Poetry in the Dark
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Poetry in the Dark
Poetry in the Dark is a poetry reading & listening series that occurs in the dark. A lantern is passed around from reader to reader, folks are encouraged to close their eyes as the sounds of words float and flicker. Seating is often on the floor, with pillows, and the energetic arrows (of audience and performer) flame in all directions.
Since 2016, we have explored:
RESISTANCE: how does refusal work in autocracy? what is the relationship between language and governance? if the revolution won't be televised, can it still be written about? what is silence? what is compliance? in what ways can we use language, and our bodies, to refuse? what is there to refuse? what is refusal?; INTIMACY: intuition. holding. flood. softness. yearning. love. clutching. vulnerability. pouring. chest to chest. a river. a roadway; SPACE: Language, publics, and parking lots; PROCESS: Writing about process, writing in process, writing through process, writing about processing, processing about writing. But mostly: work that is still in process; ILLNESS: grief, loss, sociality, entropy, interconnectedness, and the body.
Poetry in the Dark has been hosted by Less Space Gallery (Oakland, CA), California Institute of the Arts (Santa Clarita, CA), and in my bedroom (Los Angeles, CA). Past collaborations have included: SPRAWL, Seeing Words and Other Things (curated by Vanessa Holyoak and Ieva Raudsepa), and LAPP (Los Angeles Poetry Project).
The events continue to happen, though infrequently. Usually when the moon is full and a bedroom is available. Please reach out if you are interested in collaborating on the next Poetry in the Dark.