If you live in New York, and you sneak into a bookstore after hours, or push through a bar to get to its backyard, you might find someone reading a poem to a crowd of people. And if you find this poet and this crowd of people, you might see them all crying or laughing, or maybe wearing costumes and dyeing their hair. If you do, you have stumbled upon the little world of poetry readings, where acting and poetry fuse.
The community of people who participate in poetry readings is a small one. It’s familial, and events are spread mainly through word of mouth. So the relationship between audience and performer is intentional and full of consideration, from both sides. The poet considers the audience in their performance, includes them in it, and the audience reciprocates by actively receiving what they are being given. It’s a symbiotic relationship.
On July 20th, Teagan Christy Lamb read a poem titled “This Image of Intimacy” at a reading series called “Strangers or Friends” at a bar in Bed-Stuy. To a crowd of fifty-some-odd strangers and friends, she told a story of “warmth, ease, and knowing” between herself and her sisters. Teagan teared up as she spoke, one hand on her chest, propped in front of the podium to remove the barrier between herself and the people who listened. While she performed, Teagan felt like she was watching people try on her words, put themselves in the space she created, and adopt her experience into their own.
Teagan said, “It’s a reminder of our shared humanity. Readings are so fun because of that–I thought these feelings and thoughts were my own, but you felt them with as many layers as I do.”
After the reading, a woman who had been sitting in the front row approached Teagan to tell her that she had pictured Teagan’s sisters in India. Teagan’s sisters are in the United States, but the audience member’s own sisters are in India, so her mental picture took place in her own world.
Ry Cook is a coordinator for reading events, and they just celebrated the release of their first chapbook, Freak of Nature, with two different readings. Ry knows their way around the world of readings in New York, and in their experience, the relationship between the audience and the performer at a reading should not be assumed or taken for granted. Rather, that bond has to be formed in the moment, through performance and active engagement.
“There’s this false idea,” they said, “that the work should stand on its own, when it literally cannot.” The translation from written poetry to spoken word requires the physical embodiment of it. Some poets might choose to emphasize certain words, sounds, or syllables. Others might play a character, or act out a version of themselves. Teagan brought all of her emotions to the surface and made direct, watery-eyed contact with the audience during her reading. When Ry performed their poetry from Freak of Nature, they wore a mask and used puppets to represent the parts of the poems that didn’t feel like a representation of their true self. During the second release of the chapbook, they dyed their hair throughout the duration of the performance. For the two of them to connect with the people in front of them, they acted out their words.
The audience, too, must choose to be present. They must be invested in the poetry and the people in the room for the whole thing to work. Ry described it as “an active sport.” They said, “Watching someone for the evening, it’s a workout, but it also upholds the idea that this is a community-based thing. And it’s more fun that way. Even if it’s not your cup of tea, even if you think it’s bad, still look at it, still hold it with your body. It makes the whole evening a lot more fun.” Audiences have to be willing to engage with the poetry; they have to care about the community aspect of it. Audiences are asked to receive what they are being given, and if they do, it can be a really fun, wonderful experience.
Poets share what’s taboo, unspoken, and strange when they participate in readings, and the audience gives back their thoughts and experiences. If both parties contribute to nurturing the bond that is formed in that moment, each takes a piece of the other home with them. It’s why people keep going back. So if you catch yourself in one of those backyards at some point, stick around–receive the performance, enjoy it, and go back again.
To find upcoming poetry readings and other arts and activism events, check out https://cal.red/, a page run by a small team without the use of big tech and driven by person-to-person connection.
PHOTO: Chandler Evans
