EVENTS AT UALBANY FOCUS ON THE LIFE AND WORK OF
LEMON ANDERSEN, URBAN POET, AND THREE-TIME FELON, AND THE REDEMPTIVE POWER OF THE ARTS

NYS Writers Institute, October 24 - November 13, 2014
Oct. 24, 7:30 p.m. Film screening | Page Hall, 135 Western Ave, Downtown Campus
Nov. 6, 7:00 p.m. Presentation | University Art Museum, Fine Art Building
Nov. 13, 7:30 p.m. Performance | Recital Hall, Performing Arts Center

EVENT DETAILS:
The University at Albany Foundation presents LOOKING AT LEMON: TRANSFORMING LIFE THROUGH LITERATURE in conjunction with the NYS Writers Institute, Performing Arts Center, and University Art Museum. Lemon Andersen, writer, performance artist, screen actor, Tony Award-winning poet, and three-time felon will visit the University at Albany to speak about his life and work at 7 p.m. on Thursday, November 6 in the University Art Museum, Fine Arts Building, on the UAlbany Uptown Campus. In association with his upcoming visit, a documentary about his life will be screened at 7:30 p.m. on Friday October 24 in Page Hall, 135 Western Avenue, on the UAlbany Downtown Campus, and again at 9 p.m. on Saturday, November 1 in the Recital Hall, Performing Arts Center, on the Uptown Campus. In addition, a stage adaptation of County of Kings, Lemon’s life story will be performed at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, November 13 in the Recital Hall, Performing Arts Center on the Uptown Campus. All events are free and open to the public except for the stage performance. Advance tickets for the performance are $15 general public, $10 students, seniors and UAlbany faculty/staff. Day of show tickets are $20 general public, $10 students, seniors and UAlbany faculty/staff. Box Office: (518) 442-3997; [email protected]..

PROFILE
The University at Albany Foundation presents LOOKING AT LEMON: TRANSFORMING LIFE THROUGH LITERATURE in conjunction with the NYS Writers Institute, and UAlbany’s Performing Arts Center and University Art Museum This series of events focuses on the life and work of Lemon Andersen, writer, performance artist, screen actor, and Tony Award-winning poet. Lemon is also a three-time felon who grew up in Brooklyn, the child of a Puerto Rican mother and Norwegian American father, both heroin addicts who died of AIDS before he was fifteen. Left to fend for himself, he dropped out of high school and spent years in jail and on probation. His attempts at rehabilitation faltered until he attended a poetry reading and discovered he had a gift for expressing himself through words. This series celebrates Lemon’s journey to transform his life through art.

LEMON: THE MOVIE
October 24 (Friday): Film screening, 7:30 p.m.,
Page Hall, 135 Western Avenue, Downtown Campus
November 1 (Saturday): Film screening, 9:00 p.m.,
Recital Hall, Performing Arts Center, Uptown Campus
Directed by Laura Brownson and Beth Levison (U.S., 2012, color, 85 minutes)
This intricately crafted documentary follows Lemon’s struggle to free his family from poverty and pain by embarking on a daunting journey to bring his life story to the stage. The movie features the music of hip-hop artists Kanye West, Mos Def, and Talib Kwel.

November 6 (Thursday): An Evening with Lemon Andersen
Presentation — 7:00 p.m., University Art Museum, Fine Arts Building, Uptown Campus
In an intimate setting, Lemon discusses his life and work, focusing on what nurtures him as an artist and how that has been the salvation in his life. An original cast member of the Russell Simmons Def Poetry Jam on Broadway (2002-2003), Lemon shared the 2003 Tony Award for Best Special Theatrical Event. Lemon is the author of two poetry collections, Ready Made Real (2004) and County of Kings (2009), which earned the Grand Prize at the 2010 New York Book Festival. Also an actor, Lemon has appeared in the Spike Lee films MIRACLE AT ST. ANNA (2008), Inside Man (2006), She Hate Me (2004), and Sucker Free City (2004).

November 13 (Thursday): County of Kings by Lemon Andersen
Performance — 7:30 p.m., Recital Hall, Performing Arts Center
Pre-performance discussion at 7 p.m.
Advance Tickets: $15 general public / $10 students, seniors & UAlbany faculty-staff
Day of Show: $20 general public / $15 students, seniors & UAlbany faculty-staff
Box Office: (518) 442-3997; [email protected].
Originally developed and directed by Elise Thoron, American Place Theatre took Lemon’s life story and adapted it into a solo play now performed by Michael Angel Viera. Weaving hard-edged drama with urban poetry and gritty prose, the work follows Lemon’s coming-of-age memoir in an astonishing journey toward self-discovery. County of Kings is a Literature to Life stage presentation of Young Audiences New York.

Funding for this project is provided by The University at Albany Foundation; University Auxiliary Services at Albany; UAlbany’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion, Office of Intercultural Student Success, and Alumni Association; and the Holiday Inn Express. Promotional assistance provided by the Campus Programming Board.

For additional information, contact the Writers Institute at 518-442-5620 or online at https://www.albany.edu/writers-inst.