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1 October 2003
'Sublime.' — commentary from
an audience member at the season opening Stanza show.
• Letter from Meg
• What's New(s) at wordsinhere.com
• Musicians!
• October Literary Picks
Poetry on the Offense
As Amsterdam’s summer
closes around us and we retreat from Italian coastlines, music festivals,
and the Vondelpark, the poets of our town are returning to fill
the colder and darker months with something akin to sunlight –
or what our poetic ancestors might have called verlichting.
Between May and August I received
dozens of emails from poets planning to visit Amsterdam over the
summer. They wrote me with the assumption that Amsterdam –
the city of culture, liberal law books, and a dozen other clichés
– would have a place (a stage) for them. I had to write back
with apologies. Quite simply, we were all on holiday. Our monthly
stages would return in the fall. They were welcome to visit the
reduced open mic circuit or attempt to contact one of the festivals
which hosted a poetry tent, but as for Amsterdam the summer scene
was all but hibernating.
If you align with the prevalent
conviction that poetry emerges out of a certain silence, then Amsterdam’s
literary holiday through the summer months serves as foundation
for an autumn explosion of meters and line breaks, on stage and
in print. This yearly surge is at once intensely Dutch and incredibly
international, and the diversity of the poetries represented lives
up to the travel-guide truisms. In a country where poetry is employed
for Sinterklaas and graduation speeches, where the populace votes
for the 5 year reign of poet laureates, Amsterdam long stands as
capital.
That story could change. The
word on the street is that under the cloud of current politics,
subsidies for artists – particularly for poets and their projects
– are cut to a fine minimum. Summer wouldn’t be the
only season which leaves poetry up to a few expensive stages and
a handful of low-key open mics.
To
continue reading, please click here.
NEWS
Couple developments online
that we wanted you to know about. You might have already noticed
that the homepage is now
hosting general information about wordsinhere; for those
who wander onto the page from the www deserts, we didn't want to
confuse them. So wordsinhere updates and announcements are
now hosted on the News
page. Be sure to check it out from time to time for the latest calls
for writers, workshop additions, and Stanza show listings.
And speaking of workshops: our Workshop
page now provides information about workshops in the community,
not just those organized by wordsinhere. The Poetry Critique Group
and performance workshop Speak! are the latest editions. Check it
out!
The Open Stanza is looking for musicians
to fill our live music slot. Past shows have featured a wide range
of styles, individuals and bands alike. It's a great chance to perform
in front of a welcoming and attentive crowd.
If you're interested, please email us at
openstanza@wordsinhere.com.
If we are not already familiar with your work we will need an audio
and/or video sample. Future shows include 17 October and 21 November.
CALLS FOR WRITERS
The Open Stanza is looking for poets
and writers from anywhere, any language, any style, to perform on
our second season stage. As long as your words get off the page.
Spread the word. For more info visit our Stanza
pages. Submissions and inquiries: openstanza@wordsinhere.com.
Have you ever hosted a poetry night? Been
on the crew for a literary magazine? Organized a novelists' writing
group? Met up with writers in a dark bar's corner and argued over
a line break?
The network that wordsinhere is building
and the work we do aims to support writers and poets in their own
ambitions and ideas. If you want to get involved in some way, even
if you don't know what that way is, email info@wordsinhere.com.
We'll meet up for coffee. That's how it usually begins.
Submissions are requested for an upcoming
anthology of international
"cycling verse." Haikus about road racing, villanelles
about derailleurs,
travelogues in rhyme - anything's acceptable, so long as it's accessible,
well-written, and about bicycling!
Submissions may be of any length or style.
Get creative! Deadline is
October 31 and payment is likely to be minimal. Submit by email
or snail mail:
justin.belmont@rodale.com
BICYCLING Magazine
Attn. Justin Belmont
135 North Sixth Street
Emmaus, PA 18098-0099
OCTOBER EVENTS WE'RE GOING TO ATTEND
10-11 October, 7pm
Arminius, Rotterdam
The second edition of Dunya: Windows to the
World. In an intimate setting artists from French territories will
perform. Day cards: 15 euros. For both days: 25 euros. For more
information visit www.dunya.nl.
Friday 10 October, 8pm
Café Meander, Utrecht
Live performances including theater, cabaret,
standup, poetry, music. Entrance: 5 euro. For more information visit
www.sneaknacht.nl.
Friday 10 October, 10:30pm
De Badcuyp, Amsterdam
Click: Synergistic Journeys From Words To
Music. For more information visit www.clickzone.org.
Language: English & Dutch.
Friday 17 October, 8pm
Volta, Amsterdam
It just keeps on truckin'! Includes performances
from Helen Crowe and Maarten Das, and of course our own DJ Iron
Melon. For more info visit our Stanza
pages or email openstanza@wordsinhere.com.
Entrance: 5 euro. Language: English & Dutch.
For the full list of October 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.
You have received this message either because
you or someone else has added you to the wordsinhere mailing
list. If your email address changes or you wish to unsubscribe,
simply send an email to mailinglist@wordsinhere.com
with the appropriate subject-heading.
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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