The Twin Poets and William Upski Wimsatt

Tuesday, October 12, 7pm – Poetry & Prose
Moonstone Poetry Series Presents
The Twin Poets and William Upski Wimatt

The Twin Poets are tutors, mentors, big brothers, community activist, leaders, scholars, summa cum laude grads, allies, soldiers, father-figures, artist, teachers, camp directors, counselors, historians, social workers, brothers, friends, fathers, sons, – all of theses titles can be summed to one: The Twin Poets.

Truly their work reflects their lives. Not many who have witnessed a performance or read a poem by the Twin Poets (Al & Nnamdi) would deny that they have seen or felt the power. Their compassion and commitment for their words is only outdone by their work in the community. For the past decade and a half these two wordsmiths have been warriors on the front line for our community, placing the needs of the community before their own. Founders of GOALS-Getting Organized Always Leads to Success-a tutoring and mentoring program run out of their home in North Wilmington. They have won many awards for their work including State Mentors of the Year, State of DE- Department of Youth & Families –Village Award, The Mayors Award for Service to Children, Bank of America- Local Heroes Award, Citizens of the Year – Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Outstanding Young Wilmingtonian Award for community service and the Christi Award for Community Service through the Arts. Inspired at an early age to write and express themselves, Al & Nnamdi have become two of the most respected poets on the reemerging poetry scene. Performances with such poetic legends as The Last Poets, Amiri Baraka, Sonia Sanchez, Lamont Steptoe, Walter Mosley, Haki Madhubuti and Chinua Achebe have paved the way to repeated captivating performances at NY’s Nuyorican, PA’s Painted Bride, and DE’s Grand Opera House; college/university/school tours from Ivy Leagues to local preschools, orphanages and area group homes. The depth of their messages has allowed them to be included in the prison poetry programs in DE, PA and NY.  The Twin Poets lead young writers programs in DE, NJ, MD and PA. They are currently Artist in Residence at The Ferris School-DE, Delaware Futures and the Art Sanctuary-PA. The Twin Poets were featured on HBO’s Def Poetry, BET’s Lyric Café, the Kings of Poetry and NPR’s Poetic License. They have toured nationally and internationally most recently with the Poetically Incorrect Tour.

The Twin Poets are the subject of the Hearts and Minds Films Documentary: Why I Write which chronicles their artistic and social work on the frontlines to save children and empower communities.

The Twin Poets have released the following written works: SELECTED POEMS-Rebirth(96), LYRICAL LIBATIONS- Rebirth(01), and their  latest collection entitled: OUR WORK, OUR WORDS… Taking the guns from our sons’ hands- iUniverse (08); their recorded works include the following CDs: From Lips, To Ears, To Action… Nazzband (99), One Nite in New Jerusalem – (Live 01), Twin Poets Live at Warmdaddies (03), A Protest of Two Brothers (05) and a benefit CD for artist and families in NOLA after Katrina entitled: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow… (06).

Professionally, the brothers are master social workers and leaders within the non-profit sector; Nnamdi is the Associate Executive Director at Kingswood Community Center and Al is the Program Director for Project Stay Free (a community based juvenile probation/ re-entry program).

William Upski Wimsatt author of Please Don’t Bomb the Suburbs ($14.95 Akashic Books)

In Please Don’t Bomb the Suburbs, Wimsatt weaves a first-person tour of America’s cultural and political movements from 1985-2010. It’s a story about love, growing up, a generation coming of age, and a vision for the movement young people will create in the new decade. With humor, storytelling, and historical insight, Wimsatt lays out a provocative vision for the next twenty-five years of personal and historical transformation. Never heard of Billy Wimsatt before? Your life just got better. William Upski Wimsatt is the author of Bomb the Suburbs and No More Prisons (more than 90,000 combined sales). A maverick graffiti artist, journalist, political and philanthropic organizer, Wimsatt has appeared in hundreds of publications and is a popular speaker at colleges and conferences. He founded the League of Young Voters, worked for Barack Obama in Ohio, and co-organized the first ever briefing of social justice artists with the White House. He was honored as a “Visionary” by Utne Reader, and included in The Source’s “Power 30” list. He lives in Brooklyn, New York. As a potty-mouth graffiti writer from the Southside of Chicago, William “Upski” Wimsatt electrified the literary and hip-hop world with two of the most successful underground classic books in a generation, Bomb the Suburbs (1994) and No More Prisons (1999), which combined sold more than 90,000 copies.

“Spiritual heir to Norman Mailer.” Atlantic Monthly – “Wimsatt’s charisma stems from his courage.”

Cornel West  – “Bomb the Suburbs and No More Prisons are cult classics deftly reflecting the hip-hop generation’s maturation.”

Miami New Times – “A refreshing voice for Generation X.” Library Journal