Month: September 2021

#ICYMI: Our stories, ourselves, and other reasons to love #POWSJ

| playonwordsanjose

This fall marks our 8th birthday as a fixture of literary excitement in San Jose. Since 2013, we have produced the original fiction, nonfiction, poetry, theater and works of translation of more than 70 writers, and worked with a cast of more than 25 actors. Some highlights include:

  • Our October 2013 premiere at the former Blackbird Tavern (RIP)
  • Our 2014 introduction to the San Francisco Lit Crawl
  • Our 2015 summer shows funded by the Knight Foundation and the San Jose Downtown Association
  • Our 2016 debut at Anne & Mark’s Art Party
  • Our 2017 collaboration with Flash Fiction Forum on the Activist chapbook
  • Our 2017 and 2018 performances at Redwood City’s Dragon Theatre
  • Our 2019 t-shirt drive that funded our 2020 artist honorariums
  • Our 2019 and 2020 shows at the beautiful San Jose Museum of Art
  • Our first-ever virtual show this summer with the San Jose Museum of Art, which, by the way, you can watch here:
Writers from our 2021 show: top row, l-r: Marian Shon, Julian Parayno-Stoll, Lyra Halprin, Camilo Garzon. Second row: Keiko O’Leary, Kai Katayama, Selma Tufail, Melissa Anderson. Third row: Benjamin Duarte, Yunlu Shen, Patty Somlo, Chaney Kwak. Fourth row: Muse Lee, Sebastian Gomez Biggeri, April Halprin Wayland, Tania Odesho.
Actors from our 2021 show: Top row, l-r: Jada Roper, Ivette Deltoro, Gaz Jemeel. Second row: Muse Lee, Evelyn Huynh, Francheska Loy. Bottom row: Melinda Marks, Kai Katayama, Tania Odesho. Not pictured: Julia Halprin Jackson.

We are hopeful that our 2021-2022 season will bring with it the hope, enthusiasm and creativity we felt reading submissions this spring. As always, if you are interested in volunteering or working with us, feel free to reach out at playonwordssj@gmail.com.