai Lama as a part of his 80th birthday celebration. [11] He has also performed on NPR and at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. [3] Since 2008, Kaye has performed and taught at hundreds of schools and venues in twenty different countries. [11] He has also written and performed poetry duets with partners including Sarah Kay. [12] [13] [6]

During his time at Brown University, Kaye both performed for and coached the Brown University National College Poetry Slam (CUPSI) Team. He twice received the National College Poetry Slam (CUPSI) award for “Pushing the Art Forward”, given for outstanding innovation in the art of performance poetry. At the time, he was the only person who had won the award as both a performer and coach. [3]

In summer of 2017, Kaye and Sarah Kay collaborated with Japanese brand Uniqlo to feature lines of their spoken word poetry on t-shirts in a clothing line called, “Poetry Beyond the Page.” It was the first collaboration between Uniqlo and poets. On Kaye and Kay’s request, a portion of the proceeds were donated to art education subsidies for low-resourced schools. [14]

In 2019, The New Yorker wrote a feature piece about Kaye and Sarah Kay's work together, titled Spoken Word Poetry's Dynamic Duo. The piece, chronicling the events of a sold-out show in New York City, highlighted their poetry work, tour schedule, and organization, Project VOICE. [1]

Books

Kaye released his first poetry collection A Light Bulb Symphony in 2011, which covered themes including his family life, ancestry, and stories from his grandfathers. [15] In 2018, [16] Kaye’s second book Date & Time was ranked on an Amazon bestseller list. [17] Date & Time received praise for its exploration of themes related to memory, family, and loneliness. [18] [19]

Film

In 2018, Kaye was a writer, producer and actor in Distance, an experimental series about a long distance relationship told from two distinct perspectives. [2] Distance was recommended by The New York Times , Time Out Magazine and Paste Magazine . [2] [20] [21] Distance was released online after an award-winning festival run including South by Southwest, New York Television Festival, and SeriesFest, where it received a Virgin-Produced Choice Award. [20] [22]

Kaye has worked with filmmaker Alex Dobrenko under the moniker “Thanks Laura”. The two have worked as co-creators, directors, writers, and actors. The team has produced a number of short films together, including satirical shorts “The Shake”, featured in The Huffington Post, “The Bad Boys of Food”, featured in Food 52 and The Huffington Post. [23] [24] [25]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Poetry slam</span> Competition arts event

A poetry slam is a competitive art event in which poets perform spoken word poetry before a live audience and a panel of judges. While formats can vary, slams are often loud and lively, with audience participation, cheering and dramatic delivery. Hip-hop music and urban culture are strong influences, and backgrounds of participants tend to be diverse.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Performance poetry</span> Poetry composed for live performance

Performance poetry is a broad term, encompassing a variety of styles and genres. In brief, it is poetry that is specifically composed for or during a performance before an audience. During the 1980s, the term came into popular usage to describe poetry written or composed for performance rather than print distribution, mostly open to improvisation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spoken word</span> Type of performance art

Spoken word refers to an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem as well as the performer's aesthetic qualities. It is a late 20th century continuation of an ancient oral artistic tradition that focuses on the aesthetics of recitation and word play, such as the performer's live intonation and voice inflection. Spoken word is a "catchall" term that includes any kind of poetry recited aloud, including poetry readings, poetry slams, jazz poetry, and hip hop music, and can include comedy routines and prose monologues. Unlike written poetry, the poetic text takes its quality less from the visual aesthetics on a page, but depends more on phonaesthetics, or the aesthetics of sound.

Edwin Torres is a Nuyorican performance poet. His work incorporates vocal and physical improvisation. He is the author of Ameriscopia, One Night: Poems for the Sleepy, Yes Thing No Thing, and several other poetic books. He also has produced recordings titled Oceano Rise, Novo, and Holy Kid. He is a member of the L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E school.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bob Holman</span> American poet and poetry activist

Bob Holman is an American poet and poetry activist, most closely identified with the oral tradition, the spoken word, and poetry slam. As a promoter of poetry in many media, Holman has spent the last four decades working variously as an author, editor, publisher, performer, emcee of live events, director of theatrical productions, producer of films and television programs, record label executive, university professor, and archivist. He was described by Henry Louis Gates Jr. in The New Yorker as "the postmodern promoter who has done more to bring poetry to cafes and bars than anyone since Ferlinghetti."

Gary Mex Glazner, is a poet and author. He was the Managing Director of the Bowery Poetry Club in New York City, 2007 to 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caroline Bergvall</span> French-Norwegian poet (born 1962)

Caroline Bergvall is a French-Norwegian poet who has lived in England since 1989. Her work includes the adaption of Old English and Old Norse texts into audio text and sound art performances.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Regie Cabico</span> Filipino-American poet and spoken word artist

Regie Cabico is a Filipino American poet and spoken word artist. He has been featured on two seasons of Def Poetry Jam on HBO and has been called the Lady Gaga of spoken word. He is an "out and proud" gay man.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sarah Kay (poet)</span> American poet

Sarah Kay is an American poet. Known for her spoken word poetry, Kay is the founder and co-director of Project V.O.I.C.E., a group dedicated to using spoken word as an educational and inspirational tool.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Watsky</span> American rapper, singer and poet from California

George Virden Watsky, known mononymously as Watsky, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, poet, author, and illustrator.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Janet Hamill</span> American poet

Janet Hamill is an American poet and spoken word artist. Her poem "K-E-R-O-U-A-C" was nominated for a Pushcart Prize, and her fifth collection, titled Body of Water, was nominated for the William Carlos Williams Award by the Poetry Society of America. Her first collection of short fiction, titled Tales from the Eternal Cafe, was named one of the "Best Books of 2014" by Publishers Weekly.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marc Bamuthi Joseph</span> American dramatist

Marc Bamuthi Joseph is a spoken-word poet, dancer, playwright, and actor who frequently directs stand-alone hip-hop theater plays.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aja Monet</span> American poet

Aja Monet is an American contemporary poet, writer, lyricist and activist from Brooklyn, New York.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Davidson Garrett</span> American poet

Davidson Garrett, also known as King Lear of the Taxi, is an American poet and actor living in New York City, New York. He drove a New York City yellow taxi cab from 1978 until 2018 to supplement his acting and writing career. Garrett has authored six books of poetry, and has been published in many literary journals and magazines.

Kay Ulanday Barrett is a published poet, performer, educator, food writer, cultural strategist, and transgender, gender non-conforming, and disability advocate based in New York and New Jersey, whose work has been showcased nationally and internationally. Their second book, More Than Organs received a 2021 Stonewall Honor Book Award by the American Library Association and is a 2021 Lambda Literary Award for Transgender Literature Finalist. They are a 2020 James Baldwin Fellowship recipient, three-time Pushcart Prize Nominee, and two-time Best of the Net Nominee. Barrett's writing and performance centers on the experience of queer, transgender, people of color, mixed race people, Asian, and Filipino/a/x community. The focus of their artistic work navigates multiple systems of oppression in the context of the U.S.

Rudy K. Francisco is an American spoken word poet and author. He has won several Poetry Slams and written six books of poetry: Getting Stitches, Scratch, No Gravity, No Gravity Part II, Helium, and I'll Fly Away. He made an appearance on TV One's Verses and Flow and performed his spoken-word poem "Complainers" as well as "Rifle" on the Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amanda Gorman</span> American poet and activist (born 1998)

Amanda S. C. Gorman is an American poet and activist. Her work focuses on issues of oppression, feminism, race, and marginalization, as well as the African diaspora. Gorman was the first person to be named National Youth Poet Laureate. She published the poetry book The One for Whom Food Is Not Enough in 2015. In 2021, she delivered her poem "The Hill We Climb" at the inauguration of U.S. President Joe Biden.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Button Poetry</span>

Button Poetry is a Minneapolis-based poetry company and independent publisher of performance poetry. They are known for their viral videos of slam poetry performances, including a performance of "OCD" by Neil Hilborn that the Knight Foundation called "the most-viewed slam performance in history."

Elliot Darrow is an American spoken word poet.

Deborah Emmanuel, known by her performance name ArunDitha, is a slam poet and multi-disciplinary artist from Singapore.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Moses, Michele. "Spoken-Word Poetry's Dynamic Duo". The New Yorker. Retrieved March 30, 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 "Distance | Things to do in New York". Time Out New York. Retrieved March 30, 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Staff Reports. "Internationally known poet works with Colquitt County students". Moultrie Observer.
  4. ↑ JTA (September 3, 2019). "10 Authors Who Capture What It's Like to Grow Up in an Interfaith Family". Haaretz. Retrieved March 30, 2020.
  5. 1 2 3 "Behind the Page: Meet New York City Poet Phil Kaye". Welcome to YLWRNGR. March 15, 2019. Retrieved March 30, 2020.
  6. 1 2 "How to Hold a Room in Silence | Magazine | The Harvard Crimson". www.thecrimson.com. Retrieved March 30, 2020.
  7. ↑ "Poets bring love of spoken word to Vassar – The Miscellany News".
  8. ↑ "The Poem is Political: Sarah Kay on performance poetry". The Indian Express. September 30, 2018.
  9. ↑ "Talking the Art of Spoken Word Poetry with Sarah Kay and Phil Kaye". Jakarta Globe. January 19, 2016.
  10. ↑ "Award-winning poet Phil Kaye performs 092518". stunewslaguna.com.
  11. 1 2 "American poets Sarah Kay and Phil Kaye enthral the Capital". kathmandupost.ekantipur.com.
  12. ↑ "Sarah Kay and Phil Kaye: Falling in love with poetry". cebudailynews.inquirer.net. May 15, 2017.
  13. ↑ Lear, Len (February 23, 2018). "Pioneering educators to perform at Woodmere this week". Chestnut Hill Local Philadelphia PA.
  14. ↑ "Uniqlo releases new line of shirts with Sarah Kay and Phil Kaye's poetry". Rappler. July 19, 2017.
  15. ↑ "The poets who rocked Manila". Inquirer Lifestyle. March 5, 2015.
  16. ↑ "You'll Time Travel While Reading Phil Kaye's 'Date & Time'". November 2, 2018.
  17. ↑ [ dead link ]
  18. ↑ Gretlein, Claire. "Date & Time Poetry Review". The Titan. Retrieved March 30, 2020.
  19. ↑ "Date & Time by Phil Kaye". Button Poetry. Retrieved March 30, 2020.
  20. 1 2 Cohn, Gabe (June 4, 2018). "What's on TV Monday: 'Dietland' and 'Five Points'". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved March 30, 2020.
  21. ↑ "Alex Dobrenko's Distance Shows That Sometimes the Internet Can Still Produce Magic". pastemagazine.com. April 26, 2018. Retrieved March 30, 2020.
  22. ↑ "Phil Kaye, Poet, filmmaker and co-director of "Project Voice."". Brief but Spectacular. October 18, 2018.
  23. ↑ Andy McDonald (September 27, 2017). "This Is The Perfect Depiction Of A Fist Bump Handshake Gone Horribly Wrong". HuffPost. Retrieved March 30, 2020.
  24. ↑ "The Hilarious Mockumentary Taking Down Health Food Crazes". Food52. August 1, 2017. Retrieved March 30, 2020.
  25. ↑ Andy McDonald (July 30, 2017). "Mockumentary Shows The Guys Responsible For Every Awful Health Food Craze". HuffPost. Retrieved March 30, 2020.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.