Creative State Presents

Poetry Center Celebrates Nanao Sakaki

907614011 — Thu, 09 May 2013 17:49:24 +0000

May 9, 2013

SF WEEKLY -- Nanao Sakaki spent nearly 10 years in the U.S., mostly in San Francisco but also wandering by foot. A pivotal nexus between Buddhism and the Beat movement, the publication of Sakaki's first collection of poems will be celebrated with tributes and performances by major writers Snyder, Michael McClure, Joanne Kyger, and Gary Lawless, along with author and Heydey Books guru Malcolm Margolin and host Patricia Wakida. A Celebration of Nanao Sakaki starts at 7 p.m. on Friday May 10, at McRoskey Mattress Company, 1687 Market, S.F. Admission is $5-10; call (415) 338-2227 or visit sfsu.edu/~poetry/index.html.

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Alum Zack Yakovlev is Half of House DJ Duo Bells and Whistles

907614011 — Thu, 09 May 2013 15:59:07 +0000

May 9, 2013

SAN FRANCISCO EXAMINER -- Yakovlev graduated from San Francisco State University with a degree in broadcasting, as well as electronic commercial arts with an emphasis in audio production. Rieffel attended Pyramind audio production school. They threw their first regular party at the elite Sir Francis Drake Hotel on the 21st floor. “We were barbacks there and the managers loved us,” he said. “It was an awesome venue because the whole city was around you. We just had the crazy idea to bring a bunch of speakers up there and some techno and minimal.”

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Professor Emeritus Herbert Blau, Iconoclastic Theatre Director, Dies at 87

907614011 — Wed, 08 May 2013 21:26:52 +0000

May 8, 2013

THE NEW YORK TIMES -- Herbert Blau, a fiercely iconoclastic theatre director, scholar and theorist who staged some of the earliest productions of Beckett, Brecht and Genet in the United States, died in Seattle on Friday, his 87th birthday. Mr. Blau briefly helped lead the Repertory Theater of Lincoln Center in New York, but he is probably best remembered for starting, with Jules Irving, the Actor’s Workshop in San Francisco in 1952. Originally a teaching studio, it grew into a vibrant theatre company known for feisty experimentalism and became a vanguard in the emergence of the regional theatre movement. Irving, whom Mr. Blau had met at New York University, had also done graduate work at Stanford. Both joined the faculty of San Francisco State College and simultaneously set up the Actor’s Workshop above a judo academy.

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Gifts for the Fraduating Gator Include Movies, Books, Music Featuring Alumni, Faculty

907614011 — Wed, 08 May 2013 21:26:43 +0000

May 8, 2013

SF STATE NEWS -- Congratulate this year's graduates by treating them to a gift with a Gator connection. Choose from the following ideas, brought to you by talented alumni and faculty. Treat movie-lovers to a nail-biting thriller with “Argo,“ available on DVD. Ethan Van der Ryn (B.A., ’85) received an Academy Award nomination for Best Sound Editing for this drama. “Life of Pi” is also out on DVD, featuring Oscar-nominated production design by David Gropman (B.A., ’74). Sports fans and history buffs can read “Baseball’s Great Experiment: Jackie Robinson and His Legacy.” Late History Professor Jules Tygiel wrote this gripping account of the first African American Major League Baseball player. For poetry fans, choose “Postmodern American Poetry.” First published 19 years ago and now revamped by Professor of Creative Writing Paul Hoover, this anthology includes more than 500 poems. Pick up a copy of “Small Fires,” the new album by The Stone Foxes, whose members attended SF State.

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Former Professor Herbert Blau Changed Theatre Landscape

907614011 — Wed, 08 May 2013 21:26:36 +0000

May 8, 2013

SEATTLE TIMES -- He made his first major impact on the U.S. theater scene in the 1950s, as co-founder of the daring troupe The San Francisco Actor’s Workshop. With fellow San Francisco State College professor Jules Irving, Mr. Blau diverted from the standard commercial stage repertoire of the time and created a large ensemble of artists who produced a boundary-pushing array of sophisticated experimental plays by such European authors as Harold Pinter, Jean Genet and Bertolt Brecht, and applied offbeat approaches to classic works. In a radical move for the time, they also famously staged Beckett’s “Waiting for Godot” for inmates at the San Quentin maximum-security prison in 1957. “Everything I love about theater, I first encountered at The Workshop: Passion, debate, generosity, daring, beauty, artistic honesty, mad humor, community, political engagement and, most importantly for me, the example of a true company of actors,” commented Daniel Sullivan (a member of the Workshop, and lat...

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Alum Safiya Martinez's 'So You Can Hear Me' Plays at The Marsh

907614011 — Wed, 08 May 2013 16:39:06 +0000

May 8, 2013

SAN FRANCISCO SENTINEL -- The Marsh San Francisco is proud to present Safiya Martinez’s new solo show, “So You Can Hear Me,” a love letter to New York and voices from its public schools. The show is based on her experience as a young 23-year-old who, flashing hubris like a 9mm pistol, signed up to teach special education classes to middle and high school students in the South Bronx public schools after only three weeks of formal training. Martinez is a playwright, performer, poet and educator. She began her career as a dancer and was a soloist in the Obie-nominated site-specific work entitled “Demeter’s Daughter” in New York City. She studied Vagonova Ballet technique from Madame Darvash at Broadway Dance Center, and Horton and Graham modern technique at Alvin Ailey School of Dance. Her poetry has been published in Generations Literary Magazine. She recently received a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing at San Francisco State.

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Student Nick Oh Sculpts Dual Identity

907614011 — Wed, 08 May 2013 16:18:12 +0000

May 8, 2013

GOLDEN GATE XPRESS -- A young man in clay-smudged jeans sits on a stool, steps on a pedal and molds a heap of clay with quiet finesse. The wheel spins the now curvy tower of clay like the gears turning in his head. He asks, “What would you like me to make?” The tower is cut with a wire and reassembled into the lid, bowl and spout of a teapot. The rest is manipulated into a tall vase. This is 27-year-old studio art major Nick Oh’s nature as an artist — calm, skilled and prolific. Although he’s described by classmates as mysterious and keeping to himself, his art speaks volumes. Oh’s most ambitious piece, the slightly larger than life-size figure of himself — sitting cross-legged nude and eating American items (a football and McDonalds cup) out of Chinese take-out boxes — features about 300 racial slurs and jokes painted on the bare “skin” fired with a clear glaze.

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Short by Student Joey Izzo Heads to Cannes Film Festival

907614011 — Mon, 06 May 2013 16:13:12 +0000

May 6, 2013

SAN MATEO DAILY JOURNAL -- Despite going to San Francisco State University for film twice, it was only recently that Izzo became comfortable in the role of filmmaker. Embracing his own work paid off as his 18-minute short “Stepsister” was accepted to show later this month at the Cannes International Film Festival. Before heading to France, the Peninsula native will show his film in San Francisco Saturday afternoon as part of the San Francisco International Film Festival. “I had a real fear of really filming my own film for a very long time. ... I was such an admirer of film that I didn’t want to screw it up. That kind of delayed my experience in terms of actually shooting my own short films that weren’t tied to class projects,” he said. Izzo’s classwork paid off. Last fall, he completed his Master of Fine Arts in Cinema through San Francisco State. But he won’t be taking part in the graduation ceremony. Instead, he’ll be showing his film to an international audience.

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Professor Hoover's 'Postmodern American Poetry's gets new edition

907614011 — Fri, 03 May 2013 16:46:41 +0000

May 3, 2013

SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE -- When it was published in 1994, “Postmodern American Poetry: A Norton Anthology” became the definitive guide to the profusion of avant-garde movements in contemporary poetry. Edited by poet and San Francisco State University Professor Paul Hoover, the book contains more than 400 poems and 20 essays on poetics, and it is widely acclaimed for its accessibility.

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SF State Percussion Ensemble Featured on Public Radio

907614011 — Thu, 02 May 2013 17:18:56 +0000

May 2, 2013

KALW-FM CROSSCURRENTS -- Music performed by the SF State Percussion ensemble is featured.

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