Slam poet Staceyann Chin at the Baxter
Performances have been scheduled for 6pm from 6 to 10 July to accommodate the starting times of the World Cup matches, leaving ample time for audiences to catch all the football action. From 12 to 24 July they will commence at 8.15pm.
Thirty-seven-year-old Chin, a New York resident of Jamaican and Chinese descent, last performed in South Africa in April, 2010, at the Wits Arts and Literature (WALE) programme and before that at the 2009 Urban Voices Poetry Festival. She has performed in the country five times and in 2003 had a whirlwind tour to Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg.
Direct relationship with her fans
Her worldwide popularity is evident in her active and direct relationship with her fans and followers on her social networking platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, and other communication mediums including her own website. Through these mediums she welcomes dialogue and discussion as she shares her messages of social injustices where she talks about her own life experiences.
She is the recipient of the 2007 Power of the Voice Award from The Human Rights Campaign, the 2008 Safe Haven Award from Immigration Equality, the 2008 Honors from the Lesbian AIDS Project, and the 2009 New York State Senate Award. She identifies as Caribbean and black, Asian and lesbian, woman and resident of New York City.
Hypnotic prose
Her Border/Clash: Litany of Desires is a vivid recollection following her experiences of abandonment by her parents, the tough yet supportive love of her grandmother and her artistic and political awakening. It is an autobiographical account employing hypnotic prose to describe the ecstasy and tragedy of her life. She seamlessly moves between the joys of her first love to the violence of a homophobic assault. This is conveyed with humour, yet embodying fury, while personifying vulnerability and tenderness.
Ticket prices for Staceyann Chin in Border/Clash: A Litany of Desires range from R70 for the Baxter Monday special offer, which includes a light meal, to R130 at weekends.
Booking is through Computicket on +27 (0)83 915 8000, online at www.computicket.co.za or at any Computicket and Shoprite Checkers outlet countrywide. For discounted block, schools or corporate bookings, charities and fundraisers, contact Sharon on +27 (0)21 680 3962 or Carmen on +27 (0)21 680 3993, during office hours.