WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.060 align:middle line:90% 00:00:02.060 --> 00:00:04.790 align:middle line:84% This is a question for both Craig and Yona. 00:00:04.790 --> 00:00:08.870 align:middle line:84% You both have beautiful styles of performance 00:00:08.870 --> 00:00:14.600 align:middle line:84% that I think also other poets might want to emulate 00:00:14.600 --> 00:00:20.580 align:middle line:84% but might be intimidated or not confident enough to pursue. 00:00:20.580 --> 00:00:25.100 align:middle line:84% So for those in the audience who may, I'm sure, 00:00:25.100 --> 00:00:28.640 align:middle line:84% have this attitude like, I wish I could do that, 00:00:28.640 --> 00:00:30.890 align:middle line:84% could you say a little bit about how 00:00:30.890 --> 00:00:33.740 align:middle line:84% your style of performing your poems has evolved, 00:00:33.740 --> 00:00:39.080 align:middle line:84% and how you developed your idea of what you want to say 00:00:39.080 --> 00:00:40.640 align:middle line:90% and also how you want to say it? 00:00:40.640 --> 00:00:46.975 align:middle line:90% 00:00:46.975 --> 00:00:47.975 align:middle line:90% That's a great question. 00:00:47.975 --> 00:00:50.630 align:middle line:90% 00:00:50.630 --> 00:00:56.330 align:middle line:84% My reading style developed over time and part of it 00:00:56.330 --> 00:01:00.170 align:middle line:84% was that it came out of, I don't know, 00:01:00.170 --> 00:01:03.740 align:middle line:84% what I felt was a prejudice against what people call 00:01:03.740 --> 00:01:07.880 align:middle line:84% performance poetry or slam poetry sometimes, 00:01:07.880 --> 00:01:12.380 align:middle line:84% that there had to be this huge distance between poetry 00:01:12.380 --> 00:01:17.030 align:middle line:84% for the page and poetry that was supposedly performed. 00:01:17.030 --> 00:01:20.030 align:middle line:84% And I kind of think it's all a performance in a way, 00:01:20.030 --> 00:01:23.450 align:middle line:84% even the kind of elbow patches on the blazer 00:01:23.450 --> 00:01:24.255 align:middle line:90% type of a reading. 00:01:24.255 --> 00:01:24.950 align:middle line:90% [LAUGHING] 00:01:24.950 --> 00:01:28.370 align:middle line:84% So I was just working through that question 00:01:28.370 --> 00:01:29.750 align:middle line:90% over a long period of time. 00:01:29.750 --> 00:01:34.790 align:middle line:84% And then I also was influenced by Thomas Sayers Ellis 00:01:34.790 --> 00:01:37.340 align:middle line:84% and Tracie Morris like more specifically, 00:01:37.340 --> 00:01:42.230 align:middle line:84% just thinking about the ways that they read their work 00:01:42.230 --> 00:01:45.860 align:middle line:84% and just kind of I had to grow into it 00:01:45.860 --> 00:01:47.520 align:middle line:84% to become more confident about it. 00:01:47.520 --> 00:01:50.870 align:middle line:90% But that's the short version. 00:01:50.870 --> 00:01:54.980 align:middle line:90% 00:01:54.980 --> 00:01:57.020 align:middle line:84% I should probably say I'm not always like this. 00:01:57.020 --> 00:02:00.440 align:middle line:90% [LAUGHING] 00:02:00.440 --> 00:02:04.520 align:middle line:84% But those-- the rest of my book is very different. 00:02:04.520 --> 00:02:08.270 align:middle line:84% But for those few poems, I think food 00:02:08.270 --> 00:02:10.490 align:middle line:84% is something that we should celebrate 00:02:10.490 --> 00:02:12.410 align:middle line:84% and that we should have fun with. 00:02:12.410 --> 00:02:14.150 align:middle line:84% And so I tried to write those poems 00:02:14.150 --> 00:02:16.850 align:middle line:84% and I tried to perform those poems in a way that's fun. 00:02:16.850 --> 00:02:18.080 align:middle line:90% Yeah. 00:02:18.080 --> 00:02:20.000 align:middle line:84% And my dad always says too, if you're 00:02:20.000 --> 00:02:22.610 align:middle line:84% eating Vienna sausage alone you're doing it wrong. 00:02:22.610 --> 00:02:24.677 align:middle line:90% [LAUGHING] 00:02:24.677 --> 00:02:26.510 align:middle line:84% Partly because food practices in the Pacific 00:02:26.510 --> 00:02:28.550 align:middle line:84% are always communal, yeah, they're 00:02:28.550 --> 00:02:30.690 align:middle line:90% meant to bring people together. 00:02:30.690 --> 00:02:35.480 align:middle line:84% So usually I have like my poetry entourage. 00:02:35.480 --> 00:02:36.920 align:middle line:90% We're called Ruined Appetites. 00:02:36.920 --> 00:02:40.035 align:middle line:90% That's our band name. 00:02:40.035 --> 00:02:41.910 align:middle line:84% But obviously I couldn't bring them all here. 00:02:41.910 --> 00:02:44.750 align:middle line:84% So I'm grateful for the volunteers 00:02:44.750 --> 00:02:49.598 align:middle line:84% and just to find fun ways to get the audience involved. 00:02:49.598 --> 00:02:51.140 align:middle line:84% In Hawaii and the Pacific too there's 00:02:51.140 --> 00:02:53.660 align:middle line:84% a lot of multimedia performances, 00:02:53.660 --> 00:02:56.960 align:middle line:84% so there are poets who may also be like hula dancers, 00:02:56.960 --> 00:03:00.950 align:middle line:84% or they're chanters who collaborate with musicians, 00:03:00.950 --> 00:03:04.400 align:middle line:90% and so on. 00:03:04.400 --> 00:03:05.600 align:middle line:90% So I obviously can't sing. 00:03:05.600 --> 00:03:09.680 align:middle line:84% Usually my wife is the one who does the singing for our songs. 00:03:09.680 --> 00:03:12.170 align:middle line:84% And so, you know, it's just trying 00:03:12.170 --> 00:03:14.530 align:middle line:84% to find a fun way where you do something different. 00:03:14.530 --> 00:03:15.530 align:middle line:90% Try to see what happens. 00:03:15.530 --> 00:03:16.655 align:middle line:90% Doesn't have to be perfect. 00:03:16.655 --> 00:03:20.240 align:middle line:84% You don't have to be a great singer or a great performer. 00:03:20.240 --> 00:03:23.900 align:middle line:84% And you just have to have fun, I think. 00:03:23.900 --> 00:03:27.300 align:middle line:84% Thank you both so much and thank you everyone for coming. 00:03:27.300 --> 00:03:30.640 align:middle line:84% I would bet, nod your agreement, or shake your head no, 00:03:30.640 --> 00:03:33.140 align:middle line:84% but I'll bet that they would be willing to continue question 00:03:33.140 --> 00:03:35.720 align:middle line:90% and answer period informally. 00:03:35.720 --> 00:03:37.730 align:middle line:84% I know for a fact that Kurt and Marc 00:03:37.730 --> 00:03:39.260 align:middle line:90% would love to sell you a book. 00:03:39.260 --> 00:03:41.720 align:middle line:84% And feel free to come up for a signing. 00:03:41.720 --> 00:03:43.530 align:middle line:90% And we'll see you all next time. 00:03:43.530 --> 00:03:45.220 align:middle line:90% Thank you.