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Jesús Papoleto Meléndez  To Urban Sightseers"
in Talkin' About Us (Appleton, Century, Crofts Publishers, N.Y., 1969), at age
19, and the publication of his first volume of poetry, Casting Long Shadows (New
York, 1970), Mr. Meléndez's poetry predates the movement. Along with the
Reverend Pedro Pietri, Victor Hernández Cruz, Louis Reyes Rivera, and José-Angel
Figueroa, Mr. Meléndez's life and poetry has influenced the works of such
contemporaries as Sandra María Esteves, Miguel Piñero, and Lucky Cienfuegos,
among many others. A Proud Puerto Rican, originally from El Barrio (East Harlem), New York City, Jesús Papoleto Meléndez is a recipient of an Artist for Community Enrichment (ACE) Award from the Bronx Council on the Arts, New York (1995) and a Combo (Combined Arts of San Diego)-NEA Fellowship in Literature, recognized "For his innovative multi-disciplinary works in poetry, playwriting, and performance art which speak with eloquence and compassion for society's victims of indifference, racism and intolerance," (Oct, 1988). Mr. Meléndez has twice been selected as one of 60 poets nationwide to be working in San Francisco, California; Washington, D.C. and in the Bronx, New York City, facilitating Poetry and Creative Writing workshops through the Writers Corps division (Bronx Council on the Arts) of President Clinton's AmeriCorps program (Sept., 94-June, 95 and Sept., 95-June, 96). During the early 1970's, while still in his teens, he worked for Teachers & Writers Collaborative and Poets-in-the-Schools in New York City. As a poet-teacher whose career has spanned 29-years, Mr. Meléndez has coordinated a great many successful Poetry/Creative Writing workshops, impacting the lives of tens of thousands of children of all ages . While living in California, he continued to teach for the San Diego City Schools District, sponsored through various funding sources, such as the California Arts Council's Artists-in-Residence program (1982-92) and the Young At Art program (made possible by the Maxwell H. Gluck Foundation). He has also served as the San Diego-area coordinator for the San Francisco-based statewide program, California Poets In The Schools. He has developed an unique workshop curriculum offering creative writing experiences for 4th thru 12th graders (with emphasis on poetic form and expression), which merges contemporary poet-as-teacher techniques in the classroom with Macintosh' computer desktop publishing technology. Papoleto has created the musical group Exiled Genius -- combining the tradition of jazz spontaneity and precision with the natural melody of the poetic voice, this quartet creates a masterful breakthrough in poetry/jazz collaboration. Exiled Genius includes Eugene Mingus on keyboard synthesizer and piano; Mchaka Uba on bass and percussionist Luis Leiderman. Since its formation in 1992, Exiled Genius has performed at several festivals throughout San Diego, Los Angeles and Baja California, Tijuana, México and has opened for such artists as Tito Puente and Urban Bush Women and The Art Ensemble of Chicago. -courtesy of DefPoetryJam.com
VOLUMES OF POETRY PUBLICATIONS VISIT DEF POETRY JAM.COM _______________________________ Click to see more last updated:Saturday September 17, 2005
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