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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WWW.KANSAN.COM/JAYPLAY
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 1,2001
Sarah Ruhlen, Lawrence resident, discusses her approach to poetry writing at Aimee's Coffee Shop, 1025 Massachusetts St., a local venue for monthly poetry readings. Ruhlen is a member of Medusa, a collective of women poets that gathers to read and critique each other's work.
Passionate about poetry
Public poetry readings inspire emotion, humor in local writers
BY MANDALEE MEISNER
Some sit straight up, gripping a pad of paper and feeding a string of barely audible words into the microphone at their side.
Others scream, ignoring the microphone altogether.
Some read poems of burning hatred, smoldering lust or cynicism. A few poems are about love, or at least seem to be.
At this poetry reading, anything goes.
Open poetry reading 10 p.m. until close the first Wednesday of every month at the Jazzhaus, 926 1/2 Massachusetts St.
Lawrence residents Brett Scott, left, and Mickey Cesar-Argumedo bring poetry to The Java Break, 17 E. Seventh St. The two are the co-founders of the Table Top Poetry Project, which displays poems in various local coffee shops.
"This is the happiest thing I've written in the last six weeks," he said. "Every month I check to see if I wrote anything happy."
As long as a reading evokes some emotion from the audience, Mickey Cesar Argumedo is satisfied. Argumedo acts as conductor to the cast of readers arranged before the podium, sitting on the floors and at the tables of Aimee's Coffeehouse, 1025 Massachusetts St.
The Medusa reading 8 to 11 p.m. the first Thursday of every month at Cafe Nova, Eighth and New Hampshire streets.
sets it.
One reader, Lawrence resident Samantha Florek, grows increasingly agitated during her reading, her voice nearly breaking.
her voice neatly tied off.
"Some of my friends died of alcoholism this month," she said,
confronting the audience afterward.
"It kind of pissed me off."
Argumedo organized the poetry reading that, for about a year, has been held on the third Friday of every month at Aimee's. He said he started the reading to give local writers an opportunity
As Florek steps down,
Argumedo prepares to read a poem. He chooses one and throws a mischievous grin at the listeners.
Poetry Series 9 to 11 p.m. the third Friday of each month at Aimee's Coffeehouse, 1025 Massachusetts St.
Poetry readings
to get their works out into the poetry community.
"As of three years ago, there were very few public readings in town and there were many poets that wanted performance forums, feedback and publishing opportunities," Argumedo said.
Now, his is just one of three no-holds-barred monthly readings that, together, are changing the shape of the Lawrence poetry scene.
Members of the scene, like Steve Fonseca, are pleased with the growth.
the good luck "It's finally being born here and now we're growing up fast," he said.
Fonseca organized a poetry slam that takes place on the first Wednesday of every month at the Jazzhaus, 926 Massachusetts St.
Fonseca's Jazzhaus "slam" brings together an array of poets, performers and comics backed by a live band that defies the conventions of typical poetry readings.
Because of the unusual setting, the poetry is also of a different brand — raw and uncensored. With a drinking crowd, the readers are constantly challenged to keep the audience's attention.
"It's in a bar, so you're reading in front of a rowdier crowd," Fonseca said. "Yelling and cussing is highly encouraged from the audience."
"People like to laugh and they like to be pissed off," Fonseca said. "When I'm up there, I'm there to give the crowd a show. If you want to read Emily Dickinson, that's great for you. Go home and do it."
Inexperienced or first-time readers may also find more lowkey settings, such as Aimee's or Cafe Nova, better for getting over first-time performance jitters.
But Sarah Ruhlen, a member of the Medusa poetry group that meets on the first Thursday of every month at Cafe Nova, Eighth and New Hampshire streets, said she believed a lack of sensitivity could be a limitation at a reading.
"Slams are really fun, but you can't be a very sensitive poet at a poetry slam," Ruhlen said.
Kacia Beugelsdijk, Wichita junior, said she recently read her poetry in public for the first time at Aimee's.
and made it so I wasn't nervous.'
"I always enjoyed coming to poetry readings and just recently decided that I needed to express my thoughts," she said. "Everyone here was really comforting
Along with the monthly reading, Argumento also started a biweekly poetry group that now gets exposure through a traveling, table-top exhibit, which is featured periodically at coffee shops throughout Lawrence. The exhibit can be seen this week at the Java Break, 17 E. Seventh St.
Argumedo agrees that poetry readings can be therapeutic.
"You can pay $85 to have a psychologist listen to you," he said, "Or you can do poetry readings."
Medusa also prints a collection of poetry periodically in zine format. Although only work done by the exclusive group of five
women in Medusa is printed, anyone — men included — is invited to read.
"It's not that we don't like men," Ruhlen said. "We certainly enjoy having them at the reading. But when we're together doing our critiquing, there's a dynamic that's there that wouldn't be if we had men in the group."
Ruhlen said the group enlisted Matt Fowler, a veteran of the Lawrence poetry scene, to help them create a successful poetry reading.
"He sort of babysat us through the process," Ruhlen said.
the process. Powler's readings at Free State Brewery, 636 Massachusetts St.,
and at the now-closed Full Moon Cafe, attracted large crowds and high-profile readers — including beat poet Allen Ginsberg, who visited Free State in 1996.
Fowler said Lawrence was filled with talent and the community should take note.
"Our spoken word artists are every bit as good as artists anywhere, including the East and West Coast," Fowler said. "Sure, there are a lot of yawners, but if you don't go to readings, you'll also miss out on some very good writers."
Contact Meisner at 864-4810