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M. NourbeSe Philip, our Dec. 4th feature: Interview and 5 Poems

11/29/2013

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M. NourbeSe Philip is UWO’s 2013 Writer-in-Residence. She is a critically acclaimed and widely anthologized poet, novelist, playwright, essayist and short story writer. Philip’s career has been marked by her formal experimentation and her strong commitment to social justice. In addition to her many literary honours, Philip is a former Guggenheim fellow and a recipient of the City of Toronto Arts Award for poetry in 1995. Recently she has garnered praise for her interactive live performances of her newest book of poetry, Zong!, which focuses on an 18th century legal decision regarding the murder of Africans aboard a slave ship. (Bio by #Poetrylab)

See Expanded Biography


A SHORT INTERVIEW 

Interviewer is Kevin Heslop


KH: When did you begin writing poetry?

NP: I began some four decades ago.  I began as a way of exploring my life -- being female, African descended from the Caribbean but living in a foreign country.  I also used it as a way of exploring my history. 

KH: What or who have been the biggest influences on your poetry over your life?
 
NP: My childhood in Tobago has been a tremendous influence on my writing life.  In terms of writing the writers who have been seminal -- Audre Lorde, James Baldwin and St. John Perse.

KH: Can you say something about how your poetic style evolved, and what you generally try to accomplish in your work?  
 
NP: When I wrote She Tries Her Tongue; Her Silence Softly Breaks I became aware that the idea and issue of Language had chosen me and that I would spend the remainder of my writing life exploring this issue in various ways.

KH: From having heard you read, one suspects the speaking of the language, the reading of poetry aloud, adds something to the written word. If this is the case, what, or how, is that something?
 
NP: I don't know if I can answer that question but perhaps what happens is simply the embodying of the word that exists on the page.   I have always considered myself page-bound, since I didn't work in the spoken word genre, so it is in a way as much of a surprise for me to find myself working more intensively in a performative mode.



FIVE POEMS

1.

Cashew

                                       firm-fleshed
red pendulous breast
                                                              nipple
hardened into promise
                                            in seed
curled green foetus
                                                                     the cashew
hangs
            longs for the sharp white teeth of girls
                                                              their tiny perfect tongues
            licking its juice that
                                                stains the white gowns
marks them with desire
as racing 
                                                          nightdress sails
masted with slender sinewy
mahogany of limbs
lengthening into a future
                                               perfect
they hurtle 
                   toward the unfurl
                                         in girl


©M. NourbeSe Philip



2.

                                                                     big questions


                                                                                   why does a chicken always cross a road
            and b follow a when the worm turns why
                                                             don’t we tell it like it was and what
                       did you say the time
                                                                                        was when the zebra changed 
                               its stripes and is it true
                                                                          what they say who is
              they did  humpty 
                                             dumpty jump or was he
                                                                                         pushed when led to the water
           why didn’t the horse drink why
                                                                                       isn’t the earth flat and how do you close
                        a basket case when you say I am and
                                                                                    how do you say you are can
                                                    you kill three birds
           with one stone when the
                                                                      birds in the bush seduce
                                         the one in your
                                                                  hand   


©M. NourbeSe Philip
 


3.

Upon Considering the Possibilty of Friendship Between Tia and Antoinette
(In Progress)


a cheek split
in two wrongs can't
make it right
between history and 
a hair-splitting
cheek-splitting
truth

"the cheek of her
taking my dress!"

undressing the theft
the take and took 
in history

can't draw blood from
a stone
or a tear
spill the causes
of a cheek
                    white
                                   split
by the hard in stone
the me and she
in black words
on a white page
where a stone lands

on a cheek 
split by the 
                                        hurl
                                pelt
the fling in stone
in history
                               heals
not the heart
smashed ground 
in the between of past
and future
                                       grindstones
exacting a finely
powdered present
to scatter wide
                               to the winds

Friends, you say?
Only a stone’s throw away


©M. NourbeSe Philip



4.
 
Zong! # 2  
 
 
                                                                                                           the throw in  circumstance 

                                                    the weight in want 

                                                                                      in sustenance 

                     for underwriters 

                                                                                      the loss 
                     the order in destroy 
                  

                                                                                      the that fact 
                                                                                      the it was 

                                                                                      the were 

negroes 
 

                                                                                      the after rains 


                                                                   _______________________________________

                                                                       Wafor Yao Kehinde Bolade Kibibi Kamau
 

©M. NourbeSe Philip



5.
 
Fall

the year turns
curls
                            around itself
a leaf whose time has come
                                                     to fall
                                                                 towards earth
and itself
                  its own beginning
and the racoon  whose soft curled pelt
mocks the memory of birth
is its own tombstone
on the wet black road.   
 

©M. NourbeSe Philip



THE EVENT

WHERE: The Mykonos Restaurant at 572 Adelaide St. North, London, Ontario. The restaurant has a large, covered terrace just behind the main restaurant, which comfortably holds 60 poetry lovers. Mediterranean food and drinks are available. Overflow parking is available across the side street and in the large lot one block north, in front of Trad’s Furniture.

WHEN: December 4th, the first Wednesday of the month, as with most of our events. 

LIVE MUSIC, live music will begin at least by 6:30. There is also an intermission also with live music.

THE FEATURED POET: M. NourbeSe Philip will begin reading shortly after 7:00, followed by a Q&A.

OPEN MIC: Following the featured poet, there is about 1.5 hours of open mic, ending about 9:00 pm. Each poet has five minutes (which is about two good pages of poetry, but it should be timed at home). NOTE: WE WILL NOT BE SELECTING NAMES AT RANDOM, BUT, AS IS TRADITIONAL AT MOST POETRY OPEN MICS, POETS WILL WRITE THEIR NAMES IN A SPOT OF THEIR CHOOSING ON A LIST AT THE DOOR. They will also be asked for their email addresses and whether or not we can photograph and videotape them reading.

RAFFLE PRIZES: Anyone who donates to London Open Mic Poetry Night receives a ticket for a raffle prize, three of which will be picked. The prizes consist of poetry books donated by Brick Books and The Ontario Poetry Society. Donations are our only source of income. We still haven't paid off our initial debt.

EBOOK ANTHOLOGY: Our annual ebook is an anthology of the poets who have read during the year, including both the featured poets, with one or two poems by each, and the open mic readers, with from one to a few, depending on length, from each of those who wish to participate, no matter how many times they read. The ebook will then be available on Amazon at the end of the season, at a few dollars each, used to help offset expenses. If anyone gives us more than several poems, we will select from them. All poems that are included must have been read at the events during the season. The ebook will include a short biography (up to seven lines) of each poet. This must be included with the poems. We may also add a photo of the poet reading at the event. This hasn’t been decided yet. To keep transcription errors from creeping into the poems, the preferred way to get them to us is by email. Those who don’t use email can give us a copy at the events. A cautionary note: Some poets may not want certain poems to be included in the ebook because it would make them unacceptable for later publication in certain poetry journals. Erik Martinez Richards will edit and publish the anthology. His email address is erikf1944@hotmail.com
 

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    Interviewer

    Organizer Stan Burfield of London Open Mic Poetry Night, and any guest interviewers who are into  it. 

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