Podcast • October 7, 2009

Whose Words These Are (9): Sarah Kay

In anticipation of the 2009 Massachusetts Poetry Festival, the question has been: where does poetry come from these days? And where is it going? Before she could write, spoken word poet Sarah Kay began dictating ...

In anticipation of the 2009 Massachusetts Poetry Festival, the question has been: where does poetry come from these days? And where is it going?

Before she could write, spoken word poet Sarah Kay began dictating poems to her mother. Today, at 21, Sarah has become a successful, artful practitioner of spoken word. Sarah’s poem “Hands,” rocketed her to 18-year-old fame when it, and she, were featured on the HBO series Def Poetry Jam. Sarah is a senior at Brown now, a teacher of spoken-work poetry at Hope High School in Providence, and a coach of students of all ages. She founded Project V.O.I.C.E. to encourage teenagers toward creative self-expression. She tell us how her own voice is the product of a Japanese American mother, a Brooklynese photographer father, of New York City and the influence of “page poets” ranging from William Carlos Williams and Adrienne Rich to Rumi.

Q: What were the poems that made you want to write poetry, and told you you could, or had to?

A: In the page world: William Carlos Williams, Rumi, Wislawa Szymborska, Adrienne Rich, Billy Collins — all over the map, really.

In the spoken world: Taylor Mali, Buddy Wakefield, Rives, Anis Mojgani, Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz.

Q: Which talent would you like to have that you don’t, yet?

A: A thicker skin. I don’t know if that counts as a talent. I would love to be athletic, which I am utterly not.

Q: Who’s your favorite character of all time in fiction?

A: Does Winnie the Pooh count? My favorite book, my favorite piece of fiction is 100 Years of Solitude. That’s the only book that I have memorized the first line of the book:

“Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice.”

Q: Who do you think of as fellow travelers in other mediums?

A: My father is a photographer; he and I share a love of finding the moment and trying to capture it. He does it visually, I do it with words.

I love Renee Magritte. I think that his work is very playful and often dark, but also he’s very concrete. He uses things that I can see and recognize and feel, and that’s something I try to do.

There’s a filmmaker named Wong Kar-wai, from Hong Kong, who made the film In the Mood for Love, and 2046.

Q: What’s the keynote of your character as a poet?

A: There’s a saying which is “write what you know” and I was taught “don’t write what you know, write what you don’t know and are trying to figure out.” For that reason, it comes from a very personal place.

Q: What quality do you look for and love in a poem?

A: I love a good ending — if you have a killer last line, that’s really something.

Q: What’s your motto?

A: “Say Thank You.”

Hear more of Sarah Kay’s poetry here.

Podcast • September 24, 2009

Whose Words These Are (2): Regie Gibson

In anticipation of the 2009 Massachusetts Poetry Festival, where does poetry come from these days? And where is it going? Click to listen to Chris’s conversation with Regie Gibson. (27 minutes, 12 mb mp3) Chicagoan ...

In anticipation of the 2009 Massachusetts Poetry Festival, where does poetry come from these days? And where is it going?

Click to listen to Chris’s conversation with Regie Gibson. (27 minutes, 12 mb mp3)

Chicagoan poet Regie Gibson places himself “somewhere between page and stage,” writing and speaking about life, art and philosophy. He won the 1998 National Slam Competition and founded the Church of The Funky Word, a literary and musical arts ensemble utilizing ancient, contemporary and original literary text combined with world music. He has taught, lectured and performed in seven countries.

Q: Give us the poem that got you into the game.

A: “The Raven”

Q: Who’s in the conversation with you?

A: Emily Dickinson, Yusef Komunyakaa, Pablo Neruda

Q: Give us a signature poem.

A: “It’s A Teen Age Thang.”

Q: What’s your preferred mode of delivering a poem?

A: Somewhere between page and stage. We’re creatures of sound. We listen before we’re born.

Q: Who’s doing or did your kind of work in other arts?

A: Jimi Hendrix, Caravaggio, Rothko, Dali, Ayi Kwei Armah

Q: What is the keynote of your personality as a poet?

A: I lean towards the shamanic.

Q: What talent would you most like to have that you don’t?

A: Facility with higher mathematics. Ability to play violin.

Q: What quality do you look for in a poem?

A: Imagination.

Q: What’s the general state of the art?

A: On the upswing, especially after 9.11. People turned to poetry for succor …

Q: What do you learn from high school students?

A: Stay honest— they can sniff when you’re not.

Q: What’s your motto?

A: “We’re individual flames that tend to burn the brightest together.”

Click to hear Regie speak more of his work.