- Steven Reigns
Steven Reigns (born
1975 ) is an Americanpoet ,artist andactivist . [http://www.stevenreigns.com Steven Reigns :: Poet, Artist, Educator ] ]Reigns grew up in the suburbs of
St. Louis ,Missouri in an abusive home. [https://www.ala.org/Template.cfm?Section=programb&Template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=75720 ALA | 2004 ] ] Reigns frequented the library at an early age and discovered the works of writers that had a huge impact on him:Sapphire ,Essex Hemphill ,Dorothy Allison ,Edmund White ,Christopher Bram ,Anaïs Nin ,Irene Zahava ,Amy Scholder ,John Preston andAudre Lorde .He was Literary Director for The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual Center of
Tampa for two years. [http://velvetmafia.com/17/bios.php#reigns Velvet Mafia's Hit List - Contributor's Bios Issue 17 ] ]Reigns graduated from the
University of South Florida . Later he organized Loving in Fear, a gay, lesbian, bisexual, queer literary event in response toHillsborough County ’s lack of gay, lesbian, bisexual or queer programming. [http://www.sptimes.com/2004/06/18/news_pf/Citytimes/Literary_showcase_hon.shtml Citytimes: Literary showcase honors gay authors ] ]He recently recounted the experience in a recent Watermark Magazine article about
National Library Week . [http://www.watermarkonline.com/content.php?cid=2513 Watermark Online - Florida's Distinctive Gay & Lesbian Publication ] ]He was the first to speak to the commissioners about their discriminatory policy at the library.http://www.geocities.com/bocc2005tb/bc050615-pc.htm] [http://bn9.com/content/36/2005/6/15/93424.html Free speech or inappropriate content? - Bay News 9 ] ] http://www.hillsboroughcounty.org/htv/caption/scripts/bc050615.rtf]
Reigns poetry, art, and activist work have made him a valuable speaker. Reigns has been keynote speaker at
Rollins College ,http://media.www.thesandspur.org/media/storage/paper623/news/2005/03/04/News/Upcoming.Glbta.Banquet-883344.shtms] Stonewall Library,http://www.indynews.4t.com/_archives/0106/CBB.html] and at the American Library Associations Annual Breakfast.Reigns also headed a program in
Pinellas County doingHIV outreach and testing to minorities in the inner city. [http://www.sptimes.com/2005/03/14/news_pf/State/For_blacks__AIDS_sile.shtml State: For blacks, AIDS silent epidemic ] ] He has also assisted on a panel with Los Angeles County on standards of care for HIV.Reigns has participated in several collaborative online projects, such as Heather Champs’ Mirror Project [http://www.mirrorproject.com/mirror/?id=13182 The Mirror Project | Steven Reigns | Valentine's Day ] ] and Anni Holm’s Getting My Name Out There. [http://anniholm.blogspot.com/2006/11/steven-reigns-los-angeles-county.html Web Biennial 2007 - Anni Holm - Getting My Name Out There: Steven Reigns, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California, USA ] ]
He is still motivated and moved by his early library influences. He is an
Anaïs Nin scholar [http://www.anaisnin.com/whatsnew/ Book Tastings ] ] and presented at The Sapphire Symposium. [http://www.asu.edu/clas/english/features/sapphire.html ASU Department of English Special Feature ] ]Reigns has written three books of poetry, "Your Dead Body is My Welcome Mat", "Ignited", and "Cartography". He is at work on a new collection "Inheritance". He has been published in "Velvet Mafia", [http://velvetmafia.com/17/reigns.php Velvet Mafia Presents Poetry by Steven Reigns ] ] a poetry chapbook on gay and lesbian’s response to war, "Outside the Green Zone", [http://www.myspace.com/outsidegreenzone MySpace.com - Cleo - 48 - Garçon - ATLANTA, Georgia - www.myspace.com/outsidegreenzone ] ] was Mr. November in the "Most Intriguing and Sentual Male Poet Calendar". [http://www.poeticinspire.com/calendarletter.html A Menendez Publication ] ]
His artwork has been shown in galleries throughout the country.http://www.studioinyoureye.com/press/RiskEsposure022004.pdf] [http://www.arthurmag.com/magpie/?p=1884 MAGPIE » Arthur Magazine Bulletin No. 0078 - Arthur Magazine blogs for you ] ]
In January of
2007 , Reigns embarked on a 7 years living/art project under the mentorship ofLinda Montano . [http://www.franklinfurnace.org/goings_on/goings_on/07_01_30.html#5 Goings On January 30, 2007 ] ]References
ee also
* [http://www.stevenreigns.com Official Steven Reigns Web-site]
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