For Immediate Release Contact: City Art Director Joel Long: joeltlong@yahoo.com Jean Howard and Jesse Parent will perform from their writings Salt Lake Public Library Main Branch 210 East 400 South Salt Lake City UT 84111 Wednesday September 26th 7:00—9:00 P.M. Poets Jesse Parent and Jean Howard will perform from their works for the City Art Reading Series on September 26th at 7:00 P.M. at the Salt Lake City Library’s Main Branch. After living in Chicago for 22 years, performance poet, Jean Howard, returned to her hometown, Salt Lake City, Utah in 1999. Her poetry has appeared in Harper's Magazine, The Burning World, Spoon River Review, Chicago Tribune, Spoken Work Revolution, and over one hundred other literary publications. A participant in the original development of the internationally acclaimed "Poetry Slam”, she was awarded two grants for the publication of her book, Dancing In Your Mother's Skin (Tia Chucha Press), a collaborative work with photographer, Alice Hargrave. Howard has performed her poetry at hundreds of venues nationwide, with such diversity as Chicago’s Big Goddess Powwow, the Guggenheim’s “Art of the Motorcycle Exhibit” at the Field Museum, Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art, The Harold Washington Cultural Center, the Salt Lake Arts Festival, Utah Humanities Book Festival, as well as churches, coffee shops, mortuaries, art galleries, pet shops, festivals, biker bars and of course the infamous Green Mill where the “Slam” began. Currently, Jean serves on the Board of Brolly Arts and the Advisory Board of Utah Arts Alliance. She organized the annual National Poetry Video Festival in Chicago for eight years, with her own award-winning video poems airing on PBS, cable TV, and festivals around the nation. Jesse Parent is a poet, an improviser, a former mixed martial arts fighter, a computer nerd, a husband, a father, and, above all, a human being. According to the results of the 2010 and 2011 Individual World Poetry Slams, he is also the 2nd ranked slam poet in the world. Jesse entered the world of performance poetry in December 2006 after touring for a few years with the poetry/music/improv show he created called The Hook. He has been on the Salt City Slam poetry teams from 2007-2012 (which included an 8th place finish at the 2011 National Poetry Slam), was the coach of the 2007, 2008 and 2010 Salt City Slam teams, was the Salt Lake City grand champion in 2008, 2010, and 2011, and is the current slammaster of Salt City Slam. He is honored to serve on the executive council for Poetry Slam, Inc., the national body behind the National Poetry Slam, Individual World Poetry Slam, and Women of the World Poetry Slam. In his professional life, Jesse is a software engineering manager at a company that provides products and services that help the deaf and hearing to communicate. In his other art life, Jesse performs with Laughing Stock Improv at the Off Broadway Theatre on Main St. in Salt Lake City . In his personal life, he has a very tolerant wife and three adorable kids. The event is free and open to the public. City Art is sponsored by the Utah Arts Council, the Salt Lake City Arts Council, Zoo, Arts, and Parks, X-mission, and audience donations. The featured reading will be followed by an open reading. Schedule September 12 We will not hold a reading: Amy Gerstler and Shira Dentz will read at Westminster College for the Anne Newman-Sutton Weeks Series. 19 Christopher Leibo Harmony Button 26 Jesse Parent Jean Howard October 3 Michael Gills 10 Miles Fuller Linda Aldrich 17 Jacqueline Osherow Peter Covino 24 Cathy Wagner Paisley Rekdal November 7 Shaun Griffin Lance Larsen, Utah’s Poet Laureate 21 Michael Hansen Tim Erickson December 5 Sian Griffiths Melanie Rae Thon 12 19 Holiday Open January 9 Hector Ahumada The event is free and open to the public. City Art is sponsored by the Utah Arts Council, the Salt Lake City Arts Council, Zoo, Arts, and Parks, X-Mission, and audience donations. The featured reading will be followed by an open reading. Joel Long