Poetry in Place

October 16, 2018
Woerdz 2018, a spoken word festival, Lucerne, Switzerland
curated by Andre Schurmann

As an extension of the Spare Rib Revisited project in Lucerne, Switzerland I was invited to perform at Woerdz 2018, to create four performances. Woerdz is the bi-annual spoken word festival and it is a big occasion where the hall is packed with people sitting for five a night listening to poetry from around the world. The first was Poetry in Place, an interactive public performance in Helevetia Plaza where I interviewed random members of the public and over the course of the following week wrote poetry that I mailed to each participant. This young girl of five years old was the first to be enchanted and participate. She was having an afternoon treat at the cafe in the plaza and begged her Mum, and grandmother to come over. Still to this day I’m intrigued to know how she reacted to receiving the poem in the mail. Another woman was so excited to come across this moment in her day and shared a very special story with me.

The idea that poetry was weaving, moving through the city while the spoken word festival was happening in a fixed location creates a more intimate connection with the public. Poetry was moving into people’s homes as we all need poetry in our lives and when we embrace poetry in our lives, our lives are much richer!