Sparring with Beatnik Ghosts Rd 13 Re-cap

Photos by C. Theodore Walker. Drawing of Jennifer Barone & Daniel Heffez by Ann Cohen. Click here for more photos of the show.

Sparring with Beatnik Ghosts Rd 13 was on fire in a heavenly place. I had never been to the First Unitarian Universalist Church (Martin Luther King Room, 1187 Franklin) in San Francisco, but not only is it a gorgeous and open church, the Universalists seem to be open to many belief systems and there were boards with a Pagan circle gathering and other spiritualist paths announced. This made us feel at home to read anything we wanted to and just be ourselves. Gracious hosts: Daniel Yaryan and guest host Kirk Lumpkin, who ended the night with an ode to the beats - conjured the spirits with music and an eclectic mix of local poets including: Latif Harris w/ Phil Deal on sax, Joyce Jenkins, Sam Sax, Kathleen Wood, Tom Stolmar, Dee Allen, Steve Arnston and WordParty congo player - Geordie Van Der Bosch and yours truly - Jennifer Barone & Daniel Heffez on sax performed and had a great time!

National Women's History Month

It is March, and the birds are singing. Spring is just around the corner, and we are ready to celebrate! This month is also National Women's History Month, so please bring poems that celebrate women and womanhood to read at this month's installment of WordParty poetry & jazz open mic!

October Events 2007

The WordParty organized some poetry events this month as well as participated in some outstanding events organized by our vibrant poetry scene co-horts. It was a collaboration of everything poetry!

Ingrid debuts Toward the Light

TOWARD THE LIGHT- A new book of poetry by Ingrid Keir debuts at Adobe Books, October 3rd, 2007

Ingrid Keir brought the Nova Jazz band with her to celebrate the release of her new book of poetry titled Toward the Light. It was an intimate and exciting reading full of friends, fellow poets and lovers of the word who came out to support and snag a personalized copy of their own.

Toward the Light was created in collaboration with Kyle Knobel who designed and also featured his photography in the book. The books are made partially with handmade paper on the inside cover which make each book unique and the covers, printed with gold foil stamp, come in four different colors.

Toward the Light is a glimmer through the authors personal history but most importantly a vibrant look toward the future. In her whimsical, dreamy verse she shares her loves, her struggles and her hopes. A beautiful book, sold at local San Francisco bookstores, go get yo-self a copy!

Phillip T Nails, kicks off Visual Voices

Jennifer & Artist

Ingrid & Artist

VISUAL VOICES - Art and poetry exhibit at ARTworkSF gallery
October 4th, 2007

Philip T. Nails, host of Amnesia's Red Light Series, poet and performer extraordinaire, invited us to take part in a very special art exhibit at ARTworkSF Gallery titled Visual Voices. Local poets were able to view fine art submissions and select their favorites to craft an original poem about the art.

The opening night was a blast! Philip lead the poets into a live performance of their work in the middle of the gallery to an enthusiastic crowd. The poets including Ingrid Keir, Jennifer Barone, Ledbetter, Steven Gray and more. We had a chance to meet the artists in person and mingle with an eclectic and vibrant crowd. It was great fun! The exhibit will be up till the end of October 07, go check it out!

Ingrid, Jennifer & Charlie @ SF Zinefest

SF ZINE FEST at the Women's Building 

October 5th and 6th, 2007

The SF ZineFest this year was so much fun! We had a table for the first time which we shared with artist Kyle Knobel and also Charlie Getter of Thursday's 16th and Mission reading series. It was full of poetry books from the poets who read at our night and we even gave live and intimate performances to those who bought our books! We also gave away some WordParty buttons and handed out fliers for our night, but most importantly we got a chance to hang out, have fun and meet lots of crafty locals who made everything from handmade bags, postcards and stationary sets to zines. It was a great time!

Jennifer outside Immigration Nation

IMMIGRATION NATION at the Brava Theater 

October 14th, 2007

Dottie Payne knows how to put on a grand performance with a cause! The Brava theater was absolutely enormous, beautiful and seamlessly organized. Some of the best and brightest from the Mission neighborhood came out to perform including Jorge Molinas, Maria Medina Serafin, Meklit and Todd from Red Poppy Arthouse and a host of musical acts. Jennifer Barone came to represent her mother land of Italy and read two pieces about her family immigrating to America and also a piece about the first time she saw the town where her family came from. It was a truly invigorating show with powerful performances and a powerful message behind it, America is an Immigration Nation!

MAPP - Candlelit room

Pablo Rosales & a pirate at MAPP

MAPP - Mission Arts and Performance Project 

October 20th, 2007

The Red Poppy Arthouse asked us to host a poetry space at the MAPP for the first time this year. Todd and Meklit graciously hooked us up with an Untitled space that is soon to be turned into a beautiful music and arthouse in the Mission run by Joe Lewis, former 16th & Mission alumni!

We gathered all our resources and friends and threw together a very last-minute, but fun-loving space to do our thing - which is perform our poetry anywhere and everywhere of course! We brought balloons, candles, candy and Bear supplied a feast for the senses of cupcakes (with the poets initials on them!) guacamole, chips, pasta salad and thensome.

Our performers were some of our closest friends and vibrant members of the local open mic scene. Charlie Getter and Guinevere helped Jennifer Barone with the hosting duties as well as perform. We had Philip T. Nails and Elisabeth Millican perform a short play about their illegal excursion to Cuba! We had Bear perform the longest and most prolific poem about cheese ever written, Cara Vida, Monique De Magdalena, Pablo Rosales, Jacques Korn, Mattie Bamman, Tatiana Molinar, Brandon Loberg, all gave us their best. Maria Medina arrived with her drum and Dottie Payne performed as Joe Lewis was holding it down with his stand-up bass.

Afterwards, we cruised on over to some of the other MAPP events. We heard a lot of music and saw some funky art. The Red Poppy Arthouse was packed with friends and there was some great music from Todd and Meklit and a lovely band names Lulacruza. Go get their album! It's beautiful.

Cameron McHenry @ the Beat Museum

Poets & Writers Series @ The Beat Museum
Featuring: Jennifer Barone, Ruby Freja and Cameron McHenry
October 25, 2007

Jennifer was lucky to be included in such an intimate and exciting reading with two very lovely up-and-coming poets and authors, Ruby Freja and Cameron McHenry. These ladies were an ear as well as an eye full, truly a night of poetry goddesses. Mark Schwartz received a grant from Poets and Writers magazine to host a series of poetry readings at the Beat Museum and managed to provide us with a sweet spot. Jessica Loos came in to host the night, the first reading ever to be in the upstairs museum. It was a truly authentic North Beach poetry experience where you never know what to expect. It was a great night to hear new poetry from some fresh local poets.

Passion Food, a night of poetry + food to celebrate the Autumnal Equinox

September 23rd, 2007 at the Red Poppy Arthouse


by Jennifer Barone


A night of poetry + food was a thought seed in our minds for well over a year now and turned out to be an amazing and luscious night of verse. After the night was over we were asking ourselves "Why did we wait so long?" — in retrospect, we have no idea!!! Let's do it again!


There were a few auspicious moments that finally lead to the fruition of a delicious dream called "Passion Food." First, the idea was sparked from our love of food, of course! Second, there was the coming of the Autumnal Equinox, a perfect time to celebrate the harvest, to reflect on the year, enjoy the fruits of your labor and express gratitude. Third, the Red Poppy was pleased with our organizational skills from the Neruda anniversary party and were gracious enough to allow us their space and were very excited to help us organization and present it to the community.


With the universe on our side, what could go right? Everything! Not only did we have the support of the Arthouse, we had very enthusiastic and amazingly talented artists and poets ready to bring their best work and try their hand at some culinary skills for the audience.
Here were some of the highlights:


Jennifer Barone, your host for the night, went and cooked up an Italian family-style feast of the senses with poems highlighting her favorite ingredients from her dishes of mozzarella caprese (with orange tomatoes) and vegetable pasta. She opened with a poem about feeling like a tomato, the history of pignolis (pine nuts), basilico (fresh basil), and a very sultry poem about olive oil being poured over delicacies and lovers alike, wink, wink.


Jacques Korn, a fresh face on the open mic scene, a videographer / film maker and a man who truly loves French delicacies such as chocolate pearls and sweet baguettes! He completely charmed the audience with his "salad in three parts" and brought samples of the food he read about with a side of passion!


Adrian Arias, local artist and poet, who we were lucky enough to have been introduced to at the Neruda event, made his famous, fresh ceviche, which he prepared while he read in Spanish ("the bilingual part of the evening," as he joked) and passed it around for everyone to taste. He also made an ice cream dessert and ripped apart a strawberry like the poster we designed. He is a visual artist after all and he's also as sweet as his dish.


Guinevere brought a fresh fruit salad to which she phoned her Mom to see if she was supposed to add lettuce to it! Bad girl! But luckily she did not, and luckily for us she took a totally different spin on the theme and compared her lover to a piece of cold, leftover pizza laying in the fridge. She had us in stitches and made us smile till our face hurt.


Ingrid Keir brought a lovely setting of fresh pomegranates and a heaping bowl full of Nutella - the best chocolate hazelnut spread that we're lucky to find in the United States! She read some of her recent farmer's market poems and gave a dose of chocolate sweetness to the audience, topped with some cookies too. (I dipped my finger in the Nuttela, I couldn't help it!)


Steven Kopel was so enthusiastic about our food theme that he just made our night. He brought along tons of fresh dates, fruits and even bowls, plates and toothpicks for people to nibble with. Not only is he a "blatant wordsmith and a peddling poet (on his bicycle he means)," he's a very rare gentleman. He livened up our set with his unique brand of wordplay that made us blush, think and giggle.


Pablo Rosales just had to read about rice, as well as bring three different types of Philipino rice dishes that were nothing short of delicious. He also brought up four beautiful glasses and read a poem by Neruda about red and white wine.


Charlie Getter closed out our night, along with a giant pan of homemade macaroni and cheese that was licked clean. He read about his lover's sweet onion salad, which we found out was written with tons of sensual innuendos in mind. He also read about Paris and other travels with a nice glass of wine in his hand.


If you were to ask me, I would have liked for the night to keep on going it was so much fun. It was sexy, sensual, funny, quirky and most of all unique because of the people that were in the audience who were so gracious and the performers who were so into it. Maybe one day, we'll get to do it again!
One last thank you to everyone who showed up to perform and to listen, you made our little dream an amazing reality. Thank you to Todd, Meklit, Casey and Lorilyn at the Red Poppy Arthouse for helping us put this event together and allowing us to inhabit your magical space.

Jennifer Barone, host 

Pablo Rosales

Steven Kopel

Ingrid Keir

Guinevere Q

Charlie Getter 

Adrian Arias

Jacques Korn

Feliz Cumpleanos @ Red Poppy Art House

The WORDParty recently partnered with The Red Poppy Art House andCity Lights to organize a special night to celebrate Pablo Neruda’s 103rd Birthday. Held at the Red Poppy Art House in the heart of the Mission on July 12, 2007, the magical night was filled with fantastic poetry and film.

We had a very large turnout, in fact, the show was SOLD OUT! 

There were several exclusive readings from many of our participating poets. The evening began with Mark Eisner, who read from his wildly popular bookThe Essential Neruda: Selected Poems published by City Lights. He also showed highlights from the new version of his film formerly known as Pablo Neruda! Presente! Kristen Sbrogna graced the mic with her East Bay allure as she read a few of her favorite Neruda poems, as well as, her own poetry about the wonders of the Berkeley free clinic.

Another Pablo was present during the evening, Pablo Rosales! He impressed the crowd with not only his dapper appearance, but the Neruda poetry he recited from memory. He also read Neruda-inspired poems from his recently published book, Poems in the Palm of My Head.

Jennifer Barone electrified the audience with a passionate reading of Neruda’s "Poet's Obligation" and “Ode to the Tomato" alongside her original Ode to the Tomato. She also read "Poetry Like Bread is for Everyone,” from her recent book, Secret City, which was inspired by a quote from Neruda.

Johnathan Siegel showed us poetic alchemy as he interwove his poetry with that of Neruda’s. He began with a slow muted voice and then crescendo’d into a giant volcano spewing hot love poems! The audience responded with a thunderous clapping to one poem in particular, “And it is Then That I Will Beat.” 

Barbara Paschke, translator extraordinaire, shared some of her beautifully crafted translations from poets around the world. 

Adrian Arias was our bilingue poetry chef of the evening! As he recited poetry in Spanish, Adrian was able to convey the importance of reading Neruda in his native language. Adrian revealed through his poetry, his very famous ceviche recipe and even provided sample tastes!

In addition to organizing and hosting the evening, Ingrid Keir closed it with several of Pablo’s poems that resonate with her the most. She noted "Growing up on the beach with sand between my toes, and playing in the tide pools even as an adult, I connect with Neruda’s poems about the sea." Ingrid read Neruda's “Maremoto” (or “Sea Quake”) as well as her own “Mendocino” and “Feliz Cumpleanos Pablo Neruda” which was written for this special evening.

The enthusiasm throughout the evening was a clear indication of how much Neruda has touched all of us. We’d like to thank everyone for helping to make this night a possibility and a huge success!

SOLD OUT SHOW!

Mark Eisner introduces his film

Ingrid Keir Reads & Hosts

Jonathan Siegel

Barbara Pashke & Jennifer Barone

Pablo Rosales

Adrian Arias

2007 WORDparty "People's Choice" Award Winners!

We swear it was NOT fixed! We gave it to the crowd to hand-pick their favorite poet and jazz musician and luckily they chose right!

Jazz Musician of the Year: Colin Williams on Bass

Colin Williams has been playing with the Nova Jazz Quartet since the beginning. He is more than just a kick-ass bass player, he has even jumped on the mic to spew some verse! He is the first to hop up and creatively accompany the poets and is one of the reasons our night is so special. Congratulations Colin!

Poet of the Year: Bear (Barry Toffoli) 

Bear has been one of our favorites and a very enthusiastic supporter for well over a year. He always makes us smile when he gets on the mic. He gave a great performance of his favorite 80's songs wrapped up in a passionate ode. Congratulations Bear!

2007 WordParty Winners:

This year we hand-picked some of our favorite artists, both poets and jazz musicians, to commend a year of amazing performances and inspiring words! These lovely artists come almost every week to make our night what it is. This is our little way of showing gratitude for making WORDparty Tuesdays special. The recipients received an award certificate and a sweet little prize of candies for making Club Deluxe sweet.

Awards for Poetry:

#1 — Fresh New Poet
Bear — Mr. Lewd Lyrics We Love
Dan Brady — Favorite Outdoor Poet
Cara Vida — Best Cabaret Stylin' Steven Gray — Slow Rapper of the Year
Guinevere — "Can You Hear Me Now?" Award
Charlie Getter — Best Contribution to the SF Poetry Scene
Jimmy Hammond— Wordsmith of the Year & Best Use of a Hat
Jonathan — Lover of the House
E.K. Keith — Best Contribution to the SF Poetry Scene
Ledbetter — Best Poet We Allow to Sing
Harmon Leon — Favorite Fucked-up Field Tripper
Martin — Favorite Early Bird
Matt — Best Cross-over Aritist
Maria Medina — The Celia Cruz Award for Percussion
Mirabai — Sex Pot Poet Award
Tatiana Molinar — Words of Gold Award
Monique Marquisa De Magdalena — Best Use of the Wall of as a Prop
PT Nails — "And Then I'll Take Her to a BAR" Award
Pablo — Best Contribution to the Bay Area Poetry Scene
Ozzy — (Posthumous) best Use of the crowd
Reinaldo — Best Whistle Stomp
Michael Stark — Most Organized Poet
William Taylor Jr — Wordparty Poet Laureate
Toby — Best Use of Performance Art
Rudy Waltz — Favorite de-86ed Poet
Jessie Whiley — Best Orator 

Musicians:

Hanna — Miss Congeniality
James — Biggest Brass Bone Award
Geordie — Favorite Percussionist
Micha — Freshest Cat on the Scene
Ofir — Fancy Fingering on the Keys
Carl — Brassy Tootin' Award
Mike — Best Guitar Slinger
Rick — Slickest on the Skins
Colin — Best Poetic Accompanist
Lorin — Scatmaster Flex

Our Deluxe Staff:

Katarina — Master Mixocologist Award
Jay Johnson — Master 86er
Kyle Knobel — WP Artist of the MoFo Year!
Mac McIntosh — Best Friend to the Rescue in a Time of Need
Reggie Sparks — Instant Photographer Award

WORDparty BUTTON CONTEST!

A BIG GIGANTIC THANK YOU to all the amazing artists, poets and musicians who entered our Button Contest!


We had so many great entries it was very hard to choose, but everyone who came through the door on Tuesday was enthusiastic and eager to vote for their favorites, which made life a whole lot easier on us. A big thank you to everyone who came through to vote.


In total we had 35 entries of original work. From hand drawn on a napkin to fully digital designs, all were unique and tried to tie in the theme of jazz and poetry. The top 5 designs will be handed out to everyone who comes to our TWO YEAR ANNIVERSARY PARTY, so come on down to WORDparty Tuesdays at Club Deluxe, Haight & Ashbury Street on Tuesday July 17th, 8pm sharp, it's going to be a great night!


Our Winners! Our audience chose 5 designs, shown in order of # of votes:

"Microphone" – by Kyle Knobel

Our Honorable Mentions:

Button Artists from left to right: "Boom" - by Bear, "Illustration" by Renaldo, "2 Years" by Michael Stark, "e pluribus party" by Jimmy Hammond