Gowri Koneswaran NPM 2014

National Poetry Month Celebration

Photo by Les Talusan

Gowri K. is a Sri Lankan Tamil American poet, performing artist, and lawyer. Her advocacy has addressed animal welfare, the environment, and the rights of prisoners and the criminally accused. She has co-authored two peer-reviewed scientific journal articles and her poetry has been published in Beltway Poetry Quarterly, Bourgeon, and Lantern Review. Gowri was a member of the 2010 DC Southern Fried Slam team and has performed at Lincoln Center Out of Doors, the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage, the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, and the Capital Fringe Festival. She serves as poetry coordinator at BloomBars and senior poetry editor with Jaggery: A DesiLit Arts and Literature Journal. She tweets on-the-spot haiku @gowricurry.

What exciting things have you accomplished in 2013?

My most exciting artistic accomplishment from the past year was the birth of "Yasmeen." Last month, Palestinian composer Huda Asfour and I debuted this original full-length show (that we've been dreaming about producing for years) at the Intersections Festival at Atlas Performing Arts Center. 

It was also an honor to be invited to present on arts and advocacy at two conferences this past year  -- the South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT) annual conference in DC and the South Asian Awareness Network (SAAN) annual conference in Michigan. 

What can we look forward to in the future from you?  

There is little we/ can count on in the future./ But I'll keep sharing... 
#onthespothaiku 

Favorite inspirational quote: 

"I have had my invitation to this world's festival and, thus, my life has been blessed." -- Rabindranath Tagore