SpokenWord Paris

Jen who does the fragment78 listing told me I had to go to this, so I did. And it was well worth it. Just 3 poets read, two sets of 12 minutes for each poet. The quality is really high. The styles wide ranging. This week there was Cralan Kelder, who had us laughing for most of both sets – a real performance poet. Mark Terrill, who combines poignant observation with sharp punchlines. Sean Street, who was more in a BBC Radio 4 traditional poetry vein.
This was the 144th Live Poets Society night that John Kliphan has directed since he created it 15 years ago. He says he has some 88 poets on tap, all professionals with great credentials. He is always interested in new voices though and says he will always respond if poets contact him about reading.

Live Poets Society
2nd (or sometimes 3rd) Tuesday of the month – check in fragment78, link on the right
at The Highlander pub (see link on the right)
8 rue de Nevers
75006
Metro Odeon or St. Michel
Donation 5 euro

If you would like to read, submit stuff to John Kliphan, 103 Avenue Philippe August, 75011 Paris or tel. 01.43.70.62.05.

It’s open mic/scène ouvert.
It’s bilingual, English and French, but mostly English.
C’est poésie sonore. Lire vivant.

According to Wikipedia: Spoken word is a form of literary art or artistic performance in which lyrics, poetry or stories are spoken rather than sung. Spoken-word is often done with a musical background, but emphasis is kept on the speaker.
One of the most common sorts of spoken word performances is performance poetry, where a poet either reads previously-published poems, or reads poems specifically written to be performed aloud. Another kind that has gained popularity in recent years is political and social commentary, done in such a way that it is, while still prose, somewhat more artistic than a typical speech. Spoken word artists are often poets and musicians.

Spoken word gained notoriety in the late 1980s and early 1990s through the emergence of “poetry slams,” where spoken word artists would square off in cabaret-style duels. (Wikipedia)

But there’s no competitive element here. This is not a slam night in that sense. Rather I want to get back to a more beatnik spirit of encouraging people to express themselves. Whether it’s performance poetry, story-telling, stand-up, monologue or something else. An original text or a classic read well.

There’s only one rule – make the words come alive.

‘The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars.’

‘Je suis ici depuis cinq mois mais c’est aujourd’hui que je commence à vivre.’ – K., audience member.