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World Poetry Celebrates Bernice Lever!

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Ariadne’s Notes:

The World Poetry Cafe radio show  CFRO, 100.5 FM at 1:10 pm PST, December 5th welcomed the amazing Bernice Lever, well-known poet and member of the radio show from Canada once again to the show.

Also featured on the show were the well-known  Peaceathon E-poets Mahmood Jan, Afghanistan,  and Honey Novick Canada, Maki Starfield will be read next week. A lovely note of poetic thanks from Laura Tohe, Poet Laureate of the Navaho Nation, (https://www.lauratohe.com/)was received and read.   Special filmmaker Tomisin Adepeju called in at 1:35 pm PST to talk about his film I am Joseph.

Hosts Ariadne Sawyer and Diego Bastinutti with super tech Victor Schwartzman.

LISTEN TO THE SHOW HERE!

 

Bernice Lever was honoured by The Ontario Poetry Society in May, 2019 in a book of poems from their 10 Life Members, entitled Tenfold. 

 Now living on Bowen Island, near West Vancouver, BC, Bernice is also a Life Member of National Canadian Authors Assoc., and since 2000, a Life Member of  The League of Canadian Poets and active in the Federation of  BC Writers, North Shore Writers Association, and more. 

Although known for her 15 years of editing in Toronto for  York University’s 

“WAVES” , literary journal from 1972-1986, Bernice as read on 5 continents and been published internationally as she has 10 poetry books published – last 7 with Black Moss Press, Ontario –   in many large anthologies, journals and newspapers. Her 11th poetry book, “Ingredients for Peace “ is due in 2020.   

Bernice also has published some prose, mainly in “The Waiting Room” & edited, “Singing; anthology  of Canadian women prisoners with Highway Book Shop as  well as “In all directions”,  Fitzhenry & Whiteside,  CAA short story anthology and my own textbook “The Colour  of  Words”, Seneca College, Ontario. 

Her focus has been for “Peace & Justice”   poems for all People,& Living creatures worldwide &&& our natural environment: earth, air, and water! 

Since the 1960’s, she has given talks and workshops to classes and individuals as Bernice enjoys helping beginning poets to be published. 

      

World Poetry Celebrates Tomisin Adepeju!

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Ariadne’s Notes:  The World Poetry Cafe radio show  CFRO, 100.5 FM at 1:35 pm PST, December 5th welcomed the talented director Tomisin Adepeju, calling in from the UK.  He is the writer and director of I Am Joseph now on Four8’s Youtube channel.

It was a fascinating interview about bringing the histories of the past to life in a modern format.  He is indeed a talented director that puts his creativity into the series. Also, the cast is exceptional. I found the dilemma of Joseph to be very powerful as he seeks to process and work through the information he has received. We were lucky to fit him in at the last minute.

Tomisin is a 2018 Edinburgh Talent Lab alumni and graduate of the MA Directing course at Met Film School, Ealing Studios. His multi-award-winning shorts, The Good Son & Marianne, have been selected at over 100 international film festivals including Oscar-Qualifying Urbanworld Film Festival, the 25th New York African Film Festival, Smalls Film Festival & Triforce Film Festival. His work has also screened at several prestigious institutions, including Cinematheque Suisse, the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, The Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Film Society of Lincoln Center, the British Film Institute & BAFTA.

His short film, The Right Choice had its world premiere at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival and was also selected to screen as part of Sundance London in June. The film recently screened at the Oscar-qualifying; Pan African Film Festival, Cleveland International Film Festival, and HollyShorts Film Festival. His latest short,  Appreciation, was selected to screen at BFI London Film Festival 2019 and he was one of 12 filmmakers selected for the BFI Network @ LFF development programme in 2019.

LISTEN TO THE SHOW HERE!

Also featured on the show were the well-known poet Bernice Lever, Canada and Peaceathon E-poets Mahmood Jan, Afghanistan, Honey Novick Canada, Maki Starfield will be read next week. A lovely note of poetic thanks from Laura Tohe, Poet Laureate of the Navaho Nation, (https://www.lauratohe.com/)was received and read.  Hosts: Ariadne Sawyer and Diego Bastinutti with super tech Victor Schwartzman.

 

I Am Joseph is the debut short feature film from Four8, that tells the powerful and moving story about one man’s struggle to come to terms with a truth that will change the course of his life. The world premiere on December 5th is the first in a series of films focused on elevating diverse, up-and-coming talent both in front of and behind the camera.

Starring Michael Akinsulire (Killing Eve, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil) plays Joseph, a businessman set to marry his beloved Mary, portrayed by BBC New Talent Hotlist’s Asmara Gabrielle (Finding Fatima). When Mary reveals she is pregnant but her soon to be husband is not the father, their quiet rural life is transformed by her claim to who the father is, forcing Joseph to come to terms with this shocking revelation. He grapples with his faith and the impact this news will have on the rest of his life.

I Am Joseph is the latest feature from one of the UK’s most exciting writers and directors, Tomisin Adepeju (The Good Son, The Right Choice). One to watch, his films have been selected by more than 100 film festivals around the world including Sundance and Urbanworld and have been invited to screen at several prestigious institutions internationally including Cinémathèque Suisse, the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, Film Society of Lincoln Center and The British Film Institute.

Adepeju was excited to tackle this story and bring it new life. “Joseph is a largely forgotten character in the nativity story, he is seldom mentioned or referenced in any profound or significant way, despite being the earthly father of Jesus. Thus, to make a film entirely centred on him, exploring perhaps one of the most difficult and challenging moments of his life was what interested me in making this film. We really wanted to humanize Joseph and make him a relatable character,” says Adepeju.

It also stars stage and screen actor DK Ugonna (Tales Retold, Take on Me) who plays David, and BAFTA-nominated, Miles Ridgway as the cinematographer. The series was created and produced by Stephané Alexandre, with Emmy and BAFTA award-winner Matthew Barrett and Vikki McLachlan serving as executive producers.

I Am Joseph is the first film from the ‘I Am Series’; a series of films that reintroduces biblical characters in timeless settings, expanding on their individual journeys and humanizing their experiences. The film combines emotive and thoughtful storytelling with complex characters, to reinterpret one of the Bible’s most remarkable stories in a way rarely seen on screen. With a brilliant cast and team of emerging creators, I Am Joseph brings a classic story to life for a new generation.

I Am Joseph feature film premieres on December 5th, 2019 on Four8’s Youtube channel.

 New Talent Hotlist’s Asmara Gabrielle (Finding Fatima). When Mary reveals she is pregnant but her soon to be husband is not the father, their quiet rural life is transformed by her claim to who the father is, forcing Joseph to come to terms with this shocking revelation. He grapples with his faith and the impact this news will have on the rest of his life.

 I Am Joseph is the latest feature from one of the UK’s most exciting writers and directors, Tomisin Adepeju (The Good Son, The Right Choice). One to watch, his films have been selected by more than 100 film festivals around the world including Sundance and Urbanworld and have been invited to screen at several prestigious institutions internationally including Cinémathèque Suisse, the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, Film Society of Lincoln Center and The British Film Institute.

Adepeju was excited to tackle this story and bring it new life. “Joseph is a largely forgotten character in the nativity story, he is seldom mentioned or referenced in any profound or significant way, despite being the earthly father of Jesus. Thus, to make a film entirely centred on him, exploring perhaps one of the most difficult and challenging moments of his life was what interested me in making this film. We really wanted to humanize Joseph and make him a relatable character,” says Adepeju.

It also stars stage and screen actor DK Ugonna (Tales Retold, Take on Me) who plays David, and BAFTA-nominated, Miles Ridgway as the cinematographer. The series was created and produced by Stephané Alexandre, with Emmy and BAFTA award-winner Matthew Barrett and Vikki McLachlan serving as executive producers.

I Am Joseph is the first film from the ‘I Am Series’; a series of films that reintroduces biblical characters in timeless settings, expanding on their individual journeys and humanizing their experiences. The film combines emotive and thoughtful storytelling with complex characters, to reinterpret one of the Bible’s most remarkable stories in a way rarely seen on screen. With a brilliant cast and team of emerging creators, I Am Joseph brings a classic story to life for a new generation.

 I Am Joseph feature film premieres on December 5th, 2019 on Four8’s Youtube channel.  

*Source and thanks to Nicola Pender for her exceptional help.

 

 

World Poetry Celebrates Yoko Miwa!

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Ariadne’s Notes: 

The World Poetry Café, CFRO, 100.5 FM November 28  presented World Poetry Peaceathon Poets who will be in the new Peaceathon book and  the talented composer and pianist , Yoko Miwa http://www.yokomiwa.com/    who called in at 1:30 pm PSt from Boston.

The  World Poetry In Loving Memory series featured World Poetry Lifetime Achievement Award Winners Shulamite Joffre and Dugald Christie as part of our yearly  efforts to honour to them and to read their poetry.

 A special  honour . we were able to present  Laura Tohe, author, poet and  the Poet Laureate of the Navajo Nation and read her beautiful poem Meeting the Spirit of Water for Glen Tohe (with permission) on the show. https://www.lauratohe.com/

LISTEN TO THE SHOW HERE!

Featured Peace Star Poets: Kumaresan B.M, India, Diego Bastianutti, Canada, Hongri Yuan, China, Evi Polizou, Greece, and Debabrata Sarkar, India.

A new story, Tommie 2  by Sharon Rowe!

Producer and host Ariadne Sawyer and co-host, technician Victor Schwartzman. Special volunteer: Sharon Rowe.

 

“I greatly appreciate and respect the clarity and strength in Yoko’s playing, it is very apparent – the honesty, care and depth of foundation she touches the piano with.” –Benny Green

Internationally acclaimed pianist/composer Yoko Miwa is one of the most powerful and compelling performers on the scene today. Her trio, with its remarkable telepathy and infectious energy, has brought audiences to their feet worldwide. Their latest CD, 2019’s Keep Talkin’, showcases Miwa’s fine playing and artful compositions and the trio’s uncanny musical camaraderie. DownBeat gave the recording four stars, calling it “a beautifully constructed album” and noting “the drive and lyricism of a pianist and composer at home in bebop, gospel, pop, and classical.” JazzTimes also reviewed the album favorably, praising Miwa’s “jaw-dropping degree of technique.” The album enjoyed seven weeks in the top 10 on Jazz Week’s charts, much like its predecessor, Miwa’s 2017 release Pathways, which also made Jazz Week’s top 10 for several weeks. In a 2017 feature article on Miwa, DownBeat noted her “impressive technique and a tuneful lyricism that combines an Oscar Peterson-ish hard swing with Bill Evans-like introspection.”

For the past decade Miwa’s trio has played regularly at major jazz clubs in their home city of Boston, as well as venues around the world. A favorite of Jazz at Lincoln Center, Miwa was chosen to play on “Marian McPartland & Friends,” part of the Coca-Cola Generations in Jazz Festival. She was also chosen to perform at Lincoln Center’s annual Jazz and Leadership Workshop for The National Urban League’s Youth Summit. Miwa also appears regularly at New York’s famed Blue Note Jazz Club and has performed and/or recorded with a wide range of jazz greats including Sheila Jordan, Slide Hampton, Arturo Sandoval, George Garzone, Jon Faddis, Jerry Bergonzi, Esperanza Spalding, Terri Lyne Carrington, Kevin Mahogany, John Lockwood and Johnathan Blake among others. In 2018 she performed on the main stage at the Atlanta Jazz Festival and the Litchfield Jazz Festival, where her trio drew the largest audience of any act. She is a Yamaha Pianos Artist, JVC Victor Entertainment recording artist, and Boston Phoenix Best Music Poll winner.

Miwa’s story of becoming a jazz musician is full of serendipity and happy twists of fate. In the late 1990s the classically-trained artist auditioned for Berklee College of Music on a lark and ended up winning a full scholarship. She arrived at the school from her homeland of Japan in 1997, intending to stay for a year. In 2019, she’s still in Boston, enriching the city’s musical life and serving as one of the most popular professors in the Berklee piano department.

Act Naturally, the Yoko Miwa Trio’s major label debut in Japan, came out in 2012 on the JVC Victor Entertainment label and the band toured Japan that same year. “She is one of the best jazz pianists in Japan,” said Yozo Iwanami, Jazz Hihyo Magazine.

A native of Kobe, Japan, Miwa didn’t pursue an interest in jazz until she met and studied with Minoru Ozone, a popular television organist and nightclub owner who is the father of pianist Makoto Ozone. Miwa worked at Ozone’s club and as an accompanist and piano instructor at his music school until the great Kobe earthquake of 1995 destroyed both facilities. Then, while continuing to take private lessons from Minoru Ozone, she also pursued musical studies at the Koyo Conservatory in Kobe. From there she won first prize in a scholarship competition to attend Berklee. Miwa quickly began playing with a host of talented students and teachers, and she formed a strong bond with vocal great Kevin Mahogany, who chose the pianist to serve as accompanist in his classes and on his gigs.

Miwa has released eight highly acclaimed CDs: In the Mist of Time (Tokuma, 2000); Fadeless Flower (Polystar, 2002); Canopy of Stars (Polystar, 2004); The Day We Said Goodbye, recorded live at the studios of WGBH-FM (Sunshine Digital, 2006); Live at Scullers (Jazz Cat Amnesty, 2011); Act Naturally (JVC Victor Entertainment, 2012), Pathways (2017), and Keep Talkin’ (2019). 

Source Braitwaite and Katz, with great thanks and her website.