I can relate anything poetry. Just about, probably. Let’s try. Let’s pretend you’ve given me a prompt: “rabbit”. Here is a thing that would bring to mind a whole manner of interesting ruminations – it’s easy. Alice in Wonderland, the presence of the rabbit as a character in Native American folklore, their curious lack of discernible noise-making. Most likely I would meander through the idea that I was born Year of the Rabbit and connect the furry little monster as an omen to my own life as a poet.
Pretty simple stuff.
How about, oh, say: “fork”. This is more interesting. This kind of thing takes me into linguistics; into the play of sound and mouth-feel. The way a word sits on the tongue or knocks against the cheek. I would decide what kind of word “fork” happened to be based on the images its particular sound brings to my head. I’m thinking about sinister and cartoonish doors – most likely the kind with large and personified rivets. This concept would lead me down the twisting streets and into the play of sound and rhyme and skip and image that is necessary for a truly inspired stanza to flourish. Yeah. Lovely stuff. Spoken words.
This is probably the kind of ramble that – say, oh – a Spoken Word Poet might find appealing. Perhaps one such as – hey! – Anis Mojgani, a poet who just happens to be the keynote reader at this year’s Writer’s Block Festival. And – wouldn’t you know it – Mr. Mojgani would be the focus of this article. Look at that, kids, we got there in the end.
No matter where your own mind happens to be on a Friday afternoon, tomorrow’s line-up of literary fare is enough to make any brain spin. Hosted by the University of Louisville’s Axton Reading Series, National Poetry Slam champion, Anis Mojgani, will deliver the keynote reading as part of the 2nd annual Writer’s Block Festival. The author of two collections – the Pushcart-nominated, Over the Anvil We Stretch, and his newer release, The Feather Room – Mojgani and his magical realist stylings have won numerous Slam championships of both national and international clout. In addition to his personal collections, Mojgani has also been featured in several anthologies and participated in numerous television shows, including HBO’s Def Poetry Jam and the documentary Slam Planet: War of the Words.
Join Mojgani at 6pm as he untangles his tongue and unleashes his own brand of poetic prowess. Mojgani will be slammin’ in person at the University of Louisville’s Cressman Center for Visual Arts at 6pm – and what does that bring to mind for me? I’m picturing a tea sandwich on a silver platter, and I’m pretty sure it’s all shaped like sunglasses. I once wrote a poem about a silver platter – see? I really did mean it when I said anything.
The Cressman Center is located at the corner of First Street and Main Street. This event is free, but tickets are required.
Image: Courtesy of Louisville Free Public Library www.lfpl.org
