The final two days of the 41st annual UND Writers Conference will feature events today with Frank X. Walker, Saul Williams and Stuart Moulthrop, and a closing performance Saturday by Zeitgeist, a new music chamber ensemble.
All of today's events will be at UND Memorial Union or Chester Fritz Auditorium. Saturday's events will be at the Union with Zeitgeist performing at UND Hughes Fine Arts Center. Admission to all events is free.
Walker wrote four poetry collections, including "When Winter Come: the Ascension of York" and "Buffalo Dance: the Journey of York," in which he explores the story of Lewis and Clark through the eyes of York, the slave who accompanied the men on the long journey west. Walker is Writer in Residence and lecturer of English at Northern Kentucky University.
Williams, a former Grand Slam Champion, explores social consciousness through his raw and expressive poetry. He's had success in books, film, television, and music. He co-wrote and starred in "Slam," a Sundance Film Festival and Camera d'Or Cannes Film Festival winner. He has also been on HBO's "Def Poetry Jam," is a recurring character on UPN's "Girlfriends," and has three albums and four collections of poems.
Moulthrop is an award-winning artist, writer, and scholar of digital culture who is a professor of information arts and technologies at University of Baltimore, where he teaches simulation and digital entertainment. His well-regarded electronic literary works began with the hypertext fiction "Victory Garden" in 1991, and include "Pax" and "Reagan Library."
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Zeitgeist, St. Paul, has been called a "once-in-a-lifetime experience for adventurous concertgoers." Always eager to explore artistic frontiers, the four-member new music chamber ensemble collaborates with poets, choreographers, directors, visual artists and sound artists to create work that challenges the boundaries of traditional chamber music, a news release said.
Its members are Heather Barringer, percussion; Patti Cudd, percussion; Pat O'Keefe, woodwinds; and Shannon Wettstein, piano. Over three decades, Zeitgeist has commissioned more than 150 works and collaborated with emerging composers and some of the finest established composers, including Frederic Rzewski, Terry Riley, John Cage, Pauline Oliveros, Paul Dresher, Mark Applebaum, Scott Lindroth, Pamela Madsen, Edie Hill, Libby Larsen, Arthur Kreiger and Jin Hi Kim.
Zeitgeist is working on its seventh CD, "Night Singing," featuring works by Andrew Rindfleisch, Anthony Gatto, Katherine Jackanich, and Jerome Kitzke.
Here's a schedule for the final two days of the Writers Conference.
Today
- 10 a.m.: Public readings, Union River Valley Room.
- Noon: Panel, "From Page to Stage," Frank X. Walker, Saul Williams; Union Ballroom. Moderator: Brett Ommen.
- 2 p.m.: Film, "Coal Black Voices," 2001; Union Lecture Bowl. Selected by Frank X. Walker.
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- 4 p.m.: Reading: Stuart Moulthrop, Union Ballroom.
- 6 p.m.: Film, "The Holy Mountain," 1973; Union Lecture Bowl. Selected by Saul Willliams.
- 8 p.m.: Multicultural Awareness Committee performance: Saul Williams, UND Chester Fritz Auditorium.
- 10 p.m.: Nightlife: Kanser with More than Lights, Union Loading Dock.
Saturday
- Noon: Community workshops, Union.
- 8 p.m.: Performance, "Shape Shifting: Shades of Transformation," by Zeitgeist, Josephine Campbell Recital Hall, UND Hughes Fine Arts Center.
