Poetry Atlanta Presents... Theresa Davis & Gypsee Yo

Poetry Atlanta and Georgia Center for the Book present an evening with Women of the World Slam Champs Theresa Davis and Gypsee Yo on Wednesday, June 29, 7:15 at the Decatur Library, 215 Sycamore St. The event is free and open to the public.

Theresa Davis is a poet, spoken word artist and teacher. In 2011, she won the Women of the World Poetry Slam held in Columbus, Ohio. She has released two albums of her work,  This is for Family and The Uncivil War, as well as two published collections, Torn and Head Games. She is a member of The Word Diversity Collective/Art Amok and represented Atlanta as a member of the 2006 - 2010 Art Amok Slam Team. Davis has shared the stage with Eve Ensler, Jane Fonda, Pearl Cleage and Doria Roberts in The Vagina Monologues, with Berniece Johnson Reagan (Sweet Honey in the Rock) and recently with Def Poet Jon Goode in their joint production of Wish You Were Here at 7 Stages Theater in Atlanta.

Jonida Beqo a.k.a. Gypsee Yo is a native of Tirana, Albania, currently residing in Atlanta, Ga. She received her B.A. in Theatre from the University of Alabama in Birmingham, where she founded Lighthouse Productions, an independent theatre company dedicated to original works that educate about and empower communities in crisis. In 2003 the American College Theatre Festival and the Kennedy Center for the Arts recognized Jonida’s one-woman show “The Women I Know” with the Dell’Arte Diversity Award. She has been published in magazines and anthologies such as Mehr Licht!, Java Monkey Speaks Anthology, Her Circle Ezine , Estrology, as well as in a series of periodicals in Albanian. Jonida is the author of three poetry collections in her native tongue, and of four audio CD collections in English, including Kitchensinkdrama, and Firstborn Daughters. As Gypsee Yo , she performs internationally as a spoken word artist, and has competed in slams worldwide, most recently coming in second at the 2011 Women of the World Poetry Slam.