The Howard County Poetry & Literature Society (HoCoPoLitSo), in partnership with Howard Community College’s Office of Student Life, English/World Languages Division, and Arts & Humanities Division, presents the annual Blackbird Poetry Festival’s “Nightbird” at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 23 at Smith Theatre, Horowitz Center, Howard Community College (HCC). Nightbird features Taylor Mali, one of the most well-known poets to emerge from the poetry slam movement. A book signing and reception will follow.

Tickets to the Nightbird reading are $20 general admission, $15 for teachers, students, and seniors. Tickets can be purchased at www.hocopolitso.org or http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/1332550. For more information, contact HoCoPoLitSo at (443) 518-4568 or hocopolitso@yahoo.com.

The New York Times calls Mali “a ranting comic showman and literary provocateur.” A passionate advocate for teachers and education, Mali trained at Oxford for the stage and appeared in the 1997 film SlamNation. His poem “What Teachers Make” is a 4 million-hit YouTube sensation.

In the afternoon, Mali will give a shorter, free, and open-to-the-public reading at Smith Theatre with student poets at 2:30 p.m. Earlier in the day, slam poet Chris August will facilitate creative writing and performance poetry workshops for HCC students. Mali and August will tape an edition of The Writing Life, HoCoPoLitSo’s Bravo-TV Arts for Change Award-winning interview show broadcast on cable and YouTube.

Seniors in Columbia can request transportation by calling the Senior Events Shuttle at
(410) 715-3087. HCC is an accessible campus. Accommodation requests should be made to HoCoPoLitSo by April 15, 2015.

For more information about HoCoPoLitSo and its sponsored programs and activities, visit http://hocopolitso.org.

Taylor Mali reads “What Teachers Make.”

HoCoPoLitSo is a nonprofit organization designed to enlarge the audience for contemporary poetry and literature and celebrate culturally diverse literary heritages. Founded in 1974 by National Book Award finalist Ellen Conroy Kennedy, HoCoPoLitSo accomplishes its mission by sponsoring readings with critically acclaimed writers; literary workshops; programs for students; and The Writing Life, a writer-to-writer interview show seen on YouTube, HCC-TV, and other local stations. HoCoPoLitSo receives funding from the Maryland State Arts Council, an agency funded by the state of Maryland and the National Endowment for the Arts; Howard County Arts Council through a grant from Howard County government; The Columbia Film Society; Community Foundation of Howard County; the Jim and Patty Rouse Charitable Foundation; and individual contributors.