Gold That Frames the Mirror: Brandon Melendez, Jaz Sufi, and Will Giles
Brandon Melendez reads poetry from his debut collection Gold That Frames the Mirror, published in 2019 by Write Bloody Publishing. Brandon will be joined by Kundiman poetry fellows Jaz Sufi and Will Giles.
About the Readers
Brandon Melendez is a Mexican-American poet raised in southern California. His debut collection, Gold That Frames the Mirror, was published in 2019 by Write Bloody Publishing. Melendez is a National Poetry Slam finalist, two-time Rustbelt Poetry Slam finalist, and two-time Berkeley Grand Slam Champion. Melendez received the Djanikian Scholarship from the Adroit Journal in 2018, the 2018 Academy of American Poets Award, and the 2019 Academy of American Poets Award. You can find his poems in journals such as Black Warrior Review, Ninth Letter, PANK, Shenandoah, Sixth Finch, and elsewhere. Melendez has an MFA from Emerson College.
William Nu’utupu Giles is an afakasi poet and arts educator from Hawai’i, who sees Spoken Word Poetry as a continuation of Pacific Oral Tradition. Will is an International and National Underground Poetry Slam Champion, Kundiman Fellow, and touring artist. They have facilitated workshops on empowerment through storytelling in Aotearoa, Papua New Guniea, and Guåhan. Will has performed at the San Francisco Opera House, the Kennedy Center, and Yale University. Their work has been featured by NBC News, the National Parks Service, Button Poetry, and HBO.
Jaz Sufi is a Kundiman fellow, a National Poetry Slam finalist, and the slammaster of the Berkeley Slam, the longest running poetry slam on the West Coast. She was the 2015 Berkeley Grand Slam Champ, and went on to place third in the nation at the 2015 National Poetry Slam. She was also San Francisco’s representative to the 2013 Women of the World Poetry Slam, a featured poet at the 2011 USF Creative Justice Art Show, and has toured internationally, from the Scottish Rites Center to performing alongside the Townsend Opera. Her work has been published or is upcoming in PANK, Birdfeast, the Offing, and elsewhere. She is an MFA candidate at New York University.
