Spoken word and performance workshop at Newcastle University

Over the past couple of days I have been facilitating a Spoken Word and Performance workshop with students at Newcastle University who have an interest in transforming written text based work into spoken word performance. The workshop will continue next Friday and will result in a small group exhibition of work made by the students during the 3-day workshop. 

I developed the workshop having returned from the Spoken Word Residency at Banff Centre for the Arts, Canada last year, and use the workshop as an opportunity to share some of the techniques, skills and tips learned while on the residency.


Following the success of the workshop last year and the demand from students, Newcastle University invited me back to work with a different group of students.


During the session yesterday I showed the group some examples of artists that use spoken word / text / performance. As I was compiling the list to share with them I thought it would be useful to share it more widely, so here are the links to some works that I mentioned. Please be aware that this list is only mean to be a taster and in no way does it cover all artists working in these ways. It is simply a starting point!


ZENSHIP - Mundo Gumbo - Tanya Evanson


This is an example of how a live band can be used in spoken word performance.


https://youtu.be/r3bnV2vG5Rk



Afua Cooper at VERSEfest


This demonstrates that a convincing performance can be given even if the performer is using written notes.


https://youtu.be/pgo-nedZnwM



Martin Creed - Words and Music


This is an example of the combination of words, music, visuals (on the screen behind) and how the means of delivery can echo the content of the work.


https://youtu.be/WKFM1nl7_Y0




Blonk performs Ursonate with real-time typography


This is an example of how subtitles can add to a work.




https://youtu.be/rs0yapSIRmM




Samuel Beckett - Not I

This is an example of how spoken word can exist in a video and how cropping of an image alters the reading of the work.

https://youtu.be/l8C4HL2LyWU

Report submitted

The final day of my exhibition THEMSELVES HERE TOGETHER at The Word marked the end of my project, Voices: Within and Without. This year long project has been supported by Arts Council England. 

I have been working on the end of project evaluation report and have been reflecting on the various aspects of the project. It has been a really productive and rewarding year, and I look forward to following up all the interesting and exciting things that have emerged as a result.

Here is a reminder of some of the outcomes from my Voices: Within and Without project.

Spoken Word Residency at Banff Centre for the Arts and Creativity, Canada

Everything Will Be Alright sound installation at Cheeseburn

Portion Control publication exhibited as part of REALITY CHECK at The NewBridge Project: Gateshead

A lot can happen in a  performance workshop at TURF, London

THEMSELVES HERE TOGETHER performance at The Word, South Shields

THEMSELVES HERE TOGETHER audio-visual installation at The Word, South Shields

I would like to thank all the project partners and people involved in my project.

Plus huge thanks to Arts Council England for supporting me

Introducing Dr Afua Cooper

A poet, performer, scholar, historian, and social and cultural commentator, Dr. Afua Cooper’s expertise in and contributions to the arts, history, and education were recognised when she was presented in 2015 with the Nova Scotia Human Rights Award from the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission.

A celebrated poet she is the author of five books of poetry, including the critically acclaimed Copper Woman and Other Poems. She has also recorded two poetry CD’s. Her poetry has a strong sense of memory, history, place, and spirituality. Further, Afua has published two historical novels, which have garnered Canadian and American awards. Her work in the creative arts has been recognised with the Premier of Ontario Award for Excellence in the Arts, a Governor General’s Award nomination, and internationally with the Beacon of Freedom Award (recently awarded for her book My Name is Phillis Wheatley). A founder of the Canadian Dub poetry movement, Afua Cooper was instrumental in organising three international dub poetry festivals between 2004 and 2009.

Introducing Buddy Wakefield

Photo courtesy of Luke Reid, 2017

Buddy Wakefield is a three-time world champion spoken word artist featured on the BBC, HBO’s Def Poetry Jam, ABC Radio National and signed to Ani DiFranco’s Righteous Babe Records. In 2004 he won the Individual World Poetry Slam Finals thanks to the support of anthropologist and producer Norman Lear then successfully defended that title at the International Poetry Festival in Rotterdam, Netherlands against the national champions of seven European countries with works translated into Dutch.

An author at Write Bloody Publishing and an original Board of Directors member with Youth Speaks Seattle, Buddy is published internationally in dozens of books with work used to win multiple national collegiate debate and forensics competitions. Wakefield, who is not concerned with what poetry is or is not, delivers raw, rounded, disarming performances of humor and heart.

For full bio please see http://buddywakefield.com/

Introductions to Faculty members in Banff - starting with Tanya Evanson, Program Leader

So, I never got the opportunity to blog properly about this year's Spoken Word Faculty members at Banff Centre for the Arts and Creativity. Neither did I have the time to write an ongoing reflection of the program whilst I was in Banff.

I am now rectifying this, and over the next couple of weeks will be posting about the above.

To start off I would like to introduce Tanya Evanson, The Spoken Word Program Director



Tanya Evanson is a Montreal poet, performer and director of Banff Centre Spoken Word. She performs internationally, has published six artist books of poetry and four audio recordings including the latest ZENSHIP (2016). In 2013, she received the Golden Beret Award and was Poet of Honour at the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word. Recent work includes publication in Resist Much / Obey Little - Inaugural Poems to the Resistance (Dispatches Editions 2017), More Caught in the Act: an anthology of performance art by Canadian women (YYZBOOKS 2016), Where the Nights Are Twice As Long (Gooselane 2015), and her book of poetry Bothism is forthcoming from Ekstasis Editions. Recent spoken word performances include Blue Metropolis, Suoni per il Popolo, Verses Festival of Words, Glastonbury Festival, Edinburgh Book Festival, Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Tasmanian Poetry Festival, Australia’s Story Fest and Ubud Writers and Readers Festival. She moonlights as a whirling dervish.

www.mothertonguemedia.com

I've landed

Wow, what a truly incredible fortnight. I've arrived safely back to Newcastle after a life-changing experience on the Spoken Word residency at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, Canada. It's kind of ironic that, even though I have been living in the world of poetry and storytelling I am struggling to find the words to sum up my experience.

I faced some challenges that I had not anticipated in addition to those I had expected,
I developed a bond with the fellow participants and faculty, unlike anything I imagined,
I was introduced to a number of new concepts and ideas such as Akashic Records and memory pegging
I ate food I have never eaten before
and have learned lots about myself and how to belong in this crazy world.

It is taking a while for me to adapt back to UK time, so please bear with me as I conquer the jet lag. I will be posting more about my experience on the Spoken Word program, but in the meanwhile, I hope you enjoy this elk adventure.

Banff Centre Spoken Word Residency - Day 12

Friday, April 28
7:30 pm - Tanya Tagaq Performance - Margaret Greenham Theatre

I spent the day preparing for the performance, and then met up with Kyla from the Social Media team at Banff Centre for a short interview and photo.

In the evening we attended the Tanya Tagaq performance. Having never experienced throat singing before, I did not know what to expect, and was really excited.

Tanya Tagaq is a contemporary artist and throat singer from Cambridge Bay, Nunavut. She just won the prestigious 2014 Polaris Prize and the 2015 Juno Award for Best Aboriginal Album of the Year for her latest album, Animism. Since 2001, she has forged a remarkable career performing on stages around the world and collaborating with world-renowned artists such as Bjork and the Kronos Quartet. She has released four award-winning albums: Sinaa (2005), Auk/ Blood (2008), Anuraaqtuq (2011) and Animism(2014) which is also set to be released in the United States. She has won numerous Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards and been nominated for numerous Juno Awards. During her teenage years, while away at school, she began experimenting with Inuit throat singing and gradually developed her own solo style, fusing contemporary interests with this traditional art form. Her unique sound defies easy categorization; it has been described as ‘primal’, ‘orchestral’ and as ‘free jazz’.

She has also ventured into film performance, contributing to the soundtrack for “Diaries of Knut Rasmussen” and theme music for the CBC television show Arctic Air. She performed in the award-winning short film Tungijuq which premiered to rave reviews at the Toronto International Film Festival (2009) and the Sundance Film Festival (2010). More recently, she has collaborated with musicians Jesse Zubot and Jean Martin in scoring a powerful live performance set to the 1922 film, Nanook of the North.

"Her ghostly chants, guttural growls, gasps and moans are enough to make Björk, her sometime collaborator, sound as demure as a choirgirl." - The Guardian

The performance was out of this world. Tanya showed another side to her personality. Infact, it was hard to believe that the woman on stage was the same woman who had appeared so sensitive and fragile at the beginning of her artist talk the day before.

She had mentioned that the performance may have been difficult to understand had she not spoken to us, and I can certainly see what she meant by that. I think that when on stage, she was enacting some of the stories that she had told us about. What came out of her mouth was so rich, full of emotion, pain, grief, hurt, delight. It was visually amazing to watch also. She was transformed as she moved from one character to another.


At the end I met up with the other Spoken Word artists and we were shellshocked and speechless! We had been blown away.

Banff Spoken Word 2017 - group photo

I'm having the pleasure of spending two weeks with this bunch of talented individuals at Banff Centre for the Arts in Canada.

Banff Centre Spoken Word Residency - Day 11

Thursday, April 27

Workshop 8, Led by Tanya Tagaq

ARTIST TALK + Q&A - Tanya Tagaq talked about how the North influences her art and took questions.

Tanya Tagaq is a Canadian (Inuk) throat singer, artist and activist from Cambridge Bay (Iqaluktuutiaq), Nunavut, Canada, on the south coast of Victoria Island. She gave an artist talk as part of the Banff Spoken Word program during which she kindly shared some of her writing with us, and then answered questions from the group. Her writing is based on her experience and is also quite abstract. She intends for her writing to increase awareness and then help with the healing process.

She presented herself in a curious manner; Softly spoken and prone to giggles, her feminine, timid, high-pitched voice indicated a degree of shyness and vulnerability. However, as she revealed some of the disturbing stories of her childhood, a more confident, resilient and courageous character emerged.



I admire the way that, despite all the trauma she has been through, she does not want this to be her identity and is not looking for self pity.

Some really pertinent comments she made, include

"If you don't live it, don't claim it"

"It's not until you give birth that you realise the pain that will be involved in dying"

"If you have a papercut, don't complain to people with no arms"

Banff Centre Spoken Word Residency - Day 10

Wednesday, April 26

Individual Studio Time

Geology Talk and Walk

Rick Miller, Dragonfly Documentary

This morning I was greeted by a deer as I walked from the accommodation to my studio. How I will miss moments like this when I return to Newcastle!

I spent the majority of the day editing the sound files that I had recorded yesterday and practicing my performance for Saturday.

In the afternoon I attended Jim's talk on the geology of Banff. Most of the mountains in Banff are metamorphic rocks (Sedimentary rocks that have been heated or compressed). Limestone is most commonly found in Banff. There are parts of the mountains that are composed of clastic rock. Clastic rocks are composed of fragments, or clasts, of pre-existing minerals and rock. A clast is a fragment of geological detritus, chunks and smaller grains of rock broken off other rocks by physical weathering. One way of distinguishing the difference between limestone and clastic rock is by looking at the snow on the rocks - clastic sediments gather snow more than limestone.

The other day at lunch I got talking to a couple of film makers who are on a short residency here. 

Tonight I met up with Rick to discuss the work that he and I are currently doing, and our links with mental health organisations. Rick is working on a project investigating the links between creativity and mental health difficulties. He is going to be interviewing 'mad artists' and showcasing the work that they make. The term 'mad artist' is not one that I am familiar with, and I was a little embarrassed to ask Rick to explain what he meant by it. He handed me a scrap of paper from his jacket pocket. 









There was this short explanation of the term, and Rick was proud to inform me that the definition had been written by the Canada Council. 

Mad arts

"Mad is framed as a social and political identity by people who have been labelled as mentally ill or as having mental health issues. Rather than focusing on awareness and coping with stigma, Mad Pride focuses on expressing the unique ways people experience the world in terms of making meaning, developing communities, and creating culture. Mad arts is the artistic exploration of Mad Pride focusing on mad histories and identities."

Canada Council

It is really encouraging to know that the Canadian Council have such a good understanding of the situation and are keen to support Mad Pride.

Banff Centre Spoken Word Residency - Day 9

Tuesday, April 25

Recording studio sessions - Rice Audio Studio, 
Writing Circle 

Today was another icy cold day with plenty of snow.

Individual Studio time
I spent the morning completing the scripts for each of the Spoken Word participants to read from within my allotted recording studio session. I have decided to use a mixture of recorded audio and spoken word in my performance on Saturday evening. I have developed the text that I wrote in response to the vulnerability that I felt on the first day in the Opening Circle. I believe it will work well, given the context of the residency, to begin my performance with a mixed audio track of the different participants vocalising their insecurities and fears. This will be followed by me reading the text, which will then lead into the concluding audio track consisting of the participants vocalising sounds and words of support and reassurance. Having collected lots of recordings from participants over the course of the residency, I have now chosen the sounds that i want each person to say, but will record it higher quality in the sound booth. It has been quite a mean feat arranging the recording session schedule, but I've now got the hour planned well.



Recording Studio Session
The recording session went well and the time flew by! Now I have the task of editing all the recordings into the tracks to be played for the performance.



Writing Circle
In the evening I attended the Writing Circle group at the Library. One of the exercises that we did was to take different lines from different existing poems to form a new poem. We could also take a line from an existing poem and then do our own creative writing from this. At the event I met other artists on different programs at Banff which was interesting.

Banff Spoken Word Residency - Day 8

Monday, April 24 

Workshop 6, Led by Janet Rogers
WHAT CAME FIRST? 

Workshop 7, Led by Buddy Wakefield 

DON’T FAKE CRY

Individual Meeting - Buddy Wakefield

Workshop 6, Led by Janet Rogers
WHAT CAME FIRST? 

In this workshop Janet Rogers shared the evolution of her media poetry from page to screen and the possibilities beyond. I gained a greater understanding of literary and media processes and where multi-media projects can live. Janet shared the possibilities that exist between literary, media and performance. She showed us how one piece of work exists in print, as a spoken performance and as an audio track on a CD, and we compared the effect that these different formats had on the work.

Workshop 7, Led by Buddy Wakefield
DON’T FAKE CRY 

In this workshop we each presented a performance piece that we would appreciate feedback on. Buddy provided in-the-moment coaching and feedback on our presentation and performance.


Individual Meeting - Buddy Wakefield

Buddy and I discussed my work for the forthcoming performance at the Spoken Word Flash Forward event. I had changed the tense from 'you' to 'I', and Buddy agreed that this made it seem a lot more genuine.
He mentioned that my writing often relates to 'moments' in time, and that he could imagine them becoming part of some more extended writing such as a novel.

Banff Spoken Word Residency - Day 7

Sunday, April 23

Trip to Lake Louise
Individual Studio time

The Community Services department at the Banff Centre had arranged an optional bus trip to Lake Louise, and so a group of us took the opportunity to visit somewhere outside of Banff.

We were dropped off at the Lake and then had a few hours to spend at Lake Louise before heading back to the Banff Centre for the Arts and Creativity. 



The lake was completely frozen and people were able to walk over it. Lake Louise is dominated by the huge Fairmont hotel, so Isabel, Bea and I decided to escape from the busyness and touristic nature of the hotel area, and hike up to a viewpoint overlooking the lake. 



The snow was really deep and few people had ventured on the beaten track that we took uphill, so it really did seem that we were out in the wilderness. 





The group split, with half staying at the hotel for the afternoon and the other half (including me) returning to Banff to crack on with our work. Danielle kindly drove us back. It was good to get some solid time in my studio to work on my writing.

Introducing Spoken Word Artist Danielle Altrogge - fellow participant in the Banff Spoken Word Programme

Danielle Altrogge is a landlocked mermaid, spoken word poet, and community organizer from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. She represented Saskatoon on the 2013 and 2015 Saskatoon Slam Teams, the latter of which won the championship for the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word. Danielle was one of the writers and producers for the Saskatoon based 2015 poetry-theatre hybrid project Our Four Walls, which was nominated for Best Original Script at the Saskatoon and Area Theatre Awards. She believes in anti-oppression work, her mother, and magic. Danielle is the current Executive Director of Tonight it’s Poetry in Saskatoon and the co-chair of communications for Spoken Word Canada’s Board of Directors. Her work has been published in oratorealis, untethered, Folklore, and isms Magazine. She has performed in venues across Canada. She is currently finishing her MFA in Writing at the University of Saskatchewan.

Banff Spoken Word Residency - Day 6

Saturday, April 22
2:00 pm - 4:00 pm - Roundtable on creativity, education, applying for grants
7:00 pm - 9:30 pm - Workshop 5, Led by Tanya Evanson 

Roundtable on creativity, education, applying for grants

This was an opportunity for us to ask questions about any spoken word related topics. 

Workshop 5, Led by Tanya Evanson 
SONIC SALON - We were each asked to bring a short excerpt from our current project to share in an intimate performance setting. There was physicality, vocalizations, mic tech, stage possibilities, critique, feedback loops, storytelling arcs, musings, and bravery!

Tanya shared some very useful advice about nervousness, body language, and technical issues such as microphones.

Banff Spoken Word Residency - Day 5

Friday, April 21

10:00 am - 11:00 am - Recording Info Session  
11:00 am - Group Photo - Shaw Amphitheatre
4:30 pm - Faculty Show Tech Check
8:00 pm - RE:QUEST Faculty Show 

Recording Info Session  

We began with an introduction to the sound technicians and the sound room that we would be using for our recording session, and were able to ask questions about these sessions.

Group photo

Elk Adventure!

Audrey Lane, David and I took a walk to Bow River to do some sound recording. We were fortunate enough to witness a couple of elk affectionately playing with each other, rubbing their antlers together and making an incredible sound. After watching them for a long time, we crossed over the river to explore the ice and then saw a larger group of elk being herded away from the bridge and across the river towards us. They walked elegantly in pairs through the water and acknowledged us as they walked past. It was incredible!









RE:QUEST Faculty Show 

The four Spoken Word Faculty Members performed in the RE:QUEST Faculty Show 

Afua Cooper



Janet Rogers



Buddy Wakefield



Tanya Evanson



This was my first experience of a Spoken Word event and I was amazed at the variety of performances given by the four artists. Janet's use of a soundtrack and props opened my eyes to how I could integrate more of my visual art background into my performances, as did Tanya's use of props. I particularly enjoyed Tanya's text about her Dad's gumbo! I was given confidence by Afua Coopers reading of some of her texts because I saw it was still possible to make a meaningful connection with the audience when reading from notes. It did not take away from her performance. Buddy was accompanied by a piano, and it was very interesting to see how this simple addition of a beat added to the words that he was saying. It was a truly inspiring evening.

Banff Spoken Word Residency - day 4

Thursday, April 20

10:00 am - 1:00 pm - Workshop 4, Led by Tanya Evanson

Afternoon - Faculty Studios, Individual Meeting - Afua Cooper

6:30 pm - 8:30 pm - Toronto Arts Council Leaders Lab - Panel and Discussion 

Workshop 4, Led by Tanya Evanson

WRITING UNDER THE INFLUENCE - From meditation to spontaneous acts of literature and performance. 

In the initial part of the workshop we did a sufi exercise - a visualisation involving a cube, a horse, a set of ladders, a storm and some flowers. Tanya led us through the meanings behind each part of the visualisation and some fascinating things were revealed!

We then did a group exercise starting with a single sentence that was written on the whiteboard. One by one we suggested a follow-on sentence from the line previously written on the board. We were then asked to write a text starting with a sentence on the whiteboard. Following this we were split into small groups and were asked to choose some sentences from the texts that we had each written and further develop another text which we were then to perform as a group to the rest of the group. This exercise demonstrated how multiple works can be developed from a single starting point.

This workshop ended with an introduction to Sema, the dance of the Mevlevi Whirling Dervishes, whose inspiration comes from Persian philosopher and poet Mevlana Jelaleddin Rumi. 

Individual Meeting - Afua Cooper

Afua and I discussed some of the texts within my publication 'A lot can happen in fifteen minutes'. She spoke about using the words in the sentence to visualise the words on the page, and suggested some poets to research:

Walt Whitman

Pablo Nervuda

Kamau Brathwaite

Afua was really encouraging about my texts and described poems as being stories in a shortened form.

I was advised to submit my work to poetry journals and festivals, and was told about Peterloo Poetry Festival in the UK.

Toronto Arts Council Leaders Lab - Panel and Discussion 

A structured discussion about language, storytelling and collaboration. This panel explored why the language we use matters and how can we be more purposeful and aware of language, how we speak and listen, especially when seeking to better understand different ecosystems. 

Organised by leaders and artists, who are curious about how they can help create space where people feel safe, comfortable, and able to demonstrate vulnerability in service of creating more intimacy, understanding and collaborative opportunities.

This discussion followed a format called The Long Table.

The Long Table is a dinner party structured by etiquette, where conversation is the only course. The project ingeniously combines theatricality and models for public engagement. It is at once a stylised appropriation and an open-ended, non-hierarchical format for participation. Both of these elements – theatrical craft and political commitment – are mutually supporting in this widely and internationally toured work. The (often-feminised) domestic realm here becomes a stage for public thought.

The components are simple: the long table; chairs; a paper tablecloth; pens with which to make comments, to draw, or to scribble ideas. The final, and necessary, component is an etiquette sheet. This list of rules for engagement lays the groundwork for talk that is structured in its participatory aspect without being limited in content or access. The rules, or perhaps helpful hints, include items like ‘There can be silence’, ‘There might be awkwardness’ and ‘There can always be laughter’. The Long Table acknowledges the sometimes uncomfortable side of both private exchange and public engagement, while celebrating the potential for new forms of knowledge-making and -sharing.

The Long Table is inspired by Marleen Gorris’s film Antonia’s Line, in which the protagonist continually extends her dinner table to accommodate a growing community of outsiders and eccentrics until, finally, the table must be moved out of doors. The Long Table, then, brings what might often be seen as ‘outside’ in – to a realm of conviviality – while showing how everyday, domestic things which might usually remain hidden can be brought out – into a realm of public ideas and discourse.

The etiquette is as follows

This is a performance of a dinner party conversation 

Anyone seated at the table is a guest performer 

Anything is on the menu 

Talk is the only course 

No hostess will assist you 

It is a democracy 

To participate simply take an empty seat at the table 

If the table is full you can request a seat 

If you leave the table you can come back again and again 

Feel free to write your comments on the tablecloth 

There can be silence 

There might be awkwardness 

There could always be laughter 

There is an end but no conclusion

For more information visit 

http://publicaddresssystems.org/projects/long-table/

Banff Spoken Word Residency - day 3

Wednesday, April 19

Morning hike up Tunnel Mountain

Workshop 3, Led By Sheri-D Wilson - STEPPING INTO YOUR POETRY WILD 

Faculty Studios, Individual Meetings - Buddy Wakefield, Tanya Evanson

Evening camp fire

A group of us decided to start the day with a morning hike up Tunnel Mountain, the mountain behind the Banff Centre. It was an ideal morning for this, although very icy at the top. 

We began Sheri-D's workshop by writing a number of characteristics about ourselves and then choosing the three most important to keep while throwing the others into the centre of the room. Sheri-D requested that we gather all of the pieces of paper and burn them in a camp fire. This would be an opportunity to let go of those associations and hold onto the three we wanted to keep.




We were given writing prompts and then had a limited period of time to write. We were then each asked to share our writing with the group, speaking it out loud. After hearing the piece once, Sheri-D gave us each an individual instruction to change the way in which we delivered the piece. Suggestions included

say it as though you were explaining something to a group of 5 year old children

saying it whilst rolling around on the floor

break it into syllables

spin and lengthen the words whilst spinning

run and speak the poem

read it as a goddess

say it as you would paint/sculpt it

say it from a different angle - you / I / we / he / they / she



Individual Meeting - Buddy Wakefield

Buddy made a couple of book and music recommendations for me to research

We spoke about giving the audience a way out after a hard-hitting bit of text. Is it enough to share an experience with an audience? To make someone feel less isolated? Or do they deserve to get a message of hope and something to ease the reader?

Individual Meeting - Tanya Evanson

Tanya and I spoke about the purpose of writing and spoken word and what I want to achieve through writing

Different possibilities include

exposing things that people don't know how to describe

exploring history

telling stories

We spoke about the techniques used by sound poets and concrete poets.

That evening the group made a camp fire and we had a little ceremony where the pieces of paper from Sheri-D's workshop were burned. 

Mitcholos shared this list of questions written by Nasra Adem, and we used them to prompt some very interesting discussions.

Is love present in your poem?

If you are choosing to speak aloud, the poem is no longer for you.

Who are you speaking to? Who is in the room?

Have you created space for joy?
For breath?

In unloading your trauma are you further traumatizing someone else?

Who is afforded the privilege of trigger warnings?

Who are you asking to make room for your feelings? Are you doing the same?

If the poems are prayers, who besides yourself are you praying for?

In what ways do our responsibilities as poets intersect with our responsibilities as humans? As craftspeople?

How often and readily and urgently are we thinking about accessibility in these spaces?

How deeply does our respect and consciousness of the stolen land we reside on seep in to our poems?

What does this acknowledgment look and feel and sound like in our bodies? In the way we share ourselves?

Elders, how do you pass on your gifts with out extinguishing your fire?

New/younger poets, how are you taking care of your coaches/elders? Are you willing to learn how to hold them? You may need them, but they are human and imperfect and exhausted.

Step up. Grow up. Share the load.

How do we continue towards creating "safer spaces" while understanding this world may not ever be safe for some of us?

When we ultimately fuck up, bad, who is there to call us in and help us grow? Are we open to this? Like for real?

Can we agree to do better for each other? And the poetry?