TCC’S 16th annual Literary Festival to be held April 3-6

Tidewater Community College’s 16th annual Literary Festival celebrates the theme “Voice of Freedom: American Political Life” with keynote speaker Mayda Del Valle, an author, poet, performer and teacher.

The week-long festival from April 3-6 features Del Valle on April 6 at 12:30 p.m. at the Portsmouth Campus Student Center.

Events are free and open to the public.

In 2001, Del Valle was the youngest person and first Latina to win the National Slam Poetry title. She went on to appear in the HBO comedy series “Def Poetry Jam” and was a contributing writer and original cast member of the Tony Award-winning “Def Poetry Jam” on Broadway.

She has been featured in Latina Magazine, the New York Times and Smithsonian Magazine as one of America’s Young Innovators in the Arts and Sciences. In May of 2009, she was invited to perform at the White House.

Since 2011, Del Valle has been a teaching artist with the poetry-based nonprofit youth organization Street Poets, facilitating workshops around Los Angeles-area high schools and probation camps.

Others reading at the festival are:

Tom Robotham
April 3
12:30 p.m., 5th Floor, Student Center, Norfolk Campus
The Old Dominion University professor is an award-winning writer and editor with more than 30 years of experience. He has published hundreds of articles and essays in regional and national magazines and is the author of six books on American culture.

Tim Seibles
April 4
12:30 p.m., Black Box Theatre, Academic Building, Chesapeake Campus
The ODU English professor approaches themes of racial tension, class conflict and intimacy from several directions at once in poems with plainspoken yet fast-turning language. Seibles is the author of several collections of poetry, including “Body Moves,” “Hurdy-Gurdy” and “Fast Animal,” which won the Theodore Roethke Memorial Poetry Prize.

Drew Anderson
April 5
12:30 p.m., 2nd Floor, Joint-Use Library, Virginia Beach Campus
Hip-hop artist, slam poet and veteran middle and high school teacher Drew Anderson connects with audiences with his performance style and knack for satire. He published his first collection of poetry in 2001, “Droopy: Dat Boy’s A Fool,” through his company Broke Baller Enterprises. Other published works include “Feel No Way: The Drew Testament” and “I’ll Probably Die Writing.” Anderson performs under the moniker “Droopy the Broke Baller” and has been a coach and judge at a number of performance poetry competitions, including DC Scores Youth Slam, Higher Achievement and Upward Bound.

TCC faculty members and students will also read from their original works.

Chesapeake Campus Student Center, Big Otter Room
April 5, 12:30-1:30 p.m.

Norfolk Campus Student Center, 5th Floor
April 4, 12:30-1:30 p.m.

Portsmouth Campus Student Center, Multipurpose Room
April 4, 12:30-1:30 p.m.

Virginia Beach Campus Student Center, 2nd Floor Lounge
April 4, 12:30-1:30 p.m.

For more information call TCC’s Information Center at 757-822-1122.

For maps and directions, visit www.tcc.edu/locations.