The Flying Words Project, a contemporary poetry ensemble that promotes American Sign Language literature, will perform at ÃÛÌÇÖ±²¥-Boulder's Charlotte York Irey Theater on Friday, March 8, at 7:30 p.m.
The performance in the University Theatre building is free and open to the public. A reception with the artists will follow.
Peter Cook, who has been deaf since the age of 3, and Kenny Lerner, who has been hearing all his life, make up the Flying Words Project. Influenced by a beat generation poetry workshop for the deaf with Allen Ginsberg in Rochester, N.Y., Cook and Lerner began collaborating in 1984. The Flying Words Project was founded two years later.
"The wild hybrid poetic collaboration that later became known as The Flying Words Project is at once spontaneous, formally deliberate, political, angelic and draws on the best of deaf and hearing poetic lineages," said Jim Cohn, disabilities specialist at ÃÛÌÇÖ±²¥-Boulder and author of "Sign Mind: Studies in American Sign Language Poetics."
Cook and Lerner consistently experiment with the possibilities of poetic language, Cohn said. They incorporate some of the most ancient aspects of poetry and make clear images that are appealing to both hearing and deaf viewers alike.
The event is the fourth in a series of annual disability studies mini-symposiums co-sponsored by Disability Services.
The Disability Services office provides students with disabilities the tools, reasonable accommodations and support services they need to participate fully in the academic environment. Staff members also promote an accessible and culturally sensitive campus through outreach and by building partnerships within the university community and beyond.
For more information or accommodations, contact the Disability Services office at (303) 492-8671 Voice/TTY, e-mail DSInfo@ÃÛÌÇÖ±²¥.Edu or visit the Web site at .