SpokenWord Paris

Monday 22nd May at the Cave Café – SpokenWord theme JOURNEY

– If you want to pick up a copy of the book please help us out by bringing €15 in cash!

This book has been 20 years in the making. It’s older than SpokenWord Paris itself!

It began when I arrived off the Eurostar, fell in with a crowd of wannabe writers at Shakespeare & Company and started writing, writing, writing every week and reading it out in bars. Now it’s a book from Corrupt Press containing the best of twenty years of writing, a kind of ”greatest hits” of those years.

But who am I?

David Barnes, born in Reading, England and encouraged to write poetry at junior school and read it out loud, even then. Born at the start of the 70s, escaped to Manchester University at 18 to study Physics and American Studies. Spent years in Reading with chronic fatigue syndrome, volunteering at the Rising Sun Arts Centre when I could. Escaped to hitch hike and wander in Europe, teaching English in Slovenia. Landed in Paris expecting to get itchy feet within 6 months – but still here in 2023!

Trained in Gestalt psychotherapy at Metanoia Institute, London, and now working full time as a therapist.

Founded and ran the Other Writers’ Group at Shakespeare & Company for ten years. Founded SpokenWord Paris in 2006. Prose editor of Strangers in Paris, (Tightrope Books, 2011) and editor of issue.ZERO and the Bastille lit. magazines (SpokenWord Paris, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016).

Father of one.

Still writing. Still in love with writing and the power of words to conjure worlds and get closer to naming experience.

So if you’re in Paris Monday 22nd, you’re invited to come to SpokenWord at the Cave Café and check out the book…

Kristin Sanders is the author of the hybrid poetry book CUNTRY, which was a finalist for the National Poetry Series, and two poetry chapbooks: Orthorexia, and This is a map of their watching me, a finalist in the 2015 BOAAT Chapbook Competition. Her work has recently been included in Prose Poetry, an authoritative introduction to the history, development, and features of English-language prose poetry published by Princeton University Press, and in the international anthology Alcatraz (Gazebo Books). Her essays and reviews have been published in Columbia Journal, Longreads, LitHub, Bitch Magazine, and Los Angeles Review of Books. She holds an MFA in poetry from Louisiana State University, and previously served as poetry editor at the New Orleans Review and book review manager at The Southern Review. Originally from Santa Maria, California, she is currently based in Paris, France, where she is a freelance copywriter and teaches at the University of Arizona online.

Maria D’Arcy is a storyteller, author and teacher. She lives at the foot of Montmartre and is easily recognisable in Paris for her extravagant hats. Previously, she lived in Dublin where she attended the Gaiety School of Acting and appeared on RTE TV as a dancer. She mounted a literary one-woman show at the Irish Cultural Centre featuring the works of James Joyce, Oscar Wilde and Robert Burns. Joyce’s Bloomsday has turned into an annual event for her and others in Paris and for her Salomé performances Maria often includes the sensual dance of the seven veils. Shakespeare and Company has welcomed her novel (Seventh Heaven Seven Perceptions) onto the shelves of their prestigious bookshop. The French translation “A l’heure du septième ciel’ by Anne Rolland is also out on the market. During the confinement Maria worked with several voice talents to record it as an audiobook which led on to her doing further training as a voice over for ads at O’Bahama’s studios. She has been interviewed by World Radio Paris, Fusac magazine and Irish Central about her novel. Last week she received the good news that a short story she wrote quickly has been selected for an anthology, Defining Definitions. A full description of her dance, theatre and author performances can be viewed at www.mariadarcy.com  On Monday 1 May 2023 her book will be on sale for the discount price of 10 euros to lucky fellow Spokenworders.

Rabbie Thorne is a 21-year-old writer and poet from a small village in the Scottish Highlands. His first time performing spoken-word was with SpokenWord Paris last October and he has been a regular at SWP since. While attending our weekly open mics, Rabbie’s literary career has blossomed. He has written articles for several Scottish newspapers, published reflective pieces in zines and art collectives, and recently sold his first short story to Extra Teeth, a literary journal based in Edinburgh. He continues to write original poems on a regular basis inspired by our weekly themes. Between his full-time studies and part-time work, Rabbie is redrafting his debut novel: a roman à clef and coming-of-age story set in Inverness. His work draws from his interests in Scottish and Gaelic culture, his rural upbringing, and the influence of his favourite authors: Norman MacCaig, Lewis Grassic Gibbon, and Nan Shepherd. On returning to Scotland to complete his degree, he plans to attend open mics in and around Edinburgh. So, if you’re visiting and in need of a guide (or someone to share a dram of whisky), don’t hesitate to drop him a line! You can find most of his work and contact details @r.w.thorne on Instagram.

Mary McColley is a writer and poet who has been published in a number of journals and is the author of  the mystery novel A Wrinkle in Crime.”. Originally from Maine.she has since wandered and worked in France and Thailand. She likes snow, the ocean, and rabbits (also Claude François)..Her pastimes include killing lobsters and selling street art.

Theme: THERAPY

Sign up downstairs from 8pm.

Poetics begin 8.45pm.

At the Cave Café, 134 rue Marcadet, 75018 Paris.

Métro Lamarck-Caulaincourt (line 12).

Photo by Sabine Dundure.

Seamus Bradley.is a performing artist based in Dublin, Ireland. His work has been published by the Dublin based ”Flash” but with a background in visual art and an interest in the science of chaos, ”my main creative output has recently become the performance of words and other sounds under the name arfi720”. The ever-popular and charismatic MC (our fond opinion)of the weekly open stage event, Circle Sessions at The International Bar, will be sharing words about life, love, and ”why we can’t have nice things”..

Beth is British and French. She has performed in theatre, film and TV in France and has been the driving force behind artistic endeavors such as the popular Peacock Palace multi-arts events from 2012 to 2015. She is also part of a team-building troop that runs murder-mystery and casino events, and she is called upon by consultants, companies and individuals for teaching, coaching, translation, interpretation and voiceover services. She is a constant learner-explorer and uses her secure professional base to allow her to pick and choose creative projects which inspire her. These have been mainly theatre oriented in recent years. In 2023 you can find her on stage in Paris and other parts of France in the comedy Jusqu’à ce que l’amour nous sépare by Hugo Le Guen, the theatre dance projects  Vi(e,s) and Les Vivants by Clémentine West, and in her own production Metoo?

https://www.metoo-theatre.com/

https://peacockwanderer.wixsite.com/bethjerviscomedienne

https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabeth-jervis-87434711

Clémentine is passionate about acting. Her life would not be complete without it.  Since formal acting training at the Pygmalion studio in Paris, Clémentine has embodied numerous roles on screen and in the theatre. She directed her first theatrical show Vi(e,s) in 2018/19 and has since expanded the project to culminate in a 9 actor chorale piece. She chooses projects which combine heart and social questioning. She also runs physical theatre and improv workshops for adults and performs regularly around France in several comedy plays with the Montpellier based Compagnie très très drole. 

https://clementinewest.wixsite.com/website

Since 2014 Scott Elder’s work has been published on both sides of the Atlantic as well as having been placed or commended in numerous competitions in the UK and Ireland and shortlisted in the Bridport, Fish, Plough, Aesthetica, and Troubadour Prizes. His debut pamphlet, ‘Breaking Away’, was published by Poetry Salzburg in 2015.  A first collection, ‘Part of the Dark’,by Dempsey&Windle 2017 (UK), and his second, ‘My Hotel’, is forthcoming in Salmon Poetry 2025 (Ireland).  Website: https://www.scottelder.co.uk/

Mia Funk is an artist, writer, interviewer, and creative educator. As the founder of The Creative Process podcast, traveling exhibition, and international educational initiative, Funk has conducted over 1,000 in-depth interviews and painted the portraits of numerous artists, writers, and creative thinkers across the arts and sciences. Its sister program One Planet Podcast focuses on the environment and issues facing people and the planet. The Creative Process aim is to foster cross-cultural understanding and provide a platform that empowers, engages and inspires imaginative inquiry by sharing insights from some of the world’s leading creative thinkers, including winners of the Oscar, Emmy, Tony, Pulitzer and Nobel Prize. Embracing creativity across disciplines, notable guests include directors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, Pritzker Architecture Prize, UNESCO, Earth Day, Smithsonian, Musée Picasso, Grammy Museum, Greenpeace, PETA, Songwriters Hall of Fame, other leading museums and organizations.
Funk’s varied work sees her leading workshops and mentoring students around creativity, critical thinking, environmental ethics, arts and humanities disciplines. Her work appears in public and private collections, including the U.S. Library of Congress, Dublin Writers Museum, Office of Public Works, and culture centers. She has received awards and honors, including the Prix de Peinture from the Salon d’Automne and exhibited in the Grand Palais. She has contributed to various national publications and served on the National Advisory Council of the American Writers Museum and on the advisory board of the European Conference for the Humanities.
www.creativeprocess.info
Podcast: Apple tinyurl.com/thecreativepod Spotify tinyurl.com/thecreativespotify
You can find her art, writing & videos here: www.miafunk.com