Sunday, October 01, 2006

Performance Poetry Workshop with Francesca Beard

I read about the workshop in Sharon Bakar's blog (thanks Sharon!) I wrote in to a British Council email and applied.It was a while before I heard anything.I thought I didn't qualify (age factor!) But I did so off I went (lost again for the 3rd time to KLPAC) and found there were older people at the workshop (or OK..more or less my age).There's a mix of old and young and it's wonderful.

Francesca lives up to her fame as the British Queen of Performance Poetry. I have seen poets performed (this guy from the Caribbean, this lady from Japan and some of our very own are pretty good too) but Francesca is not a poet, she's a story teller!(she'd first start by narrating a story/extracting answers from the audience then she'd continue with her poetry in story telling form..sometimes she sings! There's one which reminds me so much of Leonard Cohen..is she a fan too?)

At the workshop just hours earlier,we wrote many things about identity, fear/self-censorship and were asked to explore why we censor, why we fear, etc, etc.

I learnt a few tricks: that poets can manipulate audiences so we can lie and we can steal other people's lives.

I find when I did that, my work became even more powerful!Francesca and several people at the w/shop came to me and said they liked my work.Hmmmph....Here's one of the few pieces I wrote at the workshop (one on introducing myself):

I remember Kirpal Singh writing the same piece
asking 'how do i introduce me?'

Do you start by telling
what your name is?
or what your occupation is?
Is that really you?

Or do race and religion matter more than your nationality?

I will start with my little toe
it is a bit crooked
for that,I limp a little
and this scar on the upper lip?
that will never make me anything closer to Angelina Jolie
THAT I received when quarelling with my little sister
becos' she took my mom's love
away from me

I will also begin with these eyes
half Chinese half Afghan
which will make them 4 generations old


the mind travels like a
space shuttle
going back and forth
planet Earth.

And I will keep searching
for ways to
introduce me.


But I liked the one on Allahyarhamah Dr Latifah whose funeral I missed cos' I thought funerals could wait while I finished up work in the office.But I am still mourning and it pains me so much just to type the piece all over again (for non-Malaysians reading my blog, you must know that Muslim funerals are swift.Burial is usually quick and sometimes far away relatives will miss paying their last respect.We don't believe in allowing the body to rot and hence, the quick burial)

6 comments:

Nazhatulshima N said...

Dear Dr. Faridah,
I like your "How do I introduce me? In future, if you have any workshops or activities on poetry or creative writing,do let me know,ok?

Faridah said...

Dear Shima,

InsyaAllah.I also knew late.But it may be worth subscribing to BC's newsletter.They will alert you of events.

http://www.britishcouncil.org/malaysia-newsletter-subscribe.htm

On Oct 4, Prof Kirpal Singh is giving a talk on The University of the Future: Issues and Challenges.Jemput hadir.ITD Mini Auditorium pukui 11 pagi.Dia akan cakap peri pentingnya Creative Thinking.He was in a debate on this with Edward de Bono in one of the unis in the US.Dia kasi hantam de Bono cukup2 sebab orangputih-centric sangat. :))

Nazhatulshima N said...

Dear Dr Faridah,
Thanks for the info. Sound interesting. Unfortunately, I have class at that time. :( Maybe you can share what he says here.

Nashé Abdillah said...

Dr. Faridah,

I wish I was there too. Sounded intriguing to me :)
By the way, I posted another poem I told you about when we were in PD. Not the hand-written one. It's even published earlier than the one I gave you. Check it out, it's on my blog :) Hope you like it.

Faridah said...

Hi Nashe, yes I've seen it.I saw both great poems! Wah...you've arrived boy! Well done! I hope you tulis banyak2, kumpul and publish.Phui Nam kata Malaysia perlukan pemuisinya yang tersendiri dan mewakili.Syabas sekali lagi.I takda mood nak tulis pasal Kirpal's talk.Future university dia sangat mahal dan menakutkan.Ha ha.But in many ways, he was also inspiring.Dia cakap dalam banyak benda, we are not trained to cope with changes.Kat Jepun he said robot2 macam manusia je yang layan kita.Do we know how to communicate with them? Atau dgn orang yang kita tau aura dia bila kita pakai satu cermin mata khas (kita tau orang tu tengah marah ke, tengah miang ke, etc)benda2 technology tinggi ni semua dah ada di luar sana but in our communication class, kita tak sedia nak mengajarnya sebab kita tak keep up to date with changes.Scary kan? (bayangkan anak kita balik perkenalkan bakal tunang dia seorang robot! Nak get to terms dgn homosexuality/lesbianism pun kita terkial2 lagi)

Faridah said...

http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/nst/Friday/Features/20061116171344/Article/index_html