Spoken word artist Kelly Zen-Yie Tsai was recently featured in our Spring 2011 issue for her notable and powerful performances. (I have had the good fortune to see her perform live, and it was amazing.)
Photo courtesy of Yellowgurl.com.
Now you’ll get the chance to see her perform at the Say You Heard My Echo show commissioned by the Asian American Arts Alliance (A4).
“I don’t know why I feel like I have to have sex with other people than you. … My kisses on your neck may not be exclusive, but they’re not random either.” – Kelly Zen- Yie Tsai
ISSUE: Spring 2011
DEPT: Personalities
STORY: Anna M. Park
With spoken word poet Kelly Zen- Yie Tsai, what you hear is pretty much what you get.
“If I was the center of everything for a day everything would be aimed towards, dictated by, catered to, tailored for 5-foot-2 tattooed Asian females.”
“I don’t know why I feel like I have to have sex with other people than you. … My kisses on your neck may not be exclusive, but they’re not random either.”
“When it comes down to … whether my heart, my uterus, my tax return and my generation is gonna be governed by your sorry self, I would like to say that I’m real. I’m here. I’m voting. And believe me this girl is yellow.”* Continue Reading »
Kelly Zen-Yie Tsai is a talker — the 32-year-old spoken word poet of Chinese and Taiwanese descent does it for a living. You got a taste of some of her poetry in our Spring 2011 issue. Here, Kelly tells us more about what inspires her.
Audrey Magazine: Tell us a bit about your background.
Kelly Zen-Yie Tsai: I was born and raised in the suburbs of Chicago. I studied Urban Planning and Comparative Literature at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. I’ve been touring and performing nationally and internationally as a spoken word poet for over a decade. I currently live, work, and love in Brooklyn, New York.
