| Year One –2000-01
In September 2000, VBB began its second round of readings/ performances,
which became our first full season. By this point, we were already
including another artistic discipline (music) and of course our
trademark open mic in our events. All performances took place in
the upstairs section of Borders Bookstore in southwest Houston,
and we continued to draw a diverse pool of audience—all ages,
all sections of Houston and all levels of writers and artists. For
the most part, we maintained the same basic structure: showcased
writers, youth writers and musicians, followed by open mic.
VBB opened its first full season as a grassroots group, run by
Core Members, Sehba Sarwar, Marcela Descalzi, Jacsun Shah and Donna
Perkins. In March 2001, following the immense success of the Traveling
Film Festival South Asia, several new volunteers (Nusrat Malik
and Krupa Parikh) joined the organization and initiated VBB to
file for non-profit status so we could apply for more funds and
continue the work we had begun.
Up until that time, funding to pay all artists continued through
a second Personal Artist Project Grant that Sehba Sarwar received
through the Cultural Arts Council of Houston/
Harris County.
In May 2001, Susan Howard read work that led to Borders Bookstore
administration asking us to censor our writers. We chose to walk
away and find different venues for our shows. Our first alternative
space was the Inprint Inc. office on the Menil
Campus. There, we began a new tradition for VBB: we hosted youth
readings which were curated by high school students.
Performance Lineup
September 10, 2000
|
Sandra Tarlin, poet
Kristi
Rae, folk musician
|
| October 15, 2000 |
Soldier Blue, poet
Nemata
Blyden, academic
Music
by Chelsea Beauchamp
|
| November 12, 2000 |
Loueva Smith, poet
Mark
Doty, writer
Music
by Nierka, high school band
|
| December 10, 2000 |
Young writers:
Maya
Marshall, Radames Ortiz, Julie Levy, Francis Anthony
Music
by Lance Johnson
|
| January 14, 2001 |
Bapsi Sidhwa, novelist
Lilian
Care, VBB core member
Young
Women Who Like to Make Noise: Emmy, Ashley and Diana
Music
by Jawad
|
| February 2-4, 2001 |
South Asian Film Festival at the Museum
of Fine Arts (13 films by Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi
film-makers shipped in from Nepal – Project co-sponsored
by MFAH and Borders Books.
Featured
speakers: Bangladeshi academic, South Asian novelist, Nepali
environmental engineer, Pakistani newspaper editor and Indian
doctor.)
This
event was at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. |
| February 25, 2001 |
Michelle Rainford, poet
Farnoosh Moshiri, novelist, dramatist and fiction writer
Young writers: Tico Hannan and Avery Taylor
Music by Capoiera band
|
| April 1, 2001 |
David Brown, poet
Donna
Garrett, poet
Young
writers: Lynnsey Morrison and Laura Burns
Music
by John Edward Ross
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| May 6, 2001 |
Susan Howard, novelist
Lorenzo Thomas, poet
Young writers: Kathy Nguyen and Allison Hammons
Music by Jawad
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| Summer 2001 – Young
writer readings at the Inprint House |
| June 10, 2001 |
Young writers Alicia Lyles and Jazmin
Cavazos |
| July 8, 2001 |
Melanie Harrison and Flor Giron |
| August 12, 2001 |
Heidi Hardt and Rhea Ghosh |
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