Tigertail Productions' SpeakOut project includes school and community workshops and readings, as well as a poetry slam evening, geared towards GLBT youth, and a reading and panel discussion for a general audience, take place throughout Miami-Dade County. All events are free. SpeakOut 2009 features a weeklong residency with nationally recognized New York-based Jamaican lesbian spoken word poet and performer Staceyann Chin.

Staceyann Chin will lead workshops for students at Miami-Dade high schools hosted by individual Gay Straight Alliances/ Safe Schools South Florida and other groups. There will also be a similar open-to-the-public teen workshop held at Pridelines Youth Services on Tuesday, January 20 at 6:00 pm.

The youth component of the residency culminates in a SpeakOut open mic and slam for GLBT teens hosted by Staceyann Chin at the Miami Beach Regional Library, 227 22nd Street, Miami Beach, on Thursday, January 22 at 5:30 pm. This is an opportunity for teens to read and perform their poetry, as well as to experience Chin's performance work. There is no charge to attend but each participant must be under 21 years old and material must be gay friendly. No reservations needed and those reading sign in at the event.

As a highlight for the week, Stacyann Chin will read and perform her own poetry on Friday, January 23 at 7:30 pm, at Books & Books, 265 Aragon Avenue, Coral Gables. This event is free and open to the general public. More information

SpeakOut grows out of Tigertail Productions' existing and highly successful Tigertail WordSpeak teen spoken word project, which brings poets and performers to Miami each year to lead workshops for teens. Tigertail also sponsors and coaches a WordSpeak team of Miami teens who attend the national Brave New Voices spoken word youth slam and festival in the summer. Tigertail produces a book and a CD of the teens' poems. Gay teens from the SpeakOut project will have the opportunity to participate in the main WordSpeak program adding their unique voices to Miami's youth culture.

The SpeakOut program and Staceyann Chin's residency is made possible in part by a grant from the GLBT Community Projects Fund at Dade Community Foundation, Greater Miami's permanent endowment made possible by generous donors since 1967 and the National Performance Network's Performance Residency Program. Major contributors to the National Performance Network include the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Ford Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts (a federal agency), Altria and the Nathan Cummings Foundation. Tigertail Productions is a Partner in the National Performance Network (NPN). NPN is a group of cultural organizers and artists facilitating the practice and public experience of the performing arts in the United States. NPN serves artists, arts organizers, and a broad range of audiences and communities across the country through commissions, residencies, culture-centered community projects and other artistic activities. For more information visit www.npnweb.org.

Season partners and supporters for our 29th season include: Allegany Franciscan Ministries; American Express; Arthur F. and Alice E. Adams Charitable Foundation; Audrey Love Charitable Foundation; BankAtlantic Foundation; Barefoot Wine & Bubbly; Biscayne Times; Books & Books; Bresaro Suites at the Mantell Plaza, The Children's Trust; City of Coral Gables Cultural Arts Program; City of Miami; City of Miami Beach Cultural Affairs Program, Cultural Arts Council; Consulate General of Brazil; Consulate General of Canada; Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany; Consulate General of the Netherlands; Dade Community Foundation; Dorsch Gallery; E.S. Moore Family Foundation; Florida Dance Association; Florida Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs and the Florida Arts Council; Florida Literary Center; Foundation for Contemporary Arts; The Galler Group; Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau; Grolsch; MiamiARTzine.com; Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the Mayor and Board of County Commissioners; Miami-Dade County Public Library; Miami-Dade County Public Schools; Miami River Inn; National Dance Project of the New England Foundation for the Arts, with lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, additional funding provided by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, The Ford Foundation and MetLife Foundation; National Endowment for the Arts; National Performance Network with major funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Ford Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts (a federal agency), Altria, MetLife Foundation and the Nathan Cummings Foundation; Open Doors; Pridelines; Publix Super Markets Charities; Safe Schools South Florida; Shake-A-Leg Miami; The Sain-Orr Royak DeForest Steadman Foundation; Rain Vodka Organics; The Law Office of Linda M. Smith; Southern Arts Federation; Vortex Communications; WDNA & WLRN FM and our many private supporters.