The 2023 Power of Words Celebration
Transformation, Liberation, & Celebration Through the Spoken, Written, & Sung Word November 11, 2023 Online All Day(Don't miss out on the Early Bird Discount! It ends Oct. 1, 2023.) We welcome you to our 18th Power of Words conference, a special celebration of how we can build and sustain community, forge enduring individual and social change, and discover pathways to greater healing, meaning, and joy through writing, storytelling, theater, music, spoken word, and other word arts. Come connect with over two dozen musicians, storytellers, writers, spoken word artists, community leaders, educators, and health professionals to celebrate and investigate how the arts can promote justice, healing, community-building, and social change. This event is also a benefit for the TLA Network which, like many nonprofits, has struggled during these pandemic years, and we are deeply grateful to our visionary presenters, who are all donating their time to help us grow and flourish. But funding isn't the only thing we'll be raising: this conference will bring together people from around the world to lift our spirits, forge new initiatives, and renew our vision of the power of words to catalyze positive change. Just as the power of words exceeds bounds, our one-day celebration conference goes beyond a day with special open mics to accommodate people from around the world and many extras you can enjoy beyond the conference, including:
2023 Power of Words Presenters, Performers, and Panelists
Performers (Live & Recorded): Kevin Willmott * Ada Cheng * Glenn North * Joy Zimmerman Gregg Levoy * David Romtvedt * Erin McGrane * Kelley Hunt * Seema Reza * Kathryn Lorenzen Workshop Presenters & Panelists: Amanda Lacson * Akwi Nji * Marianela Medrano * Alec Esperanza Vanita Leatherwood * Sydney Fowler * David Kopacz * Jen Harris * Ben Weakley * Fiona Bolger Riham Adly * Angie Ebba * Kathryn Lorenzen * Kelly DuMar * Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg Explore the POW Conference Schedule Presenters & Workshops, Panel & Performances Register for the Conference Now Become a Power of Words 2023 Sponsor |
Testimonials from Past Conferences
"Come and meet some seriously interesting and diverse people with a love of transformational politics, poetry and language. I loved the whole experience!" "I always appreciate the comraderie at this event. People are non-judgemental and open. I don’t think it would be possible to feel more accepted or at peace. This truly satisfies and transcends the human experience by combining heart with art." — Anonymous "The Transformation Language Arts conference provides a home for artists, writers and musicians who want to help create a peaceful world. I go to learn, I go to contribute, I go to sustain hope." | "As an artist and philanthropist who participates in artistic/humanities conference and festivals throughout the United States, Europe, Canada, Mexico and the Middle East - I'm very impressed with this conference! The workshop and performance presenters were diverse; audience participants supportive; key note speakers memorable; staff magnificent. A genuine pleasure to be in attendance!" "The TLA Conference is an adventure of diving into a deep pool of unexpected discoveries. Some are delightful and awe-inspiring, some frightening and strange, but the immersion in diversity and the authenticity of the presenter's (and participant's) stories and presence is palpable and real. A necessary reminder of what we are so starved for in the current climate of media and political rhetoric. If change is going to be sustainable and humane, we need more people trained and working with the qualities of these warriors. The Conference is a way to either dip a toe in or dive in head first." — Robin Russell | "The Power of Words Conference...in the midst of the unpredictability of daily life, for a few precious days I found myself surrounded by beauty, reminded yet again how art and wordcraft are not luxuries, to paraphrase Audre Lorde, but tools for survival, 'sanctuaries and spawning grounds for the most radical and daring of ideas.' We think and language into existence, whether our language takes the shape of words, images, sounds, or movements, summoning new worlds with our breath and our bodies. And as we come together to share we move away from isolation and fear and into one another, drawing close to the hearth where we warm and nourish ourselves before heading back out. This is the power of words -- that something so fragile, awkward, limited and limiting can, in the end, still be a way in: a key in a lock, a warm breeze signaling an end to winter's slumber, a torch to light the way." |
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