Guild Complex is proud to present the first Poets Across the Generations program of the millennium, adiscussion between award-winning author Li-Young Lee and renowned performance poet Dennis Kim. Lee’s work has a timeless, lyrical quality that has earned him critical acclaim and a wide readership.
Influenced by poets from Rilke to Geral Stern, his poetry is ‘full of passionate memory, resonant images of intimacy, and inexorable sadness” (Library Journal); he is a master of his art and his craft. Dennis Kim is a member of the popular spoken-word ensemble, “I was born with two tongues.” With his contagious hip-Hop rhythms, strong poetics and unapologetic message, his work shows talent, anger, and a lot of heart. Kim has performed in venues across the country.
Li-Young Lee was born of Chinese parents in 1957 in Jakarta, Indonesia. In 1969 his father, after spending a year in jail as a political prisoner, fled Indonesia with hiss family and came to the United States. The recipient of many awards and honors, Lee’s publications include the books of poetry Rose and The City in Which I love You , as well as the memoir of his family’s exile and emigration, The Winged Seed. Dennis Kim is a member of “i was born with two tongues,” a Chicago-based spoken word ensemble. A second generation Korean-American, Dennis began reading poetry on the Chicago spoken word scene and recently qualified for the National Poetry Slam as a member of Chicago’s MadBar Team.