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US(a.) Saul Williams intervied by DJ Lynnée Denise in the Los Angeles Review of Books. In his greatly anticipated new full-length book of poetry, the first since The Dead Emcee Scrolls in 2006, “the poet laureate of hip-hop” (CNN) Saul Williams presents his ideas, observations, realizations, dreams, and questions about the state of modern America. After living abroad for four years, Saul Williams returned to America and found his head twirling (and twerking) with thoughts on everything from race, class, and gender, to finance, freedom, and guns, to cooking shows, dog shows, superheroes, not-so-super politicians, and everything else that makes up our country. US(a.)is a collection of poems that embodies the spirit of a culture that questions sentiments and realities, embracing a cross-section of pop culture, hip-hop, and the greater world politic of the moment. It’s a punk rock oracular testament that speaks to the rebellious teen as well as the sheltered suburban dreamer. Saul Williams explores what social media may only hint at—the fact that times and realities have changed, yet there is a connect and a disconnect. We are wirelessly connected to a past and path to which we are, possibly, chained. Saul Williams aims to stop and frisk the moment, make it empty its pockets, and chronicle what’s inside. Here is an extraordinary book that will find its place in the hands and minds of a new generation.
Author Photo Credit: Geordie Wood |
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Saul Williams is an acclaimed poet and musician. The Trimark Pictures film Slam, which he cowrote and starred in, won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival (1998), the Camera d’Or and the Audience Award for Best Picture at the Cannes Film Festival, and the World Distributors’ Award for Best Picture. He has also contributed to The New York Times, voiced Jean-Michel Basquiat in Downtown 81, and cut records with Rick Rubin and Trent Reznor. He is the author of four books of poetry and currently lives in New York. Visit his website at SaulWilliams.com. / While being hailed for his writing and lyricism, Saul’s reputation is as a performer. He has performed in more than thirty countries and has been invited to share his work as a solo performer in such prestigious locations as the Sydney Opera House in Australia, The Louvre Museum, in France, The Market Theatre in South Africa, and the White House, in 2009, for Michelle Obama’s first “White House Poetry Jam.” He has spoken at more than 200 universities where his poetry has been added to the curriculum of dozens of creative writing programs and is increasingly taught on both high school and junior high school levels. Saul has taught poetry and performance workshops for youth and artists across the world and in 2008 joined the faculty of Stanford University as a guest professor for one semester where he was allowed to create his own course: The Muse, Musings, & Music. Saul’s published writings include his books S/HE (1999), ,said the shotgun to the head. (2003), and The Dead Emcee Scrolls(2006),