DATE & TIME

• Events and workshops
  February 22 through 27, 2015

• Reading & Performance
  The Betsy - South Beach Arts and Culture
  Annex at The Carlton South Beach
  Friday, February 27
  8:00pm

• Teen Slam
  Miami Beach Botanical Garden
  Thursday, February 26
  6:00pm

TICKETS

All events are FREE
Note that these events already took place

LOCATIONS
The Betsy - South Beach Arts and Culture Annex at The Carlton South Beach
1433 Collins Ave
Miami Beach

Miami Beach Botanical Garden
2000 Convention Center Dr.
Miami Beach

DIRECTIONS

Click for a Google map to The Carlton South Beach
The Carleton is immediately behind The Betsy. There is a walkway from Ocean Dr. to Collins There are several parking garages convenient to The Betsy and The Carleton, including one just east of Ocean Dr. on 15th St.

Click for a Google map to MB Botanical Gardens

WORDSPEAK Tigertail's teen spoken word project
with George Yamazawa

WordSpeak includes workshops, slams and performances, and a week-long residency by George Yamazawa, a nationally-respected poet, novelist and hip-hop artist. George will conduct workshops in area high schools during his residency. These workshops will culminate in a teen slam at Miami Beach Botanical Garden. This slam will aid in the selection of Tigertail's WordSpeak team, which we will send to the annual Brave New Voices teen spoken word competition in July. George himself competed at Brave New Voices when he was 17. He will perform at the Betsy Hotel on Friday, February 27. These events are free and open to all.

Read the New Times Miami blog article

Born and raised by Japanese immigrants in Durham, North Carolina, George Masao Yamazawa, Jr., or "G" for short, didn't always have it easy growing up. Other kids made fun of the shape of his eyes or called him Chinese, even after he corrected them. His relationship with his strict father wasn't always easy. His best friend passed away when he was in junior high. At 16, he was expelled from from school, and that's when G began to explore his family's religion, Buddhism, more deeply to fight his depression.

drawing by Allen Passalaqua

"Buddhism is basically what kept me afloat and invigorated me to find a passion that gave my life worth," he says. "That's when I found my love for poetry and the use of my voice. Everything we see, hear, smell, touch, and experience is a poem, and writing is just a way we can remember those moments forever." He finds inspiration in "trying to notice beauty, and keeping faith in the potential of all living things."

And for those of you looking to write poems, G has some simple advice: Do what you love. Search for your passion, and explore how your passions can create value in society. "Strive to the best in the world," but remember "that this is all bigger than you."

G is currently working on a hip hop EP to be released next summer, and piecing together an hour-long set for college booking. After that, he's off to Japan to "build the bridge between there and the States."

Read more about George Yamazawa