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Literary Arts
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Literary Arts
As many writers and lovers of the spoken word know, poetry is one of the most ancient and widespread of the arts. San Francisco has been celebrating that genre and other forms of spoken word for decades. I began going to poetry readings after the publication of my first collection of poetry, February Voices, in 1994. As I listened to performances in cafés, bars and restaurants around the City, I was struck by the magical atmosphere created when the human voice lifted "the word" from the page. Wanting to locate a reading closer to where I lived, I spoke with Patricia, then owner of Polk St. Beans & Café, and we reached an accord. More
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Literary Arts
Walk into Café Royale and enter the inviting atmosphere of a spacious jazz café with a crowd of 50 or so spread out on the large semicircular couch, sitting at side tables, up on the balcony or at the bar (which serves coffee, sandwiches, beer and wine). The Bay Area is home to many intense slam poets, as you'll see when you witness the night's verbal acrobats, not to mention the different feature slammers each month, whose words will reverberate in your memory and suspend you in time like Jet Li wheeling in slow motion through mid-air. More
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Literary Arts
Declaring the power of rhythm, embodying his intensity in rhyme, a man rocks the microphone, shaven head glistening, and the couple-hundred folks assembled listen close: "Do you believe in the word?" asks Marc Bamuthi Joseph, the mighty host of Second Sundays. "Yes!" comes the reply. More
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Literary Arts
Tourettes is where those who want a vacation from being virtuous come to slum it and where already-dirty denizens quest to sink to new lows. A no-holds-barred "open mic melée, open to freaks of all persuasions," is how the East Bay Express describes it. Needless to say there's full-on Midget Porn, a quarrelsome "Ex-Lover's Night," and some filthy business involving fresh fruit. More
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Literary Arts
Sweetie’s Café and Bar, located just north of North Beach, is on the periphery of what has been mythologized by some San Franciscans as the perfect venue for spoken word. While Sweetie’s atmosphere leans closer towards family gatherings than public reading, the bar's recent spoken word series has created a community of writers who reveled more in the sharing of the spoken word than in the acclaim of others. More
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Literary Arts
I was enjoying a double latté decaf at the newly opened Andalusia Café when Naser Al-mualla said, "We should have poetry here every week." "Naser," I said, "You already have a reading series at Notes From Underground." "Yes, but we need one here at Andalusia, too." Who am I to disagree with a hardworking entrepreneur who finds time to read the poet Rumi? More
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Literary Arts
If seeing people just like you get all fired up on stage inspires you at all, then get you rear on down to Locus 1640 Post's monthly open mic. Performers have been known to bust out laughing on stage, expose their deepest fears, hit a raw nerve, or belt out at the top of their lungs. It's cathartic. Plus, it's a social event -- with host Jane Kim accompanied by a crew of "Bay Area Hotties." More
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Literary Arts
Let's count our blessings that hosts Dani Eurynome and Charles Ellik have the considerable organizing talents to keep it going week after week. Of course an abundance of love in the Bay Area spoken word scene makes it worthwhile. And appreciative audiences don't need reminding to awaken themselves to the beauty of live performance happening in front of them. We're aware of how good we've got it. Even a torrent of tongue-in-cheek puns will make the most critical listener crack a smile. More
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Literary Arts
The first weekly spoken-word show, Where Words Sustain Us has, for years, served as the nexus of Oakland poetry, empowering Bay Area poets to speak their minds. Run by a crew of varied characters who were all bitten by the spoken word bug years ago, Where Words Sustain Us has managed keep it down-to-earth for the long term, as old members leave and more new faces arrive. More
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