SpokenWord Paris

We’re running every Monday till the end of June.
Then July 11th and 25th. August 8th and 22nd.
i.e. every second Monday
The July 25th night will also be part of the launch for the Strangers in Paris anthology.

David
Photo by Laure

But, Alberto, I would have your baby
and I’ll fall into your manly-hairy arms
to embrace for the whole world to see
eyes dazzling at our mutual charms

And we’ll have the most convenient wedding
we’ll dance on groups squish them between our toes
avoid any awkward questions about the bedding
as in my belly our progeny grows

With some time we get girls on the side
off with my lace out off with your tax
it’s only when I invite your sister along for the ride
that we realize this situation sax

Oh Alberto! I have to say we’re a bit clichè
You, me and a baby is one fucked up three way.

Report by Alberto, this guy:

To see all of Adèle’s amazing photos from the night click here.

After one week of Grand Slam, the World Champion is Quebecoise, the French Champion is Belgian, the National Team Champion is Nantes. The staff of Culture Rapide is exhausted but there’s another packedfullassbusting monday to face for Spoken Word. Mandoline is the first on stage, reading Ted Hughes. Check out her new workshop and writers retreat:

Suddenly Georgina comes out of the blue with a poem called Sonnet XXIV, in revenge of my jokes about her supposed pregnancy. For the explicit and embarrassing content of the poem I hid it behind this link.

Susana “Esperro” which we can translate with “I’m waiting” but losing the wordplay, J. Huxta, Diana Vaden representing University of California’s workshop in Paris, inviting everybody to their reading at Shakespeare and Company.

Sepidah: God is a man, Mother Nature is a woman. Isabella and Adele were Cindy and Melissa, so-called “friends” (by Isabella Brown) that’s how it ended up:

Melissa: People like her just bring me down. I have to make the break. I can’t have unhappy people around me.

Cindy: There’s nothing left to say. She told me to chill out, so I’m going to get a facial and manicure… and who needs friends like that anyway.

Our featured poet coming from L.A. for the Coupe du Monde du Slam, is Mona Jean, poet & dancer, performing her poems with sign language included.

Trelys Duprè’s weekly report waking up in bed with two beautiful young men we know, who are they?

Ten minutes break for rumours.

Part II. Sam: “…tears made my cheeks sticky”, Zachary and Esmeralda, they wrote the song this morning, From Georgia Li Geration and ∆◊O, improvisational poets, Hal gives up the short story he’s been working on for three years and plays a song. David with his famous “Halitosis of the soul”. Listen to the audio version here:

plus Edgar Allan Poe’s letters. Patrick’s tribute to Moe: “I wanna Jazz on your face”, right after is

Alberto going to a Sperm Bank “Back up, man!”. Tony robbing and rapping, just arrived from L.A and looking for a flat to stay, Julian was screaming I’ve heard him from outside.

Mona Jean also does Circuit Bending with her Husband, if you don’t know what is it, check out here:

French touch: Bastian and Antoine before spilling Peter Brown’s paint, a new Chris Newens’s production

starring Ashley, Hal, Ben and Patrick, Leelan, Andie, Troy, Tyler, (the last 4 were not in the play). Jenny Z. with her celebrated story about diarrhea (I remember she won a Shakespeare and Company competition with that)

http://www.jennybagel.com/

Also if you wanna see the dress she was wearing:

http://fashionforwriters.com/

For the first time on our stage Bee,

then a Jeremy’s story: “After 15 years of flirting, I winked”

And to remind us Culture Rapide haven’t won the Grand Slam National, neither individual nor for teams, but we are still the best: Bubu closed the night on francais.

Au revoir les gars, au lundi prochain. Bisoux.

Report by David.
To see all of Adèle’s amazing photos from the night Click here.

Anyway, it was hot. Damn hot and busy, full of poets in the Culture Rapide, the week that Gil Scott Heron died (”A poet who took poetry back to the people.” – Moe) So Deirdre Dore made a snow angel. Julian heard teenage voices that want his blood.

Corinne was the Champion of pigeons. Helen stole smiles, grinning in that sardine way only fish have. The ferrets danced. She kept her feet on the yellow brick road.
Suzanne gestured to the south and west across the water. Born in a blood-soaked hour, small bells sewn into her petticoats. Meghan dreamed in tea-coloured light. A donkey pissed, holding its genitals like a man. Diana V was blotting out the past for a man as black as cold hearted sin. Trelys brought the Happy Committee Report but Sylvian was in prison at St. Lazare. (Yes, I’ve felt like that when I have to catch a train there.)
Mona-Jean gave us a taste of her poetry with sign language. She’s Featured Poet on 6th June. Lesley beguiled admirers with the singing strings, while for Diana R. it was time to be drunk in the shadows of iron, lips wet with poetry. Andrew bought his Raybans from the Devil. Troy had no words, no crumbs. Matt wandered through your body, having been lied to about sex. Hear Matt read “Orexis” here… Podcast hosted by Vlogosophy:
Podcast Powered By Podbean

Photos: Outisde, Sam, Leelan:

Bryan brought revolution in the kitchen. This revolution will be kinetic learning, every child will be ecstatic and the schools filled with what you will. Sunlight snuck through the cracks in Corey’s teeth. Maria blurred. Alberto asked ”Who knows why humans kiss? No other species do.” In the interests of accuracy Emmanuelle would like me to point out the monkeys kiss too. Lucy spoke of the origin of red and stealing books. Digby wandered in a wild and womb-like country. Sounds like a nice place to be.
Zach sang:

He was paralysed by possibility.
Mika & friends sang us out at midnight…

RIP Gil Scott Heron. Next SpokenWord on Monday 6th June, we’ll be taking names for the list from 8pm in the bar.
Photo: Closing in on Digby after his 5 minutes runs out..

Cheers,
David

Report by Alberto

Bryan (is in the kitchen) King, reads one poems by himself: “I’d like for you to be the dirt behind my ears…” and one by Richard Brautigan: The Pill Versus the Springhill Mine Disaster

When you take your pill

it’s like a mine disaster.

I think of all the people

lost inside

you.

Andrei Ramirez visiting Jim Morrison’s grave: “Doomed to the Library of Sex, there are several poets nailed to the walls… and a few good writers chained together, singing songs…” Sidney, Cecilia Woloch (photo below) with a dirty poem after a period spent in the cleanest Switzerland, she’s running the Paris Poetry Workshop:

http://ceciliawoloch.com/

Diana Vaden, Claire about the rapture plus London Particular by Tamar Yoseloff, David Barnes: “My head says one thing, my heart another”, Khronos gave me this beautiful book: “Le Poète et le Tsar” by Khronos featuring Puskin:

SERGEI: Pourquoi ne parles-tu plus, mon ame?

LE NOUNOU: Parce que je t’ai perdu mon ange.

Danielle, Alexandra, Emily&Max, Kate introducing Upstairs at Duroc, James, Patrick Hipp to his ex-girlfriend (still a great source of inspiration), Alberto Rigettini in Fuckoffville, Moe Seager, Corey Arterian: “Everybody should masturbate”, Marie singing a song I can’t remember, “On the Dancefloor” by Rihanna according to James (give him credits) or “Don’t stop the music” according to the academia, Hal reading his “The Scavengers”. Part III sees a funny, lonely and vicious Julian Field, D.W. reads from his forthcoming new book (and you will discover his real name):

http://www.curtisbrown.co.uk/d-w-wilson/once-you-break-a-knuckle/

(Note: I think that may have been him in the first photo on this post — David.)

Helen’s french impro, Chris and friends (photo of Ashley and Chris below)…

…Antoine, Matilde playing Joni Mitchell’s “A Case Of You”, Leeland, Trelys’s report of a wonderful week and ukuleling happy birthday to Suzanne, Kate and Helen, Meghan “I’m not afraid of being afraid”, Nicolas, Zach, Georgina, Tyler’s “Story for George” (As he says: First person to read a sappy poem, a story about adolescent masturbation and have an emotional breakdown on the same stage in the same month). The Last is The Maxx with “From her eyes into horizon”. Ca suffit. See You next tomorrow.

PAUSE ON THE LANDING, a reading series

sponsored by the Paris literary journal

UPSTAIRS AT DUROC

invites you to an all-prose reading

Come hear new work by

DAVID BARNES

JOY ANNA BECVARIK

BOB LEVY

followed by an informal discussion

Where: BERKELEY BOOKS OF PARIS, 8 rue Casimir Delavigne,

75006 Paris, Metro Odéon

When: Wednesday 18 May, 2011, 7 PM.

by Alberto

It’s May in Paris and apparently all around the world.

Benjamin Perriello told us the story of Bahram Gur, King of Persia and ruler of the world, as narrated by the poet Nizami long long long time ago (in the 12th century) (old school, man, nothing’s like the old school). Kyle plays this kind of songs:

http://www.myspace.com/kyleavallone

Suzanne Allen reads three poems: “Our Love is Like a Paradelle with Enjambment and Homonyms” , “Last Train”, and the third, unnamed, but formerly known as “Impending Freedom.”

Claire Trevien announcing her forthcoming translation poetry workshop:

http://poetrytranslationworkshop.eventbrite.com/

Moe Seager:

“Jazz is a Gypsy on a wagon stoop, strumming new found sounds in his finger tips,

Jazz does a duo with Mozart and Bach, a spoon in tune with Cafe Vienna,

and Jazz is a niche on a back-street in Paris, rendezvous lovers, loners and Poets.”

Khronos is Major Tom and Rimbaud, both lost in space, KellyJoy gives just “five minutes to taste me!” Gnam.

Round II: Benjamin Perriello’s the story of Bahram Gur part II, Taylor,

Anthony Allan Poe introducing Variètè Anglaise: http://varieteanglaise.blogspot.com/

Then Lucas Corcoran:

“All of a sudden there are no more secrets left

because now I know your bellybutton is an octagon

and somehow the only angles more acute

are the slight panics that still make each day a surprise

I think I would have loved you more if I had never met you

no matter now”

Patrick and his song for a girl, then James about a guy whose name I forgot,

Hal read “Party” his short story published on the current issue of Malahat Review:

http://malahatreview.ca/issues/current.html

Georgina’s “diving off your eyelashes”, then Alberto’s second attempt to explain in 5 minutes what the heck Aristothelian Ethic is about.

Round 3 – Amanda writes from the Quai: “this smell of pee is making me sick …these memories are splish-splashing in a bottle.” The Maxx went romantic with two love poems “the Kiss” and “Done”.

Welela met a guy in Chicago, sharing a taxi during a snowstorm, and the result is this poem from her book “Salt.” Read it and buy it if you like it, here you can even have a preview:

http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/1338518

Zachary: “There was blood everywhere” , Tyler, Fanny’s “Time will heal this restless heart of mine”, Jeremy’s “shit happens to me”: how he and big Ben fought the Hell’s Angels in Reno.

Moe’s now “I wanna make Jazz to you”, Loona and then I called Jeremy back on stage thinking his story wasn’t over, but I was wrong. Spoken Word was over, in accordance with our new Cinderella rule, as it was midnight.