SpokenWord Paris

Well, ladies & gentlemen, here we are again for another season of words veering from the sublime to the ridiculous. A new photographer (Viola) but sadly the same SpokenWord hosts, myself and Signore Rigettini. We do however have a larger than usual number of top hats.

So, last week began with myself and Dareka of the Downtown Slam (46 rue Jean-Pierre Timbaud, same time and day as us… check out their parallel universe!). Dareka’s bathroom – a cage for Tasha’s drunken angel. Margot with a Liberation text on gay & lesbian marriage. Kate had Jose Saramago: Cain comments on Abraham’s readiness to sacrifice his son. Jason began a flight through dreams of violence; tear gas corroded skin. “I’m reading this for me, not you,” he began. An honest man. Alberto seems to be getting a lot of strange emails from concerned people who want to help him. You know, Russian brides who want to marry him, people keen to extend the size of his baguette, doctors stranded in airports who need a few thousand dollars. He decided to reply… Round one ended with Pearlann dancing to Let’s Dance…

Round 2: The Good Slamaritan pledged allegiance to a nation of underdogs & invisible dreamers. We grow numb and number by the day… He too is down at the Downtown Slam when not with us. Helen posted a postcard of a short holiday with a potential mother-in-law. Becca & Jacob translated into various Google variations. Ben’s every word was contagious. The workless gift darkens with the mind. Angela and Nick did piano and whistle, the forgotten pioneer. Joe’s pigeon heart shuddered. Moe Seager closed with a story of when beat was an attitude and the polyester stretch.

And that was almost it. Most folks left. But for those who stayed we did a more informal spontaneous Third Round. Which will remain entirely mysterious and secretive for those who weren’t there.
Well maybe I’ll just say that Nick sang along the road to Gundagoi, Pearlann was tension & release while the world was a pale blue dot – Voyager’s last photograph – Noemie was on automoatic, writing. I rattled off into the forest dark. Ben: She lent on him, and he lent back…

Be there tomorrow for more strangeness and poetics, song and other! Plus these 3 as Featured Performers:

PETER CARLAFTES is an NYC playwright, poet, and performer. He is the author of 12 plays, including a noir treatment of Knut Hamsun’s Hunger, and his own celebrity rehab center spoof, Spin-Dry. Carlaftes has recently published three books: A Year on Facebook (humor), Drunkyard Dog (poetry) and Triumph for Rent (3 plays). He is co-founder and editor of Three Rooms Press; their most recent books include Maintenant 6: A Journal of Contemporary Dada Writing and Art; Have a NYC: New York Short Stories; and Mike Watt: On and Off Bass, a collection of photos and distilled tour diaries from the great punk rock bass player.

KAT GEORGES is an NYC poet, playwright, performer and designer. Her full-length poetry collection, Our Lady of the Hunger will be released soon on Three Rooms Press. In New York since 2003, she has directed numerous Off-Broadway plays, curated poetry readings (including the bi-monthly Son of a Pony poetry reading series at Cornelia Street Cafe), and performed widely. She is co-founder and editor of Three Rooms Press; their most recent books include Maintenant 6: A Journal of Contemporary Dada Writing and Art; Have a NYC: New York Short Stories; and Mike Watt: On and Off Bass, a collection of photos and distilled tour diaries from the great punk rock bass player.

VIDEO of Kat
http://youtu.be/CUPeR3dcmyo

Pearlann is an experimental postmodern performing artist from the United States with a philosophy of using jazz as a verb. Her concept of ‘freejazz’ is a direct reaction to the commercialism, technical and presentation constraints of contemporary Western dance; an original method of physical-musicality that spontaneously plays the motion of the body as a jazz musician would play their instrument. Her work in freejazz intends to challenge the common perceptions of what is ‘dance’, who is a ‘dancer’ and where dance is found in the zeitgeist. “All movement is dance… and everyone is always dancing”.

Cheers all,
David

Report by AlbertoIzz been a great season of Spoken Word, if you want come and see some of the best moments and the great faces we had, you’re welcome at Marie De Lutz’s Vernissage.

But faces and poems keep on rolling twice a month all along the summer downstairs au Chat Noir. Evan’s opening: “Listen, we are Music”, Daniel-Ryan Spaulding a canadian gay boy learning to hate poor pineapples in French. If you want a preview of his Edimburgh’s show click here. Kate on the famous Kimberly 56 stars. You can still support her kimberlizing yourself right now, on line, with the Kimberlizer.  Chayma Boda and Mona Assayag, Guitar and Cello, Maya Papa: “Poets have a great tradition of  taxidermy.” Helen telling the story of Myra who cooks cakes with salmonella (for some reason). Our Featured Poet: the Palestinian-American poet Hala Alyan, author of ‘Atrium’, by Three Rooms Press:

“You ruin everything. I cannot wear

lipstick

without seeing cupped palms gathering blood from

wounds

like rain. Broken are the cuticle scraps of your

breakfast,

Mediterranean witch. Baby, save your thunder.”

Patrick Cash opening part II, Yann: “I’m writing a blog that will never end called the ultra-bible and it will be written in capital letters”. Alexandre aka The Dream Sailor jumping on benches (while playing the guitar, I mean), Luke reading some very old poems, written three years ago, Asha: “Only the rain is true to itself, falling”. Alberto found one line by Garcia Lorca in a street of prostitutes: “Estrellas no tienen novio / Stars have no boyfriend”. Georgina treating us like clever kids, telling us a fable. And Lucy Gelman, after one great season of poetry at Spoken Word Paris, is going back home “flying out from the bed”. Madga I don’t care what the Bible says, this was a very controversial poem on how to cook pasta, (I beg to differ) Emily’s childhood in Ghana, Talal don’t want to be eclipsed by his sister (Hala), Amelia (She’s leaving too/ we’ll miss you girls), James Jewell for the broke bohemian artists, we are! His bearded face hanging from the Poster:

Report by Alberto.

Sorry for this Report posted late. As you may know Italy lost the Football Euro Cup, the blogger here collapsed four times and needed time to recover. Also as you may know Spoken Word Paris is now twice a month for the whole summer. Flashback: Jane, Doctor Who, Jason: “C’mon it’s just sex.” “Gimme the details!”, yes, give us the details, Sonny Shula, Frank Sinatra, Kate Noakes, Inuits’ Tattoos and our featured poet Griffin Payne, one of the heroes of our 2011/2012 season, performing his greatest hits like the famous: “Put your shoes on, girl.” (something like that?). Wayne “You better get a raincoat, motherXXXXer”, Tania&Amel, Chris&Benjamin in Cowsanova:

Murderrrr, Antonia Klimenko, David and ontological anarchism “Amour Fou is not a social democracy”. Magda on dopamine, Helen Cusack O’Keefe, “Agglomerat des reveurs”, Pablo: “A great stillness will take over”, Lucy, Beatrice, Nicole: “Instant French is better than instant coffee”. Georgina into the wild. Helen’s French Impro, Betty & Thomas closing the night with a gun-song on Camille Pickens’ lyrics. Bang. Bang. Bisoux.