The National Writers Union will be hosting a reading and open mic on Monday, July 15, starting at 6:00 p.m. in Tucson. Our featured reader this month will be James Patrick Jordan, who will be reading from a selection of pieces he’s written about both Colombia and Venezuela. James is the National Co-Coordinator for the Alliance for Global Justice (AfGJ) and is a member of the National Writers Union. He is also responsible for AfGJ’s Worker to Worker Solidarity Project and in that capacity has especially close relations with FENSUAGRO, Colombia’s largest federation of agricultural workers unions, as well as other Latin American unions. James has had many articles published that deal with themes of peace, ecology, participatory democracy, and Latin America solidarity. He has written a play about political prisoners in Colombia, Beyond the Walls, that has been performed in Tucson and Bogotá, and is working on a new one about FENSUAGRO leaders who have lost their lives to political violence. He is also currently translating FENSUAGRO’s report on the assassinations, disappearances, and displacement endured by the federation since it was founded in 1976.

The open mic is for spoken word only, but is open to all forms of spoken word (fiction, essays, poetry, articles, polemics, etc.). So bring something to read!

The event will be held at the AFSCME/SEIU Union Hall at 877 S. Alvernon Way in Tucson. The building is on the east side of the street (opposite the Randolph Park golf range) and is a couple of blocks north of 22nd Street. There is ample parking. The room is on the first floor and we will have signs up to point the way.

NWU Tucson Friday morning breakfasts will be on hiatus until December. Check back for dates. They take place at 9:00 a.m. at Laverna's Coffee Shop. The address is 220 S. Plumer, which is one block south of Broadway, on the west side of Plumer.