Poet Elizabeth Hsu / Courtesy of Writers in the Schools Elizabeth Hsu, a student at University of Texas Online High School, has been named the 2023-2024 Houston Youth Poet Laureate, as appointed by Mayor Sylvester Turner. Hsu’s one-year term officially begins on November 16, 2023, following a commencement ceremony. She becomes the city’s 8th Youth Poet Laureate, succeeding Ariana Lee, who is now a freshman at Stanford University. “I’m honored to name Elizabeth as the next Youth Poet Laureate,” said Mayor Turner in a statement. “She is thoughtful and civic-minded, and her poetry reflects Housto ..read more

Attica Locke / Courtesy of Prairie View A&M University Prairie View A&M University’s Toni Morrison Writing Program recently announced novelist, screenwriter, and TV producer Attica Locke as its 2023-2024 Writer-In-Residence. A New York Times-bestselling author of five novels, Locke was nominated for an Edgar Award, an NAACP Image Award, and a Los Angeles Times Book Prize for her debut novel, Black Water Rising (2009). Her second book, The Cutting Season (2012), was a winner of the Ernest Gaines Award for Literary Excellence, and her third, Pleasantville (2015), was the winner of t ..read more

Lynn Wyatt Square / Courtesy of Houston First Corportation on X The $26.5 million Lynn Wyatt Square for the Performing Arts, a reimagined green space and focal point of Houston’s downtown Theater District, officially opens to the public on Friday, September 22, 2023. During opening weekend, the park will host free lawn games and live entertainment, including an interactive experience called “Bees” created by the Australia-based Polyglot Theatre. Bordered by Jones Hall, Alley Theatre, and Bayou Place—and adjacent to the Wortham Theater Center and only a few blocks away from the Hobby Center for ..read more

Giuseppe Taurino / Courtesy of Writers in the Schools The long-running literary and education nonprofit Writers in the Schools recently announced writer, educator, and arts leader Giuseppe Taurino as its new Executive Director. Taurino began his role on September 1, 2023. “Writers in the Schools’ mission is to connect children and youth with professional writers and spoken word artists to unlock the joy and power of storytelling and creative expression. Giuseppe’s profound dedication to creative writing, education, and community engagement will undoubtedly elevate our mission and impact the li ..read more

2023 Cohort of the Black Theatre Coalition/Broadway Across America Fellowship program / Courtesy of www.broadwayfellows.com The Black Theatre Coalition and Broadway Across America are now accepting applications for their 3rd annual Fellowship Program, which offers Black-identifying undergraduate college juniors and seniors, recent graduates, and early-career professionals an opportunity to learn about the commercial theater business and Broadway touring industry. The application deadline is September 29, 2023. The paid fellowship is a 14-week program that takes place in the spring semester at ..read more

Federico De Michelis, bass-baritone and founder of The New Song Project / Courtesy of the artist Houston opera singer Federico De Michelis says that the genre of “song” is so broad and accessible that it’s one of the great entry points to the performing arts—and it sparked an idea for a new arts organization. “I want to build not only a project where [composers and writers] are supported and can develop their talent, but also a community around songwriting, storytelling, performing, and experiencing the power of music, theater, and literature,” said De Michelis. With these goals in mind, the A ..read more

Meta-Four Houston at Brave New Voices 2023. L-R: Alinda “Adam” Mac (Assistant Coach), Isabella Diaz-Mira, Myaan Sonenshein, Samiyah Green, Ariana Lee, Emanuelee “Outspoken” Bean (Head Coach), and Kylan Denney / Photo by Sandrella Bush Emanuelee “Outspoken” Bean says that he is “immensely proud” of the 2023 Meta-Four Houston team and the poems that they wrote and brought to life this summer, which led to the team’s first ever win at the Brave New Voices International Poetry Slam. Bean, a Houston Poet Laureate Emeritus, champion performance poet, and educator, has coached the youth slam poetry t ..read more

“Still Life Paint” by Meg Mickelsen, 2014 Young Master / Courtesy of Texas Commision on the Arts The Texas Commission on the Arts and the Texas Cultural Trust have announced that the application cycle is now open for the 2024 class of Young Masters, described as “a joint initiative that provides exemplary Texas student artists in grades 8-11 with the financial help they need to pursue advanced study in the areas of visual arts, literary arts, music, theater, dance, musical theater, folk arts, and media arts.” Awardees will receive grants of $5,000 per year (for up to two years, with submission ..read more

The women’s chorus in Gilbert and Sullivan Society of Houston’s 2015 production of “The Pirates of Penzance” / Photo by Steve Feinberg Nicole Kenley-Miller says that she’s most excited about the portrayal of the character Mabel, played by Julie Hoeltzel, in this summer’s production of Pirates of Penzance by the Gilbert and Sullivan Society of Houston. “In other productions I have seen, she tends to be played as a cutesy, coquettish ingénue that is waiting around for a man to come and save her,” she said. “But that is simply not supported by the librettist’s text.” In Pirates of Penzance ..read more

Scene from “Mughal-e-Azam” / Courtesy of mughaleazamplay.com Considered the first original, large-scale Broadway-style music written and produced in India, Mughal-e-Azam is in the midst of its first North American tour, making a stop in Houston for performances July 14 – 16 at the Wortham Center’s Brown Theater. Based on the epic, blockbuster 1960 Bollywood movie of the same name, Maughal-e-Azam: The Musical premiered in 2016 in Mumbai and has been described in a press release as “a love letter to South Asian history and legend,” as well a “a love story as familiar to Indians and their Eastern ..read more