Is
poetry dying? Who said it’s
dying? Has America stopped
searching for the next Langston
Hughes? He could very well be
here, in Chicago, IL. John
Evans, at age 33 is the author
of 5 poetry collections-
Acres Green Oceans Blue: Diary
of a Runaway, More than a Club
Kid: Man Verses Self, Things
That Make My World Go ‘’Round: A
Poetic Memoir , and How
deep I can Be: Lessons and
Confessions. With each page
in each book, the material
inspires readers of all ages
with inspiring messages of
pursuit of happiness, liberty,
and life. The journey through
his writing is universal. For
those who are curious and
interested in experiencing
expressionist art form through
words, Evans work should not be
missed.
Afrique:
Everyone has inspirations and
started somewhere, how did you
become a poet?
John D.
Evans: I grew up in Chicago, and
started writing in elementary
school. I fell in love with
words, and was fascinated with
rhyming words. I was a musician
at heart and enjoyed singing.
Later, I wanted to explore the
relationship between poetry and
music. That’s how it started.
Afrique:
When were you officially self
published?
Evans: Back
in 2000. I have five up to date,
and more manuscripts to come. I
just love to write. It is a
passion and I’d like to continue
it.
Afrique:
You also founded something
called the Brotherhood of TEPC
(The Evans Poetry Collection),
what is that exactly?
Evans: Yes,
I advocate for disfranchised
people. These are people who are
incarcerated and are less
fortunate. We have artists who
are behind bars, and I want them
to continue to be able to
express themselves. So I founded
this non-profit organization.
I’m currently in the process of
finalizing all the paperwork,
but we definitely already have
the seeds planted. It’s not just
for the brothers, but for
sisters, and teens as well. This
way we can work independently
and together to promote the
arts, uplift poetry and those
positive artistic pursuits.
Afrique:
How hard is it to publish your
own works?
Evans:
Well, I do all the groundwork
myself. I am responsible for the
meat of the book, which is
largely the writing and editing.
I submit it to my printer, which
is
www.iuniverse.com, we have a
very good, positive and
productive relationship. I get a
proof from them and tell them
the way I want to design the
cover, and they produce the
final product for me. It’s very
convenient, and they offer
different packages anywhere from
400 and up with some marketing
help. It is a very economical
and cost affective route for an
emerging artist. My goal is to
eventually get picked up by a
traditional publisher.
Afrique: Is
it very hard to find a
traditional publisher that will
publish artists like yourself?
Evans:
Here’s the deal, I am self
published which means all of my
books are print on demand. One
of the obstacles, and I speak on
behalf of all poets, the hardest
thing is to obtain a literary
agent. We all know that to get a
contract, one must need a
literary agent to represent
them. For a Literary agent to
present them, one must have a
sale amount of 150,000 dollars
or more worth of volume before
even being considered! So, how
can we see our next star poet if
that person is not able to even
be published by a literary
agent. There is this stipulation
of not dealing with poetry in
the publishing industry. They
are saying “I don’t even want to
read the work and consider it.”
They all just want to see how we
do in the market first, but do
understand this, that is keeping
so many people out! They are
saying “ don’t even ask us!”
because they won’t give the time
of day to sit and read our
works. It’s called the
closed-door treatment. If I as a
poet cannot get through to a
literary agent, then we cannot
get through to a traditional
publisher. This is why I must
self publish.
Afrique:
Does that have to do with the
lack of market for poetry?
Evans: Good
question. We all have our own
poetry, we all set up stories
and perspectives. We all have
series of poetry, yes it’s
subjective. Adrian Mitchell
(famous English poet and
dramatist) says “Most people do
not enjoy most poetry, because
most poetry does not address
most people.” It is so
subjective it keeps within its
circle. Poetry used to be a
sport, not a literary art, it
was literally a sport back in
the Greek times when they had
the Olympics. It was held in
such high regard and elite
endeavor. Over the years, now
it’s turned into poetry corners,
spots, slams, tiny places of no
importance, as a side job, side
show, it’s viewed as the
starving artists’ hobby. I’m
saying it doesn’t have to be
that way if the poetry itself
has quality, or personality that
is quality. We will never see
another Langston Hughes, or
Gwendolyn Brooks, or a Pablo
Neruda if we maintain this
closed-door treatment from these
large publishing companies.
Companies like Random House,
Harlequin, Simon and Schuster,
and etc should open the doors.
That is what I strive for, and
I’d like to strive for
international recognition. I
want my work to get out there,
and it’s getting there, but it
could get out more!
Afrique:
How can we buy your books?
Evans:
http://www.jdpoetry.com/index.php.
If you want information you can
always find me online, through
my website, through Myspace.com,
and through Zaadz.com, it’s a
social conscious community for
writers.
So you’ve
searched every corner of Chicago
and you still can’t find a hot
spot where you can get down to
beats from Africa, the Caribbean
or Latin America. Well, search
no more because AFRIQUE has
found some of the hottest
Chi-town venues for music from
the African Diaspora. And best
of all, they won’t leave a dent
in your pocket.
LATE NIGHT
REGGAE
The Note
1565 N. Milwaukee
773 365 9000
Every
Saturday at 12.a.m
Admission: FREE!
For all of
the night owls, there is Late
Night Reggae for all the night
owls at this Wicker Park lounge.
DJs Ras Marcus and Papa G spin
reggae, dancehall and reggaeton
records from Midnight til’.
The Wild
Hare
3530 N. Clark Street
Monday- Sunday
Admission: Weekdays $7 Saturday
$15
On almost
any given night at the Wild
Hare, you can stop by for some
old school roots reggae or
dancehall. This Wrigleyville
favorite is synonymous with
great live reggae in Chicago.
Several internationally known
performers such as the Marley
clan and Lucky Dube have rocked
many a crowd from the Wild Hare
stage.
Sayat Nova
Lounge
157 E. Ohio
773-381-7171
Every
Second Saturday @ 9pm
Admission: $10
AFROdisiac
night at this restaurant/lounge
probably offers the most diverse
selection of African music. With
Kenyan DJ Top Donn on the ones
and twos, you’re bound to be
blessed with the sounds of
Kwaito and Genge cuts from
Eastern/ Southern Africa and
from the Western corner of the
motherland are Ndombolo,
Afrobeat and Coupe Decale party
beats for you pleasure. Enjoy.
Rhythm
1108 W. Randolph
Friday & Saturday Nights @ 8pm
Admission: $8
312 492 6100
There’s no
denying that percussion
instruments are one of the core
elements of music from the
Diaspora. Sometimes dancing to
the music is just not enough. At
Drum Nights, at Rhythm you get
to make the beats through their
fifty minute drum lessons. No
experience necessary.
Instruments included.
Buzz
308 W. Erie St.
(312) 475 9800
Wednesdays at 5:30 pm
Admission: $5
If you’re
in the mood to sweat of some of
that stress during the work
week, then Salsa Night at the
Buzz is the place for you. With
a large dance floor, the Buzz is
not the place for the
non-dancing bar seat warmers.
Come prepared to
bailar and if you
have two left feet, no worries.
Salsa master Manny Lopez is at
your service from 6:30pm-7:30 pm
to help you brush up on your
moves.
Darkroom
2210 W. Chicago Ave.
773-276-1411
Every 2nd
Saturday @ 10 PM til’ 3AM or
Tuesdays @ 9pm.
$3 Red Stripe and
Heineken.
Admission: No cover before 11pm,
$5 thereafter (Sunny Side Up)
No Cover. (Sound System Reggae)
If you like
your eggs yellow in the middle
and white all around, or if you
just care for some quality music
the SunnySide Up Night at this
swanky West Loop venue is the
place to be. In the middle of
every month, DJ Mwelwa serves
South American, African and
Caribbean tracks on a silver
platter. Occasionally some local
groups like Tchaka: Roots of
Haiti and much more drop by to
bring forth some funk Diaspora
tunes. If that is not enough to
quench your thirst for
Afrocentric beats, just remember
that you can return on Tuesday
for the Darkroom’s popular
Thunder Gong/Sound System Reggae
night
Exedus
3477 N. Clark
(773) 348-3998
Every Day except Tuesday @ 8pm
Admission: $5
The smaller
and seemingly more youthful
cousin of the Wild Hare, Exedus
is for the die hard dancehall
lovers. You will seldom here a
traditional Bob Marley song here
unless it has been remixed to a
dancehall beat. If you are
looking for raw, uncut (modern,
reggae experience, check out
this Northside spot. When you’ve
had enough you can simply walk a
few blocks over to the Wild Hare
or scope out the diverse
selection of clubs and bars in
Wrigleyville.
Rumba
351 W. Hubbart St.
(312) 222 1226
Wednesday Through Friday
(5p.m.- Midnight)
Friday-Saturday at 11pm
Admission: Free
This Latin
American Fusion restaurant
transforms into a vibrant hang
out spot from Wednesday to
Friday with live music from a
wide array of Latin musical
genres; AfroCuban; Jazz; cha-cha
and salsa. On the weekends it
gets a little more caliente
when the main room of the
restaurant becomes a dance floor
for salsa and merengue dancers
to boogie down. Salsa lessons
included.
Ivory
Coast-born songstress Dobet
Gnahore is taking over the world
stage with her fiery voice and
her undeniable charisma. Raised
in an artist enclave in Ivory
Coast’s capital city of Abidjan,
Gnahore, 25, spent the early
years of her life receiving
musical training from some
talented artists hailing from
all corners of Africa. Often
compared to other
internationally recognized
artists such as Angelique Kidjo
and Zap Mama, Gnahore is truly
a Pan African artist. She sings
in seven different traditional
African languages and
successfully blends different
genres of the music from the
continent. She recently
released her second album, “Na
Afriki” (To Africa) which, as
she tells AFRIQUE is more
percussion based than her first
release (“Ano Neko”) which was
mainly acoustic. Her ability to
cross cultural boundaries with
her music places her in the
“world music” category with
other internationally renowned
artists such as Salif Keita and
Youssou N’dour. I want people to
understand the message of peace
and tolerance in my music,”
Gnahore told AFRIQUE.
Gnahore
will be performing at the Old
Town of Folk Music on Friday
September 14 at 8pm
‘Til
September 2nd
Chicago Jazz Festival
With performances by Herbie
Hancock, Ernestine Anderson,
Frank Wess, Charlie Haden and
many more
Location: Grant Park
Admission: Free
For More Info Visit:
www.cityofchicago.org
September
10th
Stevie Wonder
Location: Charter One Pavilion-
Northerly Island
Time: 8pm
Admission: Vary
For more info visit:
www.livenation.com
September
20th
Common ft. Joss Stone
Chi-town’s conscious rapper
returns home to rock the house.
Location: Charter One Pavilion @
Northerly Island
Time: 7pm
Admission: Vary
For more info:
www.ticketmaster.com
October 6th
Bill Cosby
Location: Rosemont Theatre
Admission: Vary
For more info visit:
www.livenation.com
Exhibits/ Lectures
‘Til
September 22nd
Master Sculptures of Zimbabwe-
Sales Exhibit
Showcases authentic, modern
sculptures
made by Zimbabwean artists.
Location: State Street Gallery @
Robert Morris College
Admission: Free
For more info:Call (312)
935-4574 or visit
www.friendsforeverzimbabwe.com
September
19th –23rd
Doctors Without Borders presents
“A Refugee Camp in the Heart of
the City”
An exhibit and series of
lectures on medical care in
developing Countries.
Location: Exhibit @ Grant Park
and venue for lectures vary.
Admission: Free
For more info visit:
www.doctorswithoutborders.org
Theatre
October
4th-7th
Deeply Rooted Productions
Presents: Nefertiti: A Concert
of Music and Dance Based on
musical Nefertiti, this concert
uses music and movement to tell
the story.
Time: Thur @7:30pm; Fri. & Sat @
8pm; Sun @ 3pm
Location: Athenaeum Theatre,
2936 N. Southport
Admission: $25-$45
For More Info visit
www.ticketmaster.com or call
312 902 1500
These are
just extras incase you have more
room:
Lupe Fiasco
House of Blues
Wed Oct. 31 at house of Blues
Zap Mama Oct 24 at Metro ($21
