Bent: A Writing Institute

Tara Hardy is the femme dyke working class poet populist of Seattle and Seattle’s 2002 Grand Slam champion. She is the founder and director of Bent, the Seattle Queer Writers Institute (“Bent”) where she has been teaching and mentoring queer artist for over four years. She has been seen on “The Rolling Thunder Democracy Tour, “Strombolis Island of Donkeys and Dolls Tour”, the “All Girl, All Word Tour” and can be found in “Without a Net” out on Seal Press.

Ivan E. Coyote was born and raised in Whitehorse, Yukon and now resides in Vancouver. She is a writer and storyteller who first came to attention as a member of ‘Taste This’, who collaborated on the critically acclaimed, award winning book, “Boys Like Her”. She currently performs with One-Trick Rodeo, an audio-visual storytelling extravaganza. Her first solo collection was the award winning “Close to Spider Man”, followed closely by “One Man’s Trash”. She was recently listed as one of shift Magazines Top 75 Cultural Movers and Shakers form around the world. This year she collaborated with musicians Richard Spencer, Veda Hille, and the Longest Night Ensemble to create her first CD, “You’re a Nation”, a collection of her stories set to music. She is a monthly columnist for Xtra West, and freelances regularly for The Georgia Straight, The Vancouver Sun, CBC Radio, and is currently at work on her first novel, which is set in the Yukon.

Katinka Kraft is a Seattle based spoken word and multi-media performance artist who uses a fusion of word, song, rhythm and body. She is the co-owner of Oratrix Productions and Vice President of the Board of Directors of Bent, the Seattle Queer Writing Institute. Her most recent artistic endeavor took her to Poland and Germany in the summer of 2004 where she directed and filmed a documentary short with the Descendants Project. Her interests include writing, directing, vocalizing for original music projects and teaching poetry and theater workshops.

Lane Stroud appeared on the Bumbershoot Literary stage for the last two years. She is a poet, philosopher, and performers. She remains determined to unlock the words potential with her mouth as her tool of choice. Through a powerful mix of art and politics she commands stage after stage. From Bent showcases to the world famous Nuyorican in New York City to college campuses throughout the Northwest and through the national poetry slam circuit she is standing up for what she stands behind.

Amy Mahoney is a potent, pure, and raw artist whose stage presence is both gorgeous and eerie, a blend of genius, wit, and core aches. She is the co-owner of Oratrix Productions and President of the Board of Directors for Bent, a Seattle Queer Writing Institute. She has two self-published collections of poetry "Dirt Girl" and "Warning Label". She is featured on the 2003 Oratrix “All Girl. All Word” Tour CD and is featured in Canadian Anthology "Fusion". She is studying Creative Writing and Arts Management at Antioch University, Seattle. She is a graceful presence whether on stage or hard at work producing tours and other artists.

SoulChilde is an Emerald City native who has been expressing himself for over 10 years via music, singing, acting & writing. He is a self proclaimed expressionist, currently using performance art as his medium for the sharing of infinite vision. Through word, song & dance he carries on the tradition of revolutionaries such as the Last Poets, Alvin Ailey & Nina Simone. Last summer he rocked the mic & shared stages at the Vancouver B.C. Folk Music Festival & the Vancouver International Hip-Hop Film Festival & last October debuted his one-soul, two spirit show entitled WITH WARRIOR’S TONGUE.

Oratrix Productions is passion, politics and poetic fury, known for delivering artists who have the power to make you question everything you thought you knew and sending you back into the world with new eyes. Their artists stand at the fringes, but won’t be ignored; they speak with gritty intellect, humor and heart. Oratrix Productions believe that by sharing their lives and their work, these artists create an invaluable record of a marginalized history with a distinctly unique view of class, race, gender and sexuality. This is the second West Coast tour for Seattle based Oratrix Productions. Visit Oratrix Productions for more information.