Worcester – iWPS - 2005
Wednesday February 9 – 6:43PM
Yesterday was the 105th anniversary of my grandmother’s birth. That is what I will tae with me to this weekend’s iWPS (individual World Poetry Slam) in Worcester, Mass. I am on a bus on the way there and I’m intrigued by the possibilities. I’m curious to see how this poetry slam amongst individuals on a large scale will wor. I’m curious to see how I handle myself at a national slam in which I don’t have a team I have to look out for and worry about.
Last week, I was unable to journal here. I was at Dickinson College in Pennsylvania doing a residency with Vision Into Art, that while enlightening was so absolutely stressful, that I can’t begin to air out the sort of stress I had to sift through my body on this; a public forum. Suffice to say, we no longer have the director we had when we went there and we’re completely re-vamping the show for the BAM performance (March) and the Whitney performance (May).
So… back to the iWPS. I’m trying to remember to have a good time and to focus on my poems and the work and the communion with other artists; without getting caught up in the scores and the bullshit. One must first be vigilant with oneself. One of the good things that came out of the Dickinson residency was this essay on Identity in Poetry (that I wrote for the Identity Sketches portion of our programming) that was filmed and everything. I’ll share it with you all next week after I edit the written version. So now, more bus riding. I don’t get to Worcester till 10:30PM.
Wednesday February 9 – 6:43PM
Yesterday was the 105th anniversary of my grandmother’s birth. That is what I will tae with me to this weekend’s iWPS (individual World Poetry Slam) in Worcester, Mass. I am on a bus on the way there and I’m intrigued by the possibilities. I’m curious to see how this poetry slam amongst individuals on a large scale will wor. I’m curious to see how I handle myself at a national slam in which I don’t have a team I have to look out for and worry about.
Last week, I was unable to journal here. I was at Dickinson College in Pennsylvania doing a residency with Vision Into Art, that while enlightening was so absolutely stressful, that I can’t begin to air out the sort of stress I had to sift through my body on this; a public forum. Suffice to say, we no longer have the director we had when we went there and we’re completely re-vamping the show for the BAM performance (March) and the Whitney performance (May).
So… back to the iWPS. I’m trying to remember to have a good time and to focus on my poems and the work and the communion with other artists; without getting caught up in the scores and the bullshit. One must first be vigilant with oneself. One of the good things that came out of the Dickinson residency was this essay on Identity in Poetry (that I wrote for the Identity Sketches portion of our programming) that was filmed and everything. I’ll share it with you all next week after I edit the written version. So now, more bus riding. I don’t get to Worcester till 10:30PM.
1 Comments:
Roger,
I hope you use the time on the bus to ease your shoulders south of your ears. Rest and let the stress roll down your back for this brief respite. Your work is phenomenal so there is no need to worry about who wins and who losses. Audiences are fickle anyway, you know this. Just enjoy the company of good friends and watch the show play out.
Cheers!
Amanda
P.S. We met last March at Louder Mondays when I was studying with Taylor Mali through a grant. I’m the woman from Kentucky with the Jamaican “we don undastan dis poetree ting” in-laws.
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