Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha
Encyclopedia
Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha (b. April 21, 1975 in Worcester, Massachusetts
) is a Toronto
-based poet
, writer, educator and social activist. Her writing and performance art focuses on documenting the stories of queer
and trans
people of color, abuse survivors, mixed-race people and diasporic South Asians and Sri Lankans. A central concern of her work is the interconnection of systems of colonialism, abuse and violence.
-nominated Brazen Femme, Without a Net, Geeks, Misfits and Outlaws and A Girl’s Guide To Taking Over the World.
In April 2006 Piepzna-Samarasinha published Consensual Genocide (TSAR Publications
), her first collection of work.
The Revolution Starts At Home: Confronting Intimate Violence Within Activist Communities, which she co-edited with Ching-In Chen and Jai Dulani, was published by South End Press
in May 2011. http://www.southendpress.org/2010/items/87941. Her second book of poetry, Love Cake, is forthcoming from TSAR Publications in fall 2011.
Piepzna-Samarasinha's freelance journalism can be seen in magazines such as Colorlines, NOW
, Xtra
, Bitch
, Bamboo Girl, Herizons and other publications, where she focuses on documenting LGBT of color artists and activists.
Her work has been reviewed in Canadian Literature
.
's RADAR Reading Series, The Loft, Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, as well as at universities including Yale, Sarah Lawrence, Oberlin, Swarthmore and the University of Southern California. Her first one woman show, Grown Woman Show, debuted at Toronto's Alchemy Theatre in August 2007.
Her one-woman show, Grown Woman Show deals talks about being "a queer girl of Sri Lankan descent", and the incest by her mother that she suffered. Grown Woman Show has been performed at at the National Queer Arts Festival, Swarthmore College, Yale University, Reed College and McGill University.
In April 2007, Piepzna-Samarasinha and Maria Cristina Rangel, aka Cherry Galette, launched Mangos With Chili, a "floating cabaret" annual tour of queer
and transgender
people of color writers, dancers and performance artists, "like Sister Spit, only all brown." Since 2004, she has curated and produced Toronto's Browngirlworld series of spoken word performance nights by queer and trans artists of color. She is also involved with the biannual Asian Pacific Islander Spoken Word and Poetry Summit.
She was the 2009-2010 Artist in Residence at UC Berkeley’s June Jordan’s Poetry for the People. From 2009 to the present, she has been a commissioned performer with Sins Invalid, the national performance organization of queer people with disabilities and chronic illnesses.
Toronto (SOY), and, with Gein Wong, is an organizer of the Asian Arts Freedom School, a writing, performance and activist education program for Asian/Pacific Islander youth. She is also involved with The Canadian Sri Lankan Women's Action Network, an activist group seeking to promote peace with justice through a feminist lens to end Sri Lanka's 24 year civil war.
Piepzna-Samarasinha is a 2004 recipient of the City of Toronto's Community Service Volunteer Awards.
Worcester, Massachusetts
Worcester is a city and the county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, as of the 2010 Census the city's population is 181,045, making it the second largest city in New England after Boston....
) is a Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
-based poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
, writer, educator and social activist. Her writing and performance art focuses on documenting the stories of queer
Queer
Queer is an umbrella term for sexual minorities that are not heterosexual, heteronormative, or gender-binary. In the context of Western identity politics the term also acts as a label setting queer-identifying people apart from discourse, ideologies, and lifestyles that typify mainstream LGBT ...
and trans
Transgender
Transgender is a general term applied to a variety of individuals, behaviors, and groups involving tendencies to vary from culturally conventional gender roles....
people of color, abuse survivors, mixed-race people and diasporic South Asians and Sri Lankans. A central concern of her work is the interconnection of systems of colonialism, abuse and violence.
Published works
Her writing has been published in the anthologies Homelands: Women's Journeys Across Race, Time and Place, Bitchfest, We Don't Need Another Wave, Colonize This!, Dangerous Families, With a Rough Tongue: Femmes Write Porn, the Lambda Literary AwardLambda Literary Award
Lambda Literary Awards are awarded yearly by the US-based Lambda Literary Foundation to published works which celebrate or explore LGBT themes. Categories include Humor, Romance and Biography. To qualify, a book must have been published in the United States in the year current to the award...
-nominated Brazen Femme, Without a Net, Geeks, Misfits and Outlaws and A Girl’s Guide To Taking Over the World.
In April 2006 Piepzna-Samarasinha published Consensual Genocide (TSAR Publications
TSAR Publications
TSAR Publications is a Toronto-based nonprofit book publisher focusing on multicultural literature, particularly Canadian authors and subject matter....
), her first collection of work.
The Revolution Starts At Home: Confronting Intimate Violence Within Activist Communities, which she co-edited with Ching-In Chen and Jai Dulani, was published by South End Press
South End Press
South End Press is a non-profit book publisher run on a model of participatory economics. It was founded in 1977 by Michael Albert, Lydia Sargent, John Schall, Pat Walker, Juliet Schor, Mary Lea, Joe Bowring, and Dave Millikan, among others, in Boston's South End...
in May 2011. http://www.southendpress.org/2010/items/87941. Her second book of poetry, Love Cake, is forthcoming from TSAR Publications in fall 2011.
Piepzna-Samarasinha's freelance journalism can be seen in magazines such as Colorlines, NOW
NOW (magazine)
Now is a free weekly newspaper in Toronto, Canada. It was first printed on September 10, 1981 by Michael Hollett and Alice Klein. Now is an alternative weekly mixing arts and entertainment news with political coverage....
, Xtra
Xtra!
Xtra! is a gay magazine, on newsprint in tabloid format, published by Pink Triangle Press in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.-History and content :...
, Bitch
Bitch (magazine)
bitch, whose tagline is feminist response to pop culture, is an independent, quarterly magazine published in Portland, Oregon with more than 50,000 readers. bitch magazine is one branch of the reader-supported non-profit organization bitch media...
, Bamboo Girl, Herizons and other publications, where she focuses on documenting LGBT of color artists and activists.
Her work has been reviewed in Canadian Literature
Canadian Literature (journal)
Canadian Literature is a quarterly of criticism and review published out of the University of British Columbia.Canadian Literature was founded in 1959 by George Woodcock, who produced 73 issues before retiring in 1977. After Woodcock's retirement, the University of British Columbia invited William...
.
Performance work
As a spoken word artist she has performed widely in the United States, Canada and Sri Lanka. She has featured at Bar 13, Michelle TeaMichelle Tea
Michelle Tea is an American author, poet, and literary arts organizer whose autobiographical works explore queer culture, feminism, race, class, prostitution, and other topics. She is originally from Chelsea, Massachusetts and currently lives in San Francisco...
's RADAR Reading Series, The Loft, Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, as well as at universities including Yale, Sarah Lawrence, Oberlin, Swarthmore and the University of Southern California. Her first one woman show, Grown Woman Show, debuted at Toronto's Alchemy Theatre in August 2007.
Her one-woman show, Grown Woman Show deals talks about being "a queer girl of Sri Lankan descent", and the incest by her mother that she suffered. Grown Woman Show has been performed at at the National Queer Arts Festival, Swarthmore College, Yale University, Reed College and McGill University.
In April 2007, Piepzna-Samarasinha and Maria Cristina Rangel, aka Cherry Galette, launched Mangos With Chili, a "floating cabaret" annual tour of queer
Queer
Queer is an umbrella term for sexual minorities that are not heterosexual, heteronormative, or gender-binary. In the context of Western identity politics the term also acts as a label setting queer-identifying people apart from discourse, ideologies, and lifestyles that typify mainstream LGBT ...
and transgender
Transgender
Transgender is a general term applied to a variety of individuals, behaviors, and groups involving tendencies to vary from culturally conventional gender roles....
people of color writers, dancers and performance artists, "like Sister Spit, only all brown." Since 2004, she has curated and produced Toronto's Browngirlworld series of spoken word performance nights by queer and trans artists of color. She is also involved with the biannual Asian Pacific Islander Spoken Word and Poetry Summit.
She was the 2009-2010 Artist in Residence at UC Berkeley’s June Jordan’s Poetry for the People. From 2009 to the present, she has been a commissioned performer with Sins Invalid, the national performance organization of queer people with disabilities and chronic illnesses.
Teaching
Piepzna-Samarasinha teaches writing to LGBT youth at Supporting Our YouthSupporting Our Youth
Supporting Our Youth is a Toronto, Ontario, Canada based organization. It runs programs and events geared to supporting the special needs of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, transsexual and intersex youth. SOY is a community development project created to help improve the lives of LGBTTI youth...
Toronto (SOY), and, with Gein Wong, is an organizer of the Asian Arts Freedom School, a writing, performance and activist education program for Asian/Pacific Islander youth. She is also involved with The Canadian Sri Lankan Women's Action Network, an activist group seeking to promote peace with justice through a feminist lens to end Sri Lanka's 24 year civil war.
Awards
Piepzna-Samarasinha is the 2009 Bent Institute Mentor of the Bent Writing Institute of Seattle, WA.Piepzna-Samarasinha is a 2004 recipient of the City of Toronto's Community Service Volunteer Awards.
External links
- brownstargirl Website
- Poetry example
- Supporting Our Youth (SOY) Website
- Mangos With Chili
- TSAR Publications
- rabble.ca interview by Elizabeth RuthElizabeth RuthElizabeth Ruth is a Canadian novelist.Ruth was born in Windsor, Ontario, was raised by a single mother, and lived in the United States, Canada, and Colombia while growing up. Ruth earned an Honours BA and an MA from the University of Toronto.Before becoming a published writer, she worked in social...