SpokenWord Paris

Dana & Erica in town – new CD out – hoping for your support to tour the new songs

Posted on May 27, 2013 by David Barnes

Dear Spokenworders past and present,
Those of you who’ve been on this list for a while will remember Erica Buettner – amazingly good folk singer who came to SpokenWord in the early days and through the Cabaret Populaire/Culture Rapide years. Dana Boulet also became a fixture at the Culture Rapide when we were there, the pair of them writing songs and trying them out. Now they have a CD out, gigs in Paris on the 9th and 13th June, London on the 18th, and are looking for support to fund their tour, if you can help out. If you saw them at SpokenWord last year or caught their gig, yoou know how good they are.
Cheers,
David

Erica writes:

Dana and I just released our Resident Cards record We Won’t Leave Any Trace on May 13th and we’re gearing up for a couple of Paris shows and a tour in June that ends with The Slaughtered Lamb in London on June 18th.

We’re launching a fundraising campaign to cover the expenses of the tour and we have a lot of great perks to offer our contributors (autographed albums, handwritten postcards, custom ringtones and songs). All donations – large and small – add up and are incredibly helpful!

Spoken Word inspired us to start writing songs together. The tracks San Andreas and Lie to Me both came from Spoken Word themes and the SW audience at Cabaret Populaire heard them first. We’re 100 percent DIY, so we’re going to need some help to get this tour funded. Also, ordering through our crowdfunding campaign is is the best and most helpful way for people to get the buy the new CD or get an instant download the album 🙂

To donate and check out the perks, here’s the link @IndieGogo.

The Resident Cards Paris Shows:

June 9th:
House Show in Montreuil (email exbestfriendmusic AT @gmail.com for an invitation and directions)

June 13th:
L’Espace B

Thank you so much for your help!
See you soon in Paris! 🙂

Bisous,

Erica & Dana

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Report from 20.05.13

Posted on May 23, 2013 by ggunion

David Sirois locking it down

Blog entry by Gabriel Gorman. Photos by Sabine – full album here.

It was a hot night. The poems were hot. The poets were hot. Everything was rather warm… there was sweating and huffing and gasping… but it didn’t matter much – David opened a door in the middle of the second round and it cooled down a bit, and so it was mostly fine after that. But man! I was shvitzing under that that top hat, under those bright lights, under the all the pressure of hosting my very first Spoken Word Paris event. It was a great night!

Whether it was Jennifer who informed us of panting and licking or August detailing how he exploded all over a suburban neighbour’s still-under-construction home, or Emily critiquing the youth of today and how they’ll never be able to feed themselves, everyone was, as David Barnes commented, shining like knives. We were shining because of the sweat, but we were sharp, always sharp as any great poem must be. And there were many great poems on this night.

David rapped about misbehaving dogs, and Alex read about current and past Spokenworders. Sari gave us descriptions of the pleasures a woman can derive from the shapeliness of a man’s back. Amel sung a song from the Kill Bill Soundtrack, and The Great David Sirois wandered with every feather. Max sung 90’s hits from my most awkward of years (my twenties), and Bruce was rappin’ and singing’ some of his classic Spoken Word bits, and by the end of the night none were disappointed and everyone had cooled down.

Additionally, you might remember a certain fellow named Noah who performed in the third round. He’ll be performing at Le Pop-In on Thursday, May 23rd. He asked me to plug his gig and I said “YES!”. So you can contact Noah and find out more through his Tumblr (whatever that is…) : promotionalnoah.tumblr.com

We all knew why we go to Le Chat Noir for Spoken Word Paris. We all know why we congregate in large numbers and tolerate the crowds and the heat. There is a great connection every Monday night at Chat Noir, and it was well shown on this night. Also, we got to see Melinda sing in a bikini out of season, and I think we were all a bit envious – a good time had by all.

Pure sass

THEME NEXT WEEK: Body Parts

Posted in SpokenWord report | Tagged chat noir, live poetry, open mike, Performance, Poetry, spoken word, Spoken Word Paris | 2 Comments

Report from 13.5.13: Giving birth

Posted on May 20, 2013 by David Barnes

Deborah and Alberto’s non-identical twins, Orlando and Amadeo, were born late on Friday 10th.

Round 1

William Strangmeyer

Gus was born. Melinda gave birth. Devon used to have a demon, feeding on crumbs, beating inside him. Katie knows your bloodshot eyes are art. It pains Clayton to think that he hit her (heroin poem). James’ waters broke in a dream of Britney Spears, when he was twelve. Then he went to the dentist’s. Sophie took the postcards down and turned round the Sun. Pallavi spent a brutal 6 days with her parents. Here au Chat Noir she got a round of applause for only taking 30 minutes to be born. Bill: “Between the see are certain walls, but are men soft and women tough?” He is available for baby boxing lessons – Alberto take note – “Keep that left fist up!”

Round 2

Ferdinand’s clock is ticking

Will: “We are all born once. Dreamers die twice, are laid to rest in broken drawer graves.” Kaisa, Linea and Ellen sang about the rebirth of nature after winter. Jennifer turned a backward thought to hours of greener tears, Max went online dating disastrously. Melissa read one of Rilke’s Letters to a Young Poet advising him how to write, and whether to. For Kristina any wind is fair. Ferdinand presented “How to Learn English with SpokenWord, lesson 6: the Biological Clock.” And I plotted the world as a whodunnit.

Round 3

Julia & Anna

Hanniffa asked “Can a poem fight?” The legendary David Sirois read to an Azalia. Sam’s knuckles seized, curled round cold air. Sam’s Dad read next, Daris Kalinksy, planning his own fantasy funeral he found fool’s gold. Yann mapped the social order in post-human neo-Tokyo. I’m not sure what Evan’s poem was about, possibly his metallic shiny clothes: “Threads of brilliance, why do we tarnish?”
And Anna told the story of her mother’s birth in a Russian prison!! “As I look at her I have trouble believing so much life has fit into this one person.”

Turn up tonight despite the rain for another mix of fragments of life, biography and poetic invention, for a night of REVENGE! with another host hosting under the top hat, neither me nor Alberto. Sign up from 7.30pm, poetics begin 8.30pm in the basement.
Cheers all,
David

Posted in SpokenWord report | Tagged chat noir, live poetry, open mic, open mike, Performance, spoken word, Spoken Word Paris | Leave a comment

Report from May 6: Danger!

Posted on May 9, 2013 by albertorigettini

“Living safely is dangerous.”

David Barnes

Report by Alberto. Pictures by Melissa. Full album here.

Dangerous night dowstairs au Chat Noir with Helene:

“He can’t have blueberries muffins without celebrating.”

Thomas: a poem you read to your lover in the morning (In Edimburgh).

Yann is swimming among smiling sharks.

Gus is the King of Laughs.

Laughs. Also Blue is in fashion this year.

La Clameur (First Photo) David Barnum: “Living safely is dangerous”. James using a convenient store as TV. Rachelle and this new generation of witches, singing La Sorciére. Bill: “Danger, I’m from New Jersey, I don’t care.” Max at the piano: “I’m titanium”. Gabriel’s outing: “I was a cop. Covered in syrup. (Maple Syrup presumably)”. Alberto dangerous tea bag flying from the 14th floor. Melinda’s on the theme: First time singing in public a song she wrote for her husband called Moments of Our Life and her husband is in the audience. David Sirois with fiery blows of kindness. Ferdinand’s English Lesson number 5: 5 dangerous things to do. Then the names were written into paper scrapes, fell inside the top hat and destiny ruled. Lauren: “Your image still pulses in the dark.” Lucie’s time to speak of the dangers of Decadence. Alex’s birthday: “Rooms are divided by the devices we carry.” Evan’s divine brushstroke. Sam controversial agism. Bruce’s urin. Will’s counting money as a casino counter. Jennifer’s bragging. She’s very proud for having written a Pushkinish Sonnet, but “It’s so unnatural to look at yourself”. And the top hat is empty. (No brain into it). Next Monday’s theme, for some reason I forgot, will be “Givin Birth.” Maybe because in ancient Greek Poetry (Póiesis) means Creation….

Damn paparazzi they got me!

Posted in SpokenWord report | Tagged chat noir, live poetry, open mike, spoken word, Spoken Word Paris | Leave a comment

Report from ‘Guilty Pleasures’ featuring Margo Berdeshevsky

Posted on May 5, 2013 by David Barnes

Margo Berdeshevsky’s guilty pleasures were gifts of lingerie and a moth. ”Dear ex ex ex ex ex’, she wrote. Then sent ‘Postcards to the Body Politic.’

Natasha Larousse, arrived from the U.S.S.R. with vodka. Owen sang the history of Jersey from the Ice Age to the present day. Evan used to worked in a bomb shelter in Nebraska. Simone indulged in the guilty pleasure of prejudice. I read Kahlil Gibran and Ferlinghetti:

Poetry still falls from the skies
into our streets still open.
They haven’t put up the barricades,
yet,
the streets still alive with faces,
lovely men & women still walking
there,
still lovely creatures everywhere,
in the eyes of all the secret of all
still buried there,
Whitman’s wild children still sleeping
there,
Awake and sing in the open air.

Ferlinghetti – Poetry as insurgent art

‘After the funeral… cocktail sausages. As if parsley garnish could heal the heart.’ – Francesca. Alex spoke in the name of the last cigarette. Max told us the 15 weirdest things he did on alcoholic energy drinks – including making out with a dear. Pallavi said ‘Don’t feel guilty!’ and told us about her sister’s guilty pleasure – Jewish guys.

Kajsa and Company harmonised. Melinda walked determinedly in the wrong direction. Ferdinand likes to feel dirty. Gus’s guilty pleasures “are no one else’s fucking business.” Hanniffa had a rhythmic and beautiful ending. Gabriel’s tongue twisted in the wisdom of Adrian Daoud’s sax and sound effects.

Ambjorn brought Conan the Barbarian. James’ pigeon with one leg was genuinely terrified. Katie’s fingers were dead as the spoken word. David Sirois read a poem he abandoned today, one designed for easy grieving. Jennifer spoke of her almost right life. “What’s up with that finger?” asked Troy. “Ooops,” replied Kelly.

James’ guilty pleasure is supporting Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Tomorrow – Danger! – is the theme for SpokenWord at the Chat Noir.
Cheers all,
David

Posted in SpokenWord report | Tagged chat noir, live poetry, open mic, open mike, Performance, spoken word, Spoken Word Paris | Leave a comment

Pandorica’s video montage of the ‘Swedish Girls’ night

Posted on April 29, 2013 by David Barnes

Many thanks to Pandorica for putting this together & sharing!

Pandorica’s video from their trip to SpokenWord

http://www.facebook.com/PandoricaOrg

David

Posted in Video clips | Tagged chat noir, live poetry, open mic, open mike, spoken word, Spoken Word Paris | Leave a comment

Margo Berdeshevsky – 29th April at SpokenWord

Posted on April 27, 2013 by David Barnes

“Margo Berdeshevsky underﬆands the diabolical complexity of the human heart, and how eros is a form of intelligence as well as a drive. Writing with lyric accuracy and necessary forgiveness about the turmoils of love, she also declares the 8th Deadly Sin: the refusal of intense experience. ”
– Sven Bikerts, (author of Reading Life: Books for the Ages)

Biography: MARGO BERDESHEVSKY’S newest poetry collection is Between Soul and Stone, (Sheep Meadow Press/ 2011.) But a Passage in Wilderness was also published by Sheep Meadow Press in 2007. Her book of short stories, Beautiful Soon Enough, was illustrated with her own photo-montages and it received Fiction Collective Two’s American Book Review/Ronald Sukenick/ Innovative Fiction Award (Published by University of Alabama Press.) Other honors include the Robert H. Winner Award from the Poetry Society of America, 8 Pushcart Prize nominations, 2 Pushcart “special mention” citations, the Chelsea Poetry Award, the Academy of American Poet’s Poem-for-a-day. Her works have appeared in literary journals including Kenyon Review, Agni, New Letters, Poetry International, Pleiades, Poetry Daily, The Southern Review, and in Europe in Poetry Review (UK), The Wolf, Siècle 21, & Confluences Poétiques. Her Tsunami Notebook of documentary photographs and poems was made following a journey to Sumatra in Spring 2005, to work in a survivors’ clinic in Aceh. Her multi-genre novel, Vagrant, is next at the gate. A lifelong traveler, she is currently living in Paris, and often on the road reading for her newest book.

for more margo news, pls visit her websites:
http://redroom.com/member/margo-berdeshevsky
http://margoberdeshevsky.blogspot.com/
Amazon Author page
“Between Soul & Stone” (published 2011)

Posted in Special guests | Tagged chat noir, live poetry, open mic, open mike, Performance, Poem, Poetry | Leave a comment

Report from April 22!

Posted on April 26, 2013 by albertorigettini

Report by Alberto, Pictures by Sabine Dundure (Full Album Here). Song to listen while reading this report: New Order – Blue Monday. Weekly poem: Those Winter Sundays by Robert Hayden, shared by Alex Manthei. Featured artists: Boutefeu. Theme: Strange. Even if many of us thought it was “Guilty Pleasures”.

“because people tell us not to wear short shorts.

because people tell us to get a car.

because people tell us to get a job.”

Why we run. By Evan Knight. (Long hair, left)

Crowd outside Au Chat Noir. A copy of OK among those pretentious intellectuals.

A crowd inside Au Chat Noir. Four Rounds. Three plus the whole waiting list! Round I: Claire, Melinda, Rebecca Larkin, Remi, Claire, Pearlann, Carissa. Round II: Brynn, Kristina, Jeff, Gabriel, Pallavi, Daniel, Boutefeu. Round III: Maryvonne. Liz, Alberto, Daniela, Alex, David Sirois, Ferdinand, Lauren. Round IV: Amel, Troy, Bill, Jennifer, James, Evan, Tom Sawyer, Bruce. Random Highlights:

After Pearlann says: David Says. I’m more concerned with the seeds of my orange than you.

I started my rapping career in the sixth grade. I’m the Mmmmmm and the Ahhhhhh. (And it ended in the sixth grade)

My line will not wait. It’s my first time here. But I’m not nervous. (Last metro or poetry urgency?)

Dinosaurs and Childhood. Liz lied. She doesn’t read OK. Aahahahahaha! (Creepy laugh with echo) I bought it for her.

Revolt Revenge Reverse Btch bzzz trsh trsh tdch tdch tbunz tbutbunz. are questioning the laws of our generation

Shining tasty given sacred Monday. See you next Monday. It will be a (guilty) pleasure.

Posted in SpokenWord report | Tagged art, chat noir, Expat, literary, live poetry, open mic, open mike, Paris, Performance, Poem, Poetry, Readings, spoken word, Spoken Word Paris, Strangers in Paris | Leave a comment

Report from Consequences 15th April 2013

Posted on April 21, 2013 by David Barnes

Is death like passing through business class on the way out of a plane looking for something to steal? asked Cralan – featured poet down from Amsterdam, a high-energy Robinson Crusoe.

Sophia’s very existence was the result of a catalogue of consequences that took in affairs, the creation of Israel, an Egyptian biologist and World War Two. Thomas emailed his poems by mistake to the Head of Climate Change Finance at the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Melinda was menaced by the Grand Dame of Monoprix. Francesca clashed teeth. Hanniffa misses her lover, the Sun.

Kristina almost went to Stockholm. For Alberto, Paris glistens in the Sun, and this is as unexpected as the smile of a French woman. (There may be consequences for Alberto when more French women hear he said this; possibly a poem about Italian men.) Gabriel told us all about his Great Aunt Selma and explained his complicated family history. For David Sirois there were consequences to being born. For Rebecca there were consequences to her boyfriend being seduced in a shopping trolley by Somebody Else.

Devon slammed Robert Frost – something I’d never seen before; worked rather well actually. An exploding star cast a speck of cosmic dust in Evan’s eye. Pahlavi doesn’t think about the consequences. Charlies roasted his father’s heart, in akind of Norse myht from Birmingham. Liz is the no-toenail poet. Anass brought poetry in Arabic. Brynn found a box of mouldy Harlequin romances in an abandoned train station in Canada. And Megan? Your problem, her father said, is that you think like a man but have all the desires of a woman.

So. Much to chew on between now and the next SpokenWord – Monday 22nd April at the Black Cat. Hosted by Alberto unless he is busy becoming a father. Theme STRANGE and we have a Québécois spoken word duo called Boutefeu as featured performers. Sign up from 7.30pm, poetics start underground at 8.30.

Thanks to Sabina for the photos.
Cheers all,

David

Posted in SpokenWord report | Tagged chat noir, live poetry, open mic, open mike, Performance, Poetry, spoken word, Spoken Word Paris | Leave a comment

Report From April 8: Swedish Girls?

Posted on April 14, 2013 by albertorigettini

Report by Alberto. Pictures by Sabine Dundure. Shuffle the full album here. Songs to listen while reading this report: Robyn – Call Your Girlfriend. Abba – Dancing Queen.

Wel-Com-Na til Spoken Word Paris! Finally a very controversial theme: Swedish Girls. Opened by a real Swedish chick, Helene Ericsson:

du är flera

de manifesterar sig i handen

som håller för munnen när du skrattar

klamrar sig fast på insidan av din bröstkorg

som inspirationsbilder på badrumsspegeln

de talar om vikten av en hud där

ingenting fäster

there are tiny girls inside of you

manifesting themselves in the hand

that covers the mouth as you laugh

fixed to the inside of your ribcage

like inspiration pictures

taped to your bathroom mirror

they speak of the importance of

non-stick skin

Then Amel sing-a-long “Dancin Queen”. Devon & Alexander The Great. Liz played chess while making love. (Or made love while playing chess)(I can’t remember) But she made up the rumour. James Bird’s bike got stolen. Diego explaining the meaning of Saudade. Pallavi Kidambi listens and sings Swedish Christmas songs all year round. Bibi’s scary Scandinavian jokerman.

Yann: “Why are you so late Mr.Anderson?” Max: 2 Swedish Girls and a wandering Jew. The Swedish girls: “I never met a Jewish guy before, what is this religion about?” The Wandering Jew: “Definitely I’m not in New York anymore.” Gabriel against Sweden: “They don’t even have enough bread to close their sandwiches. First line: I have food on my face.” Super Kajsa & Ellen & Rebecca & all the Swedish girls in the house sang “Call Your Girlfriend” proving they’ve really took over Spoken Word Paris. Alberto’s in the southernmost beach bar of Europe with a Swedishish waitress, Alex Manthei’s hometowns gathering: Amsterdam, L.A., Tucson, Paris. Melinda is the new street singer of Montmartre, Christina ‘s French & Russian melodic poem.

David Sirois: The sky is holding. Think about it. Ana Paz of Pandorica visiting us from London. “Who’s to blame.” Anna’s first time. Bruce loosening sphincters muscles, Fran’s Elephants and Bedrooms, Ferdinand’s love poem for his sweet Swedish Mermaid and Alias love poem for Lady Thatcher (That’s how we found out she’s dead!) Ben Norris: “We were having sex with earlier versions of ourselves”. Elisha Owen from Peckham SE15 to Stockholm. Kelly Joy missing her Hometown, singing a song from Kenya. Tough night, if you want to deal with the Consequences, that’s the theme for Next Monday. David Barnes under the top hat. Special guest: Cralan Kelder. Performers irreplaceable: You all. Thanks.

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