And the folks who brought you commercial documentaries that attempted to trivialize the last efforts at genuine community have helped us into the new world order, where anyone who can self-promote and muscle into the main arena is welcome to slug it out for a slice of the American Dream. Too bad if you need a helping hand--those days are over.
As the American middle class has slowly sunk to historical artifact status while 50 years of social and environmental programs are shredded in the Beltway Olympics, I have run a spoken word series for the last three years with the help of many local writers. Besides providing a forum for some excellent writing, it has provided a vent for frustration and many lively, often funny, evenings.
Anyone can do it. I convene an irregular committee to come up with themes for programs. Then we look for writers to read or perform to the topic. The goal is always to include a range of genres--poets, book authors, journalists, cartoonists, technical writers, filmmakers, etc.--and to include writers who may be students or shy but really good along with well known, even famous, possibly jaded authors. About 250 writers have appeared, some--like journalists--slinking in and slithering to the mike in an attempt to keep up their fly-on-the-wall personna; others coming an hour early to "inhabit the space" or set up their accompaniment.
We started out at Modern Times Bookstore, but quickly outgrew the space. So we tried out several nightclubs, including Slim's, Great American Music Hall and Paradise Lounge. They were all great, but we ended up at The Marsh, "a breeding ground for new performance," in the Mission district of San Francisco.
Here's a sample of some of our evenings:
Wildcat Words is sponsored by the National Writers Union, Mo Times Bookstore, City Lights Publishing and Bookstore and a grant from the Zellerbach Family Fund. Back to Paradise...