For today’s show, Ali celebrates the 15th annual Passing the Mic Intergenerational Hip Hop Festival with First Wave creative director James Gavins and student poets Azura Tyabji and Zack Lesmeister, who read samples of their poetry on air and share what it’s like being an “artivist” in Madison.
The First Wave Hip Hop Theatre Ensemble are performing this Saturday, October 16 at 6 p.m. at the Union Theater Play Circle with special guest Mahogany Browne. More information available at the Wisconsin Book Festival website.
James Gavins is the creative director of the Office of Multicultural Arts Initiatives and the First Wave Hip Hop & Urban Arts Learning Community at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
Azura Tyabji is a poet and performer from Seattle, Washington and author of the poetry collection Stepwell (Poetry Northwest, 2018). She is a First Wave Scholar at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
Zack Lesmeister is a mixed queer Vietnamese American poet based out of St. Louis and Madison. They are a First Wave Scholar at the University of Wisconsin–Madison studying creative writing.