Nina Kennedy, Spoken-Word Artist
As a spoken-word performer, Nina Kennedy had appeared at the Women’s One World (W.O.W.) Café Theatre, the Dixon Place Theater, and the Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance (BAAD!) in New York City, as well as several of New York’s nightclubs. She has also performed at the Frauen Café and the WUK Women's Center in Vienna.
She is the subject of a short film chronicling her work as a spoken-word performer, which premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival, and was subsequently screened at film festivals worldwide. She was also engaged to give spoken-word performances at many of these festivals.
Works available by the author:
Feels Like a Woman, Screenplay,
Collection of Short Stories,
The Miracle of the Bread and Fish, Stage play,
Handy Love, Stage play,
Wagner’s Ring Recycled, Stage play,
Fingers and Tongues: The Transition, Memoir.
Practicing for Love: A Memoir.
Practicing for Love: A Memoir
by Nina Kennedy
2021 Lambda Literary Award Finalist
Practicing for Love is the story of the life of a concert pianist – a former child prodigy, no less – who also happens to be an African-American woman. Nina Kennedy was raised on the Fisk University campus, where her parents were on the music faculty.
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Nina Kennedy is available for readings and Q&As.
This first book of memoirs is divided into three parts. Part one reveals Nina’s work and recognition as a child prodigy from her first complete piano recital at age nine, to her debut as piano soloist with the Nashville Symphony before an audience of 4,000 at age thirteen. Part two begins after her graduation from Juilliard. She is presented in a highly successful New York Debut concert at Lincoln Center, and receives a rave review in the New York Times. Part three begins with an affair with a cocaine-addicted actress who introduces Nina to the world of script-writing, which becomes a new means of artistic expression. She finds herself writing scripts for the actress, as well as texts for her own spoken-word performances.
Nina Kennedy is available for orchestral engagements; solo recitals; spoken-word performances; lectures;
screenings of her documentary film Matthew Kennedy: One Man's Journey, followed by Q&As; and book readings of her memoir Practicing for Love, followed by Q&As.
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Click below to learn more about Nina Kennedy.