I was honored to read “Here” for the Day of Exile 80th Anniversary Event at Mukai Farm & Garden on May 15, 2022. You can learn more about Mukai on their website: https://mukaifarmandgarden.org/
Talks & Presentations
Readings, Productions, Performances
Thunder & Sweetness
I was honored to offer a talk in English and Tamil as the chief guest for the 2021 Awards Ceremony of the Tamil Literary Garden online on June 11, 2022.
Turn on subtitles for English translations of the Tamil sections.
You can also watch the complete Awards Ceremony here:
I invite you to learn more about my translation of the Kural as well as my translation of Avvaiyar, being issued in a second edition in 2022 by Red Hen Press.
THE KURAL at InkAloud
On December 11, 2021, THE KURAL was featured in the Bushwick Bookclub Seattle‘s inaugural InkAloud event at Town Hall Seattle. Three marvelous musical groups created original compositions inspired by the translation.
Here is a direct link to my introduction to this portion of the evening:
The first group was Latha Sambamurti and students from The Temple of Music, performing original compositions by Lalitha Mohan & Violin Maestro Ganesh Rajagopalan. You can watch their delightful and inspiring performances here:
The second musician was Eric Lane Barnes, who composed three interlocking songs based on three verses from THE KURAL.
Here he teaches them to the live audience:
The third group was Nottingham/Wicks, a jazz duo who shared their own beautiful take on the spirit of THE KURAL:
My deep gratitude and appreciation to everyone involved!
What is Cascadian Zen? A Talk at Seattle University
Talk delivered on February 15, 2020. Organized loosely around exploring the relationship between the Cascadian bioregion as it intersects with Zen ideas, practices, and aesthetics, Seattle University hosted a diverse group of writers interested in exploring the question of “What is Cascadian Zen?” through their poetic and/or philosophical writing.
Lyric World: Shin Yu Pai with Thomas Hitoshi Pruiksma and Melanie Noel
How can poetry expand our understanding of civic life? Poet and former Town Hall Artist-In-Residence Shin Yu Pai invites us to the first of her Lyric World discussions, exploring the role of poetry as it stokes our curiosity and gives voice and attention to the human experience.
Joining in conversation with Seattle-based poet Melanie Noel, Pruiksma illuminates the ways that different languages alternately obscure or reveal truth. Together they ask us to suspend our judgement and embrace the not-knowing that defines these art forms.
Before their discussion, experience a performance by kora player and griot-trained jeli Ibrahim Arsalan. In West African society, the jeli preserved ancient stories and traditions through song, throughout the generations. They are believed to have deep connections to spiritual, social, and political powers.