Dr Neal Hall is back in Hyderabad, for a short trip and he is going to recite few of his new compositions at Lamakaan. An evening to remember. Do come one and all.
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Neal Hall, M.D., Poet Neal Hall, M.D. received his undergraduate degree from Cornell University. After earning an M.D. from Michigan State University, he took his surgical subspecialty training in ophthalmology at Harvard University’s Medical School. He was in private practice for over 20 years in Flourtown, Pennsylvania. Dr. Hall is an internationally acclaimed award-winning author of four books of poetry. Nigger For Life chronicles his painful discovery that in “unspoken America” race is the yardstick by which he is first judged, first measured, and diminished value and dignity metered out. Winter’s A’ Coming Still reflects the pernicious persistence of race as a primary social frame. The more things are said to change, the more things are made to stay the same. Appalling Silence, with selections of his work translated into Telugu and Urdu, was published and launched in India. Where Do I Sit. is Dr. Hall fourth book that displays the skill, breadth, and versatility with which he has honed his craft. Where Do I Sit does not jettison the sharp denunciations of racial and economic injustice that appeared in his first collections. Professor Cornel West said of Dr. Hall: “[he] is a warrior of the spirit, a warrior of the mind, an activist, a poet. I sense Dr. Hall’s hypersensitivity to suffering – Martin, Malcolm and Jesus all had this hypersensitivity. Both sides of his soul have prophetic leanings. His poetry has the capacity to change ordinary people’s philosophy on social and racial issues.” Vasanth Kannabiran, Chairperson of Hyderabad’s Asmita Resource Centre for Women, remarked: “This is poetry that scalds you into waking up to the possibility that you are perhaps one of those silent spectators. All in all he is a poet. And unquestionably one of the most significant voices of the century.” Through his extensive domestic and international poetry readings, Dr. Hall has reached audiences from San Francisco to Philadelphia, from Kenya, Indonesia, and France to Jamaica, India, Morocco, Nepal, and Italy. Italy’s University of Rome Tre in collaboration with The Italian National Commission for UNESCO invited Dr. Hall to be their featured guest speaker and poet in celebration of World Poetry Day. Selections of his work were translated into Italian and read along side his English versions. Hyderabad, India’s Council for Social Development invited Dr. Hall to be their first Poet/Scholar – in- Residency providing an opportunity to return to India and explore the subcontinent’s hierarchical/patriarchal constructs and their parallels with his experiences as a black man in America.
Literary Awards: Nigger For Life’s Awards: Grand Prize Winner in: 1. The Do – It -Yourself and 2. The Los Angeles Book Awards First Place Prize for Poetry in the Greater Southeast, Amsterdam, Florida, London, Paris, Great Midwest, Southern California, Do-It-Yourself, San Francisco, Great Northwest, Great Southwest, Los Angeles, Pacific Rim, New England, New York Book Festival and National Beverly Hills Book Awards and 2012 Poetry Contest Winner, Ubud Writers & Reader’s International Festival, Bali, Indonesia. Winter’s A’ Coming Still’s Awards: First Place Prize for Poetry in the Florida, Pacific Rim, Amsterdam, Southern California, San Francisco. New England, New York, Paris, Los Angeles, London, Great Midwest, Great Northwest and Great Southwest Book Awards. Where Do I Sit’s Awards: First Place Prize for Poetry in the Hollywood Book Awards.
Writer’s Residencies/Awards: Sapporo Tenjinyama Art Studio, Hokkaido Sapporo, Japan, 2016 Visiting Scholar – American Academy In Rome, Rome Italy, 2016 Sangam House International Writer’s Residence, Bangalore, India 2015-2016 Dhwani Fellowship: awarded to translate selections of Dr. Hall’s work into Kannada. Funded by Aditi: Foundation For The Arts, 2015 Poet/Scholar-In-Resident, Sponsor: Council For Social Development, Hyderabad, India, 2015 Resident (Poet)-In-Writing, Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, Vermont, U.S., 2015
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