Madison High School to Host NYC Performance Poet

Poet and author Taylor Mali will perform during a visit to  on  Monday, Jan 10.

Mali is the author of two books of poetry, "The Last Time As We Are" and "What Learning Leaves" as well as four CDs of spoken word. He received a New York Foundation for the Arts Grant in 2001 to develop "Teacher! Teacher!," a one-man show about poetry, teaching, and math which won the jury prize for best solo performance at the 2001 Comedy Arts Festival.

Mali, who now makes his living entirely as a spoken-word and voiceover artist, will present a performance of his poetry in the school's auditorium and will then share an informal lunch with members of Glyphs, the school's literary magazine, before engaging in writing workshops for the remainder of the school day. Mali will then lead a workshop for teachers from 3 to 4 p.m. in the school library.

Mali's appearance was made possible by the Madison High School Educational Foundation.

"Visits by 'celebrity' authors and poets have a way of energizing students
in a way that is not always possible in the regular classroom," English teacher Anne Wessel Dwyer, who has been instrumental in organizing visits by poets over the past several years, said in a released statement.

"It has been amazing to see kids who showed little interest in reading, for example, devour the autobiography of Jack Gantos, the author who visited several years ago. Brian Turner, a poet who had served in Iraq, captivated students and faculty alike with the reading of his work two years ago as did Aracelis Girmay last year."

For more information on Mali's visit, contact Mary Thomas at 973-593-3117, x-8956 or Anne Wessel Dwyer, 973-593-3117.