Regie Gibson
Poet, songwriter, author, workshop facilitator,
and educator Regie Gibson has performed, taught,
and lectured at schools, universities, theaters
and various other venues on two continents
and in seven countries. Most recently in Havana
Cuba. Regie and his work appear in the New
Line Cinema film love jones, based largely
on events in his life. The poem entitled "Brother
to the Night (A Blues for Nina)" appears
on the movie soundtrack and is performed by
the film's star, Larenz Tate. Regie performed
"Hey Nappyhead" in the film with
world-renowned percussionist and composer
Kahil El Zabar, composer of the score for
the musical The Lion King.
Regie has performed at: The Art Institute
of Chicago, Chicago's Museum of Contemporary
Art, Chicago Field Museum of Natural History,
Chicago Cultural Center, Elgin Symphony Orchestra
Hall with the Elgin Symphony Orchestra, Chicago
Symphony Orchestra Hall with the members of
the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at the Day
of Art Festival, Chicago1s Steppenwolf Theater1s
award-winning Traffic Series with David Amram
(Composed music & collaborated with Jack
Kerouac & Allen Ginsberg.),Harvard Universities
Longfellow Hall for the Cambridge Poetry Festival,
and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland,
OH.
Regie has personally worked with: Gwendolyn
Brooks (Poet Laureate of Illinois & Pulitzer
Prize winner for poetry.), The Last Poets,
Amiri Baraka, Sonia Sanchez, Roy Ayers, Fareed
Haque, Kurt Vonnegut, David Amram (Composed
music & collaborated with Jack Kerouac
& Allen Ginsberg.), Harold Levi, The Monks
of the Drepong Gamong Monastery, members of
the world famous AACM (Association for the
Advancement of Creative Musicians), Mos Def
(Hip Hop artist), David Murray (Saxophonist
with Miles Davis.), Sterling Plumpp (Professor
at the University of Illinois, Chicago. &
an author), Marc Smith (creator of the international
(Poetry Slam phenomenon), Patricia Smith (3
time individual National Poetry Slam champ,
columnist & author.), Reg E. Gaines (Writer
of 3Bring On The Noise, Bring On The Funk2
with Savion Glover.), and many other artist
in musical genres including World, Celtic,
Hip Hop, Jazz, Funk, Blues, Salsa, Andelusian,
East Indian, House, and European Classical.
Regie has taught, lectured and facilitated
workshops for: the Cambridge Poetry Festival
at Harvard University, the Poetry Center of
the Art Institute of Chicago, Detroit Black
Writers Guild, Inside Out of Detroit, MI,
University of Chicago Lab School, Northwestern
University, Roosevelt University, University
of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Eastern Michigan
University, National Louis University, Washtenaw
State College, Youth Speaks of San Francisco,
CA, University Without Walls of San Antonio,
TX, as a Chernin Center for the Arts Community
Writers Fellow, a writer in residence at the
Effi O. Ellis Center sponsored through National
Louis University, and for public schools systems
throughout the States of Illinois, Michigan,
Ohio, California, Rhode Island, and Philadelphia.
Regie is the 1998 National Poetry Slam Individual
Champion, was selected one of Chicago Tribune's
Artist of the Year for Excellence (1998) for
his poetry, will co-judge the Chicago Sun-Times
2001 Poetry Competition with Marc Smith (Creator
of the international (Poetry Slam phenomenon.)
and Mark Strand (University of Chicago professor
& 1999 Pulitzer Prize winner for poetry),
and is regularly featured on National Public
Radio.
Regie has toured with the Chicago Mask Ensemble,
performing dramatic and poetic adaptations
of common myths from around the world. Co-produced
the play "The Mystery of Fire Bread"
with Frau Marianne Buchwald, while performing
in Europe with the Sharnier Theater in the
cities of Hanover, Frankfurt, Berlin, and
the Literature Haus in Hamburg, Germany. Performed
at the Night of Sacred Music in Chicago. His
original works of poetry have been dramatized
and scored by classical flautist and professor
Janet Misurell Mitchell and produced and directed
by Eric Rosen for the Steppenwolf Theater's
Words on Fire production.
In 1999 Regie performed for the award-winning
Traffic Series at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theater
where Regie adapted the work of Kurt Vonnegut.
Mr. Vonnegut was in attendance, and raved
about the eloquence with which his work was
rendered. "When you perform, you are
supersonic and in the stratosphere where you
can see the Earth really as a ball, moist,
blue-green. You sing and chant for all of
us. Nobody gets left out." -- Kurt Vonnegut
In 1999 Regie founded the Church of The Funky
Word, a literary and musical arts ensemble
utilizing ancient, contemporary and original
literary text combined with world music and
rituals from various world cultures.
Regie is widely published in anthologies,
magazines and journals, such as Power Lines,
An Anthology of Poetry along with three Pulitzer-Prize
winning poets Gwendolyn Brooks, Yosef Komunyakaa,
and Lisel Mueller, his first full-length book
of poetry Storms Beneath The Skin (EM Press)
was released in 2001. www.em-press.com
