FEATURED ARTIST IN STUDIO:  AKEMI featuring members of the SUN RA ARKESTRA

Akemi was born in Japan, and starting at age 3, she studied piano and practiced Origami.  At age 17, she traveled to Australia and started to teach Origami in school. She later traveled to Thailand, then moved to Paris, studied cinema, and worked as a photographer for the African French culture magazine CLAM.  In 1999, she exhibited works at designer Jean-Paul Gautier's fashion show.  Having traveled throughout Europe, Greece and West Africa, Akemi worked as graphic designer in Tokyo and won a prize in the 2000 CANON digital creator's contest.  She has performed at the Improvisation Jazz Festival in the Manhattan Hotel on 34th Street, the jazz club Idrium on Broadway, and the West Oak Lane Jazz Festival.   She has taught Origami workshops at the Crooked Mile Bookstore, Germantown Presbyterian Church, and the historic Ebenezer Maxwell House.  She is currently teaching children at the Montesorri School, Shula School, First Church of Germantown summer camp, and Canaan Baptist Church.  Akemi is in the process of making an experimental art film entitled Blue Wonder in collaboration with photographer John Schenk.  Starting April 3rd, her work will be showing at the Painted Bride Arts Center’s Synesthesia Art Festival.

LIVE IN STUDIO:  THE POETIC SUPER-GROUP, THE BUMz:

Straight Outta Community College of Philly & Coming to a Universe Near U!: Poets ALISHA DANTZLER, LINDO JONES, STEVE MEGGA, MICHELLE MYERS & SAPPHO.  

FEATURE POET LIVE IN STUDIO:  LIZ WALKER on UMÜVME

Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, LIZ WALKER'S love for poetry grew out of early neighborhood and city influences. The emergence of hip hop made city street scenes of break dancing, graffiti and beat box an integral part of her identity and heritage.  Majoring in Anthropology and African Diaspora Studies at Bard College, Liz developed a love for researching the history, culture and influence of African people in America, especially in urban spaces.  At the age of 21, Liz moved to Philadelphia to teach elementary school youth.  After teaching,  Liz began directing youth and creative art programs at a small community center and former settlement home in North Philadelphia.  Promoting art for social change, she began collaborating with local artists such as Joshua Mays, Robert Matunda, Misty Sol, Soul One and Sagamoore to establish a monthly community arts venue, The Creative Difference.  Liz's poetic works include a selection of self-published poems, Incarnations of Isis.  Her literary influences include Toni Morrison, Khalil Gibran, Pablo Neruda, Alice Walker, Sonia Sanchez, Langston Hughes, Sherman Alexie, Audre Lorde and more.

2 FEATURE POETS LIVE IN STUDIO: 

ADAM "NAKED" MEORA is the director of the Poetic Arts Performance Project, an organization that produces events at multiple venues, teaches classes, conducts outreach & performs in Philly. He has been performing/reading poetry for sixteen years.  He has performed in venues throughout Philadelphia.  He is a teacher, DJ & avid TV watcher.  He is now venturing into the world of comedy & has begun to write hysterical jokes that will make you forget his outstanding poetry & allow him to make a shitload of money that he will donate to all of his broke poet friends. 

A sophomore English and African American Studies major at Wesleyan University, DAVY PRESTON KNITTLE has recently been published in The Mad Poets Review, Natural Bridge, Schuylkill Valley Journal of the Arts and The Claremont Review.  Davy writes primariiy about the process of acquainting one's self with subways, bridges, dogs, people, bicycles, neighborhoods and adaptations to changes in landscape, scale and temperature.

1) call-in during the show to rap with our guest or spit live on the open mic: (215) 609-4301

2) submit 1-2 original poetry trax via email for airplay:  This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it

3) submit a bio, photo + 2-3 poems/trax via email for a live feature spot

4) check out our archived poet interviews & readings at http://umuvme.mypodcast.com

upcoming featured poets:  mar. 10: adam meora & davy knittle / mar. 17: elizabeth walker / apr. 7: stefanie renee / apr. 14: yellow rage / apr. 21: tamesha hawkins

featured poet LIVE in studio:  PAT MCLEAN-RaSHINE teaches adult & teen poetry writing workshops at Temple's Pan-African Studies Community Education Program & various Philadelphia-area women's & children's transitional homes / she is the recipient of several awards, including first place for the Sonia Sanchez/Audre Lorde Poetry Competition & second place in the Judith Stark Creative Writing Competition at Community College of Philadelphia, & most recently, the 2006 Leeway Transformation Award & the Leeway 2005 Art & Change Award / Pat has had the pleasure of performing with some of Philly's finest jazz artists such as Gerald Veasley & The Electric Mingus Project, The Arpeggio Jazz Ensemble & the Sam Reed Quartet / she is the author of two poetry volumes, Ain't Gonna Bite My Tongue No More & A Sister Speaks of..., as well as Healing Her Hurts, a collection of short stories / Pat is the founder of Tomorrow's Girls, a summer enrichment program for girls ages 7 to 12 / for more info about Pat & her work, check out www.patmclean.com.

umüvme's feature poet: a native of germantown, ELAN GEPNER, filmmaker, poet/performer, has spent the past years directing the non-profit building blocks project/with the mission of empowering youth & transcending our divides through the creative arts, elan focuses his work with the germantown poetry festival & germantown community theater project, as well as on developing classes, performances, & films with philadelphia public schools & prisons/he's delighted to share poetry on the daily with yolanda & mark, & the people of germantown, because they move him/u missed it? check out the podcast.

new!  check out the umüvme archives at http://umuvme.mypodcast.com.

interviews/readings by poets b davis, theodore a. harris, denice frohman & gabrielle b.c./plum dragoness...

umüvme's feature poet LIVE in studio:  from an early age, PLUM DRAGONESS a.k.a. GABRIELLE B.C. has had a profound interest in the performing arts, involving her in cross-cultural ventures that bridge the gaps between traditional dance, theater & present day urban expressions of life / her background in costume production, dance, voice, film acting, poetry as performance & martial/internal arts techniques make a significant contribution to her creation of innovative performance art...