The Asian Division Friends Society (ADFS) and the Asian Literature Club invite you to

"An Evening of Asian Love Poetry"

Thursday, March 8, 2007
6:30pm-8:30pm
Whittall Pavilion, Jefferson Building
1st & Independence Ave., SE
Washington, DC 20540

Metro stop: Capitol South on the Orange/Blue Line.

Mark Loyola gamely tries to say “I love you” as coached by the director during rehearsals. Not that he couldn’t, but trying to project the phrase in 10 different ways was proving difficult. “She’s your wife, isn’t she?” Mark looked at Johanna and nodded. “Well . . .?” The director shrugged. So off he went in 9 different intonations and a variety of emphasis parleying the three most overused words in the English language. This wasn’t a rehearsal for a play. Acting for the first time, Mark was “performing” a translation of a Korean poem in a reading together with his wife, Johanna.

Four actors, one director and a string quartet will create a romantic evening befitting a day before Valentine on Thursday, February 13, 2007, at 6:30pm. The Evening of Asian Love Poetry is sponsored by the Asian Division Friends Society. The stage will be set at the Whitall Pavillion of the Jefferson Building at the Library of Congress, conveniently located at 10 First Street SE near Capitol South and Union Station metro stops.

Featured will be poems by Tagore (India), Tonggyu Hwang (Korea), James Masao Mitsui (Japan), a poem in Chinese by Maningning Miclat, read in two languages, an Urdu poem “Beloved,” a Tagalog poem by Gennaro R. Gojo Cruz (Philippines), Gui Wei Hsin’s “Take My Word For It” (Singapore), “Love and Rice” by Barbara Tran (Vietnamese), and “In Language” by Asian American Eugene Gloria.

Love poetry from nine Asian cultures will be dramatized by actors, Neil Puzon, Linda Caro, Johanna Loyola, Mark Loyola, and directed by Reme Grefalda. The St. Charles String Quartet will provide romantic ambiance with music by Asian composers. Members of the quartet are: Gabe Soloff, Kirill Romanov, Neil Puzon and Tara Planeta.

The Library of Congress Asian Literature Club is a program of the Asian Division Friends Society.

For more information, contact the Asian Division Friends Society Program Director, Dr. Kathryn Wellen at (202) 707-8910.

Request ADA accommodations five business days in advance at (202) 707-6362 (voice/TTY) or email ADA@loc.gov