prague microfest

it seems like a dream now. flying out of Trieste Italy to Prague to read at the Prague Microfest. Louis Armand. Stephen Delbos. Jason Mashak. Others. Ex-pats and poets and artists and Anglo American university.

So anyway. Yes I flew from Trieste to Prague. Stayed not far from the main square. Felt the energy from the poetry community in Prague and had some wild nights and some good readings and film screenings. Not big crowds but certainly a friendly bunch. And it reminded me why poetry matters. Or one of the reasons. Community.

So I had just moved from Anakara and was waiting in Trieste to hear about a uni teaching gig at METU. I waited for months for the paperwork and it never happened. And then it did. And I was torn cause I was tired of the traveling and wanted to reconnect to readings and get some stimulus from poetry community. So I chose to return to London at the last minute instead of Ankara.

And here I am. 35 pages into a new manuscript called Smashing Time! Which is much different than my previous manuscripts. More fluid and speech based. Raveling around in narrative. I have been to two readings in three months. Consumed over 20 books of poetry. And I am awake.

Sometimes I do feel that tug for adventure out in foreign lands again. But I am realising that i can have that right here. I can feel awake in the day to day moments of my existence and I can also visit other lands with London as the hub.

In the last five years of my world travels it is the people that have mattered most. not the food. Not the "exotic" cultures.

I have also wrestled a lot with my mind. I was in a state of emergency most of the time. Never having a settled mind. Lacking comforts. And I think my writing reflected that. Godzenie and Primitive Pianos reflect those mind states.

And Smashing Time is something else. I have a written a few short plays. I am returning to playfulness. An openness. A more expansive mindstate which perhaps paradoxically comes through the personal and day to day living of life. Which surrounds me. My journeys on the tube. My mind in reverse. Memories. And getting at it cleanly.

I have looked at the pics of some of ex-pat poets in Prague on facebook. It all seems like a gas. I like gas. I also like solids.

and I guess that is where i live.

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