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1 June 2003
"Name verbs are strangely more common than you
would think. And you can get a lot more of them from Versal."
—Prue at the May Stanza
• wordsinhead from Prue
• The Last Stanza: June 20
• International Poetry Festival
• wordsinhere Breaks
• Summer Edition: Workshop
• Versal submission deadline: August 31
NOTE FROM PRUE
Whenever I used to think of
the term "poetry in motion" I thought of reading complicated
poetry when drunk or sea sick. I never really got it: "ooh,
she is poetry in motion" and I always wonder "how?"
there's something I cant see. Is it perhaps that as a poet I don't
really think of other things as poetry? Poetry is that stuff I do
with the pen and the paper and the thoughtful meanderings that make
me feel clever. It is not a he or a she or a dog or a sunset; it
is poetry.
But since being involved in
performing poetry I find the previously hated phrase squatting in
my head. It is what I think when meeting people who are interested
in doing The Open Stanza, what I wonder when reading work:
"could THIS poetry be in motion? would it work?" It is
a hard one to call and there is some contention over the whole poetic
performance idea. Some people believe poetry should stay on the
page and indeed a lot of poets should stay away from the stage.
I have had the urge in the past to walk up to some droll, monotoned,
overly serious poetic twat and take his/her papers/book from their
sweaty hand and beat them repeatedly around the head with it saying,
"See, this is what you are doing to your poetry! Do you like
it? Do you? No? Well do your sodding bloody, hard work some justice
and read it properly!"
I have so far resisted the
impulse but, you never know. There may come a day. I could be sitting
in your audience and be unable to help myself.
It is one of life's unending
mysteries to me that this does occur though. Aside from my innate
distaste of the aforementioned phrase, poetry should be in motion.
There should be motion in those words. It should rock you. No one
writes a poem without wanting to make an impact, to impress something
into the minds of others. You write a poem because you have something
to say that is sooo important it needs rhyming and line breaks and
occasionally allegory. Because suddenly, you realize that you have
this thing that needs to be said and no one has ever before been
able to say it the way you can. It must be written and it must be
written now. It means you must chew on your pen, snarl at your flatmates
to shut up because you are battling the muse. It means that you
will want to cry when you can't remember THAT word that you just
had in your head before the phone rang.
But then it will be finished
and for five whole minutes you will love it and feel released and
complete and then you will forget about it (hey, life's like that)
until that day arrives. The day you decide to READ your poetry.
To strangers. And you have forgotten all of that urgency. All of
that pain your poem caused you. All that movement and pacing and
anxiety you endured to put the bloody thing on paper and all you
can see is it lying there flat and dead and two dimensional. And
that is what you end up reading.
You see, I understand how it
happens. I just don't like it. Every now and then I work with writers
who are going to perform their work (no, I don't beat them with
it) and one of the things people say while I make them stand on
their head and breathe through their ears is that they don't want
to ham it up. They don't want to be laughed at and they definitely
do not want to be over the top. This is what I don't get. You see,
to me poetry is hamming it up. I have never in my life
thought "wow, I have just been struck by an amazing thought.
I am now going to write it down in the most boring language imaginable."
I seriously doubt any poet has.
I am not saying that all poetry
should be performed like Othello, though it could be a laugh. The
point I want to make is back there, in the beginning of the poem
when it was just an idea, it was alive. It required thought and
effort to be birthed. There was agony over full stops, there were
long minutes of deliberation about whether or not that phrase deserved
its own line. Why? Because it sounded better! So when reading poetry
remember that everything you did to that poem you did for a reason
and read it that way!
Ok, rant over. I had to take
this opportunity to have a good belch at you as I will be deprived
of the joy at the next and last Stanza. I alas will be unable
to witness the sterling performances of those chosen few who will
be performing at the season finale. Please note: I said "Season
Finale". We will be back but only when the days are shorter
and you (we) won't all be at the beach. We have decided to finish
off by giving you a night to remember and show that poetry can indeed
have motion. The format of the Stanza will be slightly different
and more dynamic for our welcome to the Summer months. Coming back
to the stage will be various performers from the last season who
have amazed us all. Also returning is the bongo-mazing action of
Chimara. Dj Iron Melon will be there as always to harmonize the
evening and the honorable Meg will preside. I will miss you all
until I see you.
Usually,
Prue
NEWS
And it's a Stanza you don't want
to miss. We're bringing back a handful of this first season's performers
to shake the stage for one more glorious night of poetry&sound.
As always we'll keep you funkin' with house DJ Iron Melon and live
music from Cimarra, who return as well for an encore show. Come
ready to party, because that's what we're going to do.
Worshippers of the creative spirit that
hovers over the Mediterranean will congregate at the Rotterdam City
Theatre from 14 June up to and including 20 June, to pay homage
to its southern charm. The Poetry International Festival opens there
with a parade of poems by various poets in this azure agora around
which so many cultures have risen.
Featured at the 34th Poetry International
Festival:
— Opening night presenting a parade of poems about the Mediterranean
— Special programme dedicated to the Greek poet C.P. Cavafy
— Defence of Poetry by Raoul Schrott (Austria)
— International Poetry Slam!
— Film-and-Poetry Day
— Homage to Martinus Nijhoff, a Dutch modernist
— Special programme on the occasion of the 80th birthday of
Gerrit Kouwenaar (the Netherlands)
— Presentation of the C. Buddingh Award for the best Dutch
poetry debut
The programmes are accompanied by music,
theatrical acts, film presentations, interviews, discussions and
a book market. The poems that are read will be available in Dutch
and English translation, making the events enjoyable for both a
Dutch and a foreign audience.
The Poetry International Festival is a major
gathering of poets from every corner of the globe. It is the only
festival dedicated to international poetry in the Netherlands, and
the largest one in Europe. The presence of international poetry
publishers, critics, representatives of international poetry platforms
and magazines, and poetry translators, makes the festival an important
meeting place.
34th Poetry International Festival Rotterdamse
Schouwburg, 14 - 20 June. Check out www.poetry.nl
for more information. Ask for the free programme guide (also available
in English): 010 282 27 77 or info@poetry.nl.
wordsinhere will be there on the
16th and 19th with a table in the book market. Come say hi!
Somewhat vaguely, wordsinhere is
taking a break for the month of July. After closing off our first
Stanza season we're going to hit the sun and write for awhile.
What does this mean for you? Well, the website won't be as frequently
updated and there will be no newsletter coming out on July 1. There
will still be a listing on the site with July's events (of course!
we wouldn't leave you totally stranded!) but we won't go in and
delete the old ones this time. Simple enough. It doesn't mean you
can't email us; it just might take longer for us to reply. That
sort of break. But we're back in full force come August, Stanzas
in hand!
CALLS
FOR WRITERS
wordsinhere is offering a one-day
summer workshop for poets. The day includes exercises to generate
writing from unlikely spaces or through side-door entrances, practice
with poetic tools and forms, a performance workshop and finally
a group critique of work written that day. Saturday, 28 June in
Wassenaar. Cost is €25 (excl. lunch). Interested? Email meg@wordsinhere.com
by June 20. Space is limited so be sure to sign-up soon.
The literary print magazine of wordsinhere
— Versal — is now accepting submissions for its second
issue out December, 2003. An international collection of writing
fit for your bathroom magazine rack. Accepted: up to 5 poems; 4000
word max for prose, essay, review. Simultaneous as long as you tell
us. Not accepted: what you already know can be published because
it has. Appreciated: urgent, involved, unexpected.
Full guidelines and online sample of our
first issue can be found here.
For questions and submissions, email submissions@wordsinhere.com.
We accept snail mail only with a SASE: Van Hogendorpstraat 123-I;
1051 BL Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Deadline: August 31, 2003.
JUNE EVENTS WE'RE GOING TO ATTEND
Friday 13 June, 10:30pm
De Badcuyp, Amsterdam
Six synergistic journeys from words to music.
For more information check out their site, www.clickzone.org.
Entrance: €4.
Sunday 15 June, 8pm
Het Werftheater, Utrecht
Bookstore Savannah Bay organizes this literary
night as part of the Utrechtse MidzomerGracht Festival. Known and
unknown gay and lesbian writers give an insight into their latest
work. Queen of the new genre lesbian pulp, Susan de Boer hosts her
first literary night. She will interview four athors: Minke Douwes,
the new star in the genre. Paulien J. van Munster, only known by
real connaisseurs of lesbian literature. Alex Verburg, interviewer
and writer of his first novel Het huis van mijn vader.
Edward van de Vendel is poet and writer of children’s books.
Book signing after the programme. Entrance: €8.
Friday 20 June, 8pm
Volta, Amsterdam
The last of the season! Not to be missed encore
show! Bringing back writers from the past six months who shook the
stage with their voices and met the audience with their words. Live
music from Cimarra and house DJ Iron Melon turns the beat up loud.
Entrance: €5.
For the full list of June Events and for a listing
of regular shows, click
here.
aBOUT THIS LIST AND ADDRESS REMOVAL
This list provides news and information
about the wordsinhere community and its projects, as well
as a listing of this month's choice events in and around the Netherlands.
How do you get an event on the newsletter AND on the site? Email
it to us: calendar@wordsinhere.com.
Please feel free to distribute this e-mail
to those who you believe would be interested. Thank you very much
for your help and support.
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Copyright © wordsinhere 2003. No part
may be reproduced, in whole or in part, without the specific written
permission of wordsinhere first hand and obtained. wordsinhere is
a registered association through the Kamer van Koophandel, Netherlands.
Number 34181684.
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