Taylor Mali

(GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass.) – On Friday, November 9, 2012, at 5:30 p.m., four-time National Poetry Slam champion Taylor Mali will read a selection of works at Crissey Farm in Great Barrington to benefit CATA.  There is a suggested donation of $10 for the reading and reception.

CATA (Community Access to the Arts) will host a writing workshop earlier in the day facilitated by Mali. Participants will include CATA’s writers with disabilities and creative writing faculty, as well as friends of CATA and members of the community.  Mali will read some of the work produced in the workshop, as well as a selection of his own highly acclaimed writing.

One of the most well-known poets to have emerged from the poetry slam movement and one of the original poets to appear on the HBO series “Def Poetry Jam,” Mali is also the author of two collections of poetry and four CDs of spoken word.  Most recently, he released a book of essays called “What Teachers Make: In Praise of the Greatest Job in the World.”

This event is the first of many projects in celebration of CATA’s 20th anniversary.  Community Access to the Arts was founded in 1993 by Sandra Newman to nurture and celebrate the creativity of people with disabilities through shared experiences in the visual and performing arts. CATA now serves over 500 people with disabilities in Berkshire County.