Mario Ellis Hill and Michael French

On the 5/1/24 edition of Dr. Andy’s Poetry and Technology Hour:

Mario Ellis Hill shares his love of advocacy work and how this guides his writing as a poet. Dr. Andy and Hill share their love of jazz and how the protean and improvisational music genre can inspire, inform, and shape poetry. Hill reads a poem about becoming a poet and comments upon the balance between memorization and improvisation that he utilizes in live performances. Michael French joins the episode and shares his preference for the cinema industry over interactive gaming. French then informs listeners about the many upcoming events coordinated by the Arts Department, like an art talk with Maria Maea, exhibits, noon concerts, and a cultural exhibit about contemporary design in China. Dr. Andy then reads a poem to commemorate Karim Abou Najm's life.

Mario Ellis Hill began writing & performing poetry in the early 1990’s, and has since made an impact as a featured poet/spoken word artist throughout the Sacramento region, California & beyond. He is the founder & leader of the Poetry Machine - a performance group of rotating artists that fuses spoken word, live music, movement & song. Mario served as a co-host of Joe Montoya’s Poetry Unplugged! Open Mic Series in Sacramento, CA, and host of Open Stage Open Mic Series in Davis, CA. Besides featuring at poetry venues & open mics, Mario also delved into the world of slam poetry. He was crowned the 1994 San Francisco ‘Aloud’ Anthology Poetry Slam Champion, and 1998 KALX FM Poetry Slam Champion. He also served as a slam team member representing San Francisco (1995) & Chico/North Valley (1997) in the National Poetry Slam. Events & venues that Mario has performed at include the Nuyorican Poets Cafe (NYC), The Knitting Factory (NYC), University of the Philippines - Diliman, California State Fair, Yoshi’s (Oakland), San Francisco Jazz Festival, Sacramento Music Festival, Floricanto Poetry Festival, UC Davis Whole Earth Festival, Watershed Environmental Poetry Festival, and California State Summer School for the Arts. Published works can be found in Sacramento Anthology: One Hundred Poems, Jive’s In The Jug, Poetry Now, Paleoanthology, Sex In Public, The Flatlander, New Poets Revolution, and Nevada County Poetry Series: Year 2001 Anthology.

Michael G. French is an arts and theatre events marketing specialist for the UC Davis College of Letters and Science. He promotes performances and events for the departments of Art and Art History, Cinema and Digital Media, Design, Music, and Theatre and Dance. French previously held similar positions at Southern Utah University’s College of Performing and Visual Arts, American Musical Theatre of San Jose, Pacific Conservatory Theatre and the Walnut Street Theatre. He earned his bachelor’s degree at New Jersey City University.

The Poetry Night Reading Series is excited to feature Sacramento poets Mario Ellis Hill and Bill Carr at 7 PM on Thursday, May 2nd, 2024, on the first floor of the John Natsoulas Gallery, 521 1st Street in Davis.

Find out more about Dr. Andy's Poetry Night Reading Series in Davis, California by visiting http://www.poetryindavis.com. Invite your friends to sign up for the mailing list. To learn more about Dr. Andy’s tiny media fiefdom, subscribe to his weekly newsletter at https://andyjones.substack.com.