Taalam Acey
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Taalam Acey | |
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| Born | September 16, 1970 Newark, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Occupation | Spoken-word artist, author |
| Nationality | American |
| Website | |
| www | |
Taalam Acey (born September 16, 1970) is an American spoken-word artist. He began practicing this type of art in 1997 after attending a poetry reading at a friend's invitation. At that time, Acey was a full-time lecturer in senior-level accounting at Rutgers University and a principal partner in a small business consulting firm. In 1999, he left Rutgers to become a full-time performance poet.[1]
Early years
[edit]Born in Newark, New Jersey,[2] Acey's parents were field soldiers in Amiri Baraka's Community for a Unified Newark (CUAN), which notably helped Kenneth Gibson become the first Black mayor of Newark. Acey received his elementary education at Chad School in Newark, and his father organized a private school.
Career
[edit]Early in his poetry career, Acey was chosen to open for activist Dick Gregory during a live PBS broadcast from the University of Texas at Austin. Later, he was one of four poets selected by Essence magazine to perform at the 2001 Essence Music Festival in New Orleans, and one of five poets featured in the New Jersey Performing Arts Center's 'Theater of the Spoken Word.' Acey has also lectured on performance poetry at the University of California, Berkeley's Center for Urban Education.
Along with Essence magazine, his work has been featured in several publications, including Philadelphia Weekly (December 2005) and the New Jersey Star Ledger (July 2001).[citation needed] Marc Smith, the founder of slam poetry, used examples of Acey's poetry in Smith's book: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Slam Poetry.[3][page needed] Acey was a member of the 1999 New York City slam team representing the Nuyorican Cafe. He was the 2000 Grand Slam Champion of London's Paddington International Poetry Festival. He was also the 2000–2001 New Jersey Slam master and the District of Columbia's Black Words Grand Slam Champion. His first spoken-word video, "When the Smoke Clearz", was shown in film festivals in Los Angeles, New York, Amsterdam and Rotterdam. The video was one of only 22 films nominated for a 2002 Sundance Film Festival Online Award.
Published works
[edit]Literary
[edit]- Eyes Free: The Memoir, Word Supremacy Press, 2003
- What You Deserve, a novel, Word Supremacy Press, 2006
- Troubled Soul Refinery, poetry compilation, Word Supremacy Press, 2007
- Excellent Exposure, essays and poems, Word Supremacy Press, 2009
Recorded performances/CD
[edit]- Morally Bankrupt One: The Wickedest Man in Babylon (1999)
- Morally Bankrupt Two: Pain Remover (2000)
- Morally Bankrupt Final: Mood Demystify (2000)
- Code Blues (2001)
- Blues Resurgence (2002)
- Belief System (2003)
- Pieces of Change Disc 1 (2005)
- Pieces of Change Disc 2 (2005)
- Underground Heavy (2006)
- The Market 4 Change (2007)
- Self Construct (2007)
- California Suite (2008)
- The Market 4 Change, Volume 2 (2009)
References
[edit]- ^ MySpace page. Taalam Acey
- ^ Eyes Free: The Memoir
- ^ Smith, Marc Kelly; Kraynak, Joe (2004). The Complete Idiot's Guide to Slam Poetry. Indianapolis: Alpha Books. ISBN 978-1-59257-246-5.
External links
[edit]| International | |
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| National | |
- 1970 births
- 21st-century American poets
- African-American poets
- American spoken word artists
- Copyright activists
- Living people
- Artists from Newark, New Jersey
- Poets from New Jersey
- Rutgers University alumni
- Slam poets
- Writers from Newark, New Jersey
- 21st-century African-American writers
- 20th-century African-American people