Silo City Reading Series: Danez Smith, Jazz De Nero, Steve Baczkowski, dntwatchtv

Featured Artists

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  Danez Smith Writer & Performer
  

  Danez Smith

  Writer & Performer

  Danez Smith is a Black, Queer, Poz writer & performer from St. Paul, MN. Danez is the author of Don’t Call Us Dead (Graywolf Press, 2017), winner of the Forward Prize for Best Collection, the Midwest Booksellers Choice Award, and a finalist for the National Book Award; they also wrote [insert] boy (YesYes Books, 2014), winner of the Kate Tufts Discovery Award and the Lambda Literary Award for Gay Poetry. They are the recipient of fellowships from the Poetry Foundation, the McKnight Foundation, the Montalvo Arts Center, Cave Canem, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Danez’s work has been featured widely, appearing on platforms such as Buzzfeed, The New York Times, PBS NewsHour, Best American Poetry, Poetry Magazine, and on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Danez is a member of the Dark Noise Collective and is the co-host of VS with Franny Choi, a podcast sponsored by the Poetry Foundation and Postloudness. Danez’s third collection, Homie, was published by Graywolf in January 2020.

  (photo credit: Tabia Yapp)

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  Jazz De Nero Poet & Artist
  

  Jazz De Nero

  Poet & Artist

  Jazz De Nero is a multimedia artist and poet living in Buffalo, New York. She is the author of You Should Have Seen The Water (Bottlecap Press, 2021). Her work has been featured in Voicemail Poems, Cosmonauts Avenue, Queen Mob’s Teahouse and others.

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  Steve Baczkowski Saxophonist
  

  Steve Baczkowski

  Saxophonist

  Buffalo-based saxophonist Steve Baczkowski performs solo, in trio with drummer Ravi Padmanabha & bassist Brian DeJesus, and in frequent collaborations with guitarist Bill Nace, drummer Chris Corsano & bassist Brandon Lopez. A trio LP Mystic Beings with Corsano & Nace was recently released by Open Mouth Records and Old Smoke, a live trio recording with Corsano and Lopez was released on CD by Relative Pitch Records in April 2019. A new LP Open Door highlighting Baczkowski’s 20-year duo collaboration with Ravi Padmanabha has just been released on Padmanabha’s Good Karma / Bad Karma Records and a live recording of the Lopez Trio with drummer Gerald Cleaver will be released by Relative Pitch in 2021.

  (photo credit: Jack Zuff)

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  dntwatchtv Artist
  

  dntwatchtv

  Artist

  DNTWATCHTV is a creative force playing at the intersection of street art, hip-hop and urban cosmology. Headquartered in Buffalo, NY, with outposts in NYC and LA, and a global network of collaborators, DNTWATCHTV is led by visual and performance artist Travis Rogers.