Inside-Poland.com
News and more from around Poland, in English

Wszędzie Jest Poezja

I seem to have gone to an awful lot of poetry-related events recently (which is decidedly better than having gone to a lot of awful poetry events).

All of it has been in Polish, which has been a real test for my language skills.

First such event was Noc Poezji (Night of Poetry) about a month ago. Most of the evening's events were concerts (I managed to go to three free concerts that evening). The first event, however, was totally-poetry orientated, Tatar poetry to be exact. Four avid Tatar poetry experts in their field, espousing the virtues of the nomadic horseman lifestyle on the Steppes. It drew quite a crowd (of mainly older people) and filled a sizeable room at the City Cultrual Centre. Still, it was probably better than anything on television that evening. Read some of the poetry here.

My next poetry event was an altogether more informal affair. A poetry circle were reading their compositions. Again the audience mostly composed of people aged sixty and above. Read more about it here.  (Scroll to the bottom of the page).

W Górach Jest Wszystko Co Kocham (In the Mountains is Everything I Love) was the most recent poetry-related event. A concert with four bands appearing, the linking theme being a type of music known as sung poetry, sometimes based on the poetry of Jerzy Harasymowicz. The first band was Zielony Szlak (Green Trail) which should give you some idea of the nature of this concert. Next up was Bez Zobowiązań (No Liabilities), a couple of guys each armed only a guitar and their voices. Not bad at all.

YesKiezSirumem (untranslatable) were next up, and they rocked the stage. They resorted to all sorts of trickery, namely didgeridoos and child exploitation. Nothing "Rolf Harris" about this though. Yes, they dragged a dozen or so of the cutest children they could find (presumably their own) up on stage to perform a couple of their songs. That, along with the electro/acoustic violin being played through a variety of guitar effects pedals made for some enjoyable and interesting listening.

The headlining act of the evening was Dom O Zielonych Progach (House with The Green Thresholds). I'd seen them a few years back in Kielce and was quite impressed. This evening they were able to let rip in a way that wouldn't have been appropriate for the relatively subdued stage of Pałacyk Zielińskiego.

So, my next trick is write some poetry in the style of the various events I've been to recently. Wish me luck...
 

Blog Archive