To visit Gemini Ink
by Stephanie Barton
Gemini Ink, a nonprofit literary center in San Antonio, Texas, provides booklovers the chance to immerse themselves in the study and creation ofliterature. Many programs are collaborations with other arts organizations,such as art museums and theater groups, and the center also reaches out tothe community by providing literary opportunities for schoolchildren,seniors and special-needs groups.
Gemini Ink became a literary organization in 1996. Before its formalincorporation, however, the spirit of Gemini Ink resided in the concept ofDramatic Reader’s Theater. Two friends developed dramatic presentations ofliterary works, first at a local bookstore and later in other venues aroundthe city. The name of the reader’s theater series reflected the women’stwin-like love of literature: the Gemini Series. Soon after, the foundersbegan teaching writing classes. When the organization was incorporated ayear later, the name was changed to Gemini Ink. The popular presentationsof the Dramatic Reader’s Theater continue today.
Dramatic Reader’s Theater is unlike any other art exhibit or performanceevent. Best described as “acting in a chair,” the free performances arescripted pieces that combine visual arts and the written word. The GeminiInk executive director selects, edits and compiles the scripts of publishedpoems, stories, and play excerpts. The staff director produces thepresentations, which are scored by professional musicians. Shows ofteninclude slide shows of paintings that correspond to the literarydramatizations.
The Spring 2002 season offers four Dramatic Reader’s Theater productions.The first presentation in February celebrates African-American culture inthe program, “What Happens to a Dream Deferred?” From Langston Hughes andRalph Ellison to Zora Neale Hurston and Maya Angelou, the show pays homageto the literary contributions of African-American writers. The secondpresentation in March, “Writers on Writing,” illustrates how scribes fromShakespeare to Pablo Neruda have characterized the writing process, how theytransform ideas in robust works of art. The remaining presentationscoordinate literature with the photographs of Aleksandr Rodchenko and thepaintings of Ray Smith.
Educational programs at Gemini Ink directly reflect its mission and goals.University Without Walls courses allow students to work intimately withliterary illuminati. The instructors are novelists, poets, journalists,memoirists, screenwriters and playwrights who work closely with students,giving detailed feedback and guidance. Students have described theexperience as exhilarating.
During Spring 2002, students can enroll in a master class with Tim O’Brien,novelist and a National Book Award winner, or drive to the Hill Country fora workshop with Maxine Kumin, Pulitzer prize-winning poet, essayist andnovelist. Author and poet Naomi Shihab Nye will explore the qualities ofthe paragraph, and senior vice-president at the San Antonio Express-News,Robert Rivard, will teach journalism. The semester will offer 19 classes,including a literary tour of San Antonio and a lecture series. Amaster-level, distance-learning Mentor Program gives advanced writers theopportunity to work with practicing professionals. Writers also gainfeedback at a free writing lab each month, and playwrights can join a playmarathon during which excerpts of their work will be read before an audienceand theater experts will return written comments. A two-week nationalwriter’s conference is offered each July.
Writers in Communities programs have established Gemini Ink’s presence inthe general San Antonio community. These free projects send writers to workwith diverse groups to promote creativity, literary skills, and literacy.Schoolchildren work with published writers to encourage their creativeskills, while others who have suffered from sexual abuse gain confidence andself-worth through playful poetry workshops. Seniors distill their memoriesinto anthologies with the help of professional writers. Women with AIDSlearn to express their feelings about living with a terminal disease. Andin a new program at a juvenile probation center, a writer and an illustratorwork with teen fathers to craft children’s books to distribute to other teenparents. This program combats illiteracy and encourages teen parents toread to their children. The young fathers at the correctional facilitylearn to invest in their own creativity and their community.
Gemini Ink is the only literary center in south Texas, and its board andstaff promote San Antonio and Texas as a hub for literature. The center’srecent move to the downtown arts district of Southtown underscores itspresence in the arts community. An abandoned warehouse was transformed intoa colorful and innovative space, one that ignites the creativity of GeminiInk students and faculty.
Gemini Ink programs and events are varied, of high quality, and open toanyone who celebrates ideas, books, and writing.
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Stephanie Barton is the Director of Public Relations for Gemini Ink. Shealso writes content for technology and travel Web sites and documentssoftware products. For more information about Gemini Ink and its programs,please contact Stephanie at [email protected] or call 1-800-734-WORD(9673).
