Celebrating Arts in the Community

Well it's been some time since our last update but it's taken me this long to struggle up to the surface from under the weight of submissions we're currently reading. Love that. Also the performance nights have swung into action again but we're still looking for all those writers out there to come and lively them up. If you're in our neck of the woods why not check it out? It's a great way to let us preview your writing if you want to submit to the mag or even be on the next CD. But mostly it lets you get your work out there to an often bemused, stunned and sometimes even interested audience. Anyway, the dates are in the previous post and I can also add that it is ongoing fortnightly beyond those dates...

Creative Communities & Christchurch Community Arts Council

These two organisations are instrumental in not only the publication of Catalyst but the activities and projects of many artists and groups in Christchurch. They have been stalwart supporters of Catalyst - we love them and want to have their babies.

They are hosting a celebration event this week for all the groups and projects they support. The Catalyst Crew are representing with noneother than Doc Drumheller, Jody Lloyd and Myself performing poetry in honour of the groups' support of Catalyst.

If you'd like to see the plethora of projects supported by Christchurch taxpayers via these wonderful groups and be entertained by some amazing performance (followed by the poetry - heh!) come along to:

Phillip Carter Auditorium in the Christchurch Art Gallery, Thursday 9th March, 7.30pm.

Next Catalyst Poetry Performances

Yes it's time to shake out those holiday period accumulations and get back on that horse. We're riding back into town and we're taking no prisoners...

Catalyst Poetry nights: Operation Shock and Awe - more weapons of mass construction than you can shake an American at. Coming soon to the Wunderbar, Lyttelton.

Next Dates:

Thursday 2nd February
Thursday 16th February
Thursday 2nd March
Thursday 16th March
all starting at 8pm

All welcome - BYO poetry - open mic applies.

Don't be shy - you know you want to.

Catalyst 5 SUBMISSION DEADLINE Jan 31st

Yes the deadline loometh but there is still time - we're not inflexible with our dates! We are looking for works of poetry, prose, fiction, experimental writing, excerpts from scripts or screenplays etc. Also: recordings of spoken word for our CD (clean - without music - we'll handle that!) and proposals from visual artists for inside covers etc. (B&W and colour).

Seize this opportunity to be considered for our milestone 5th issue!

Our address and submission guidelines are over there in the sidebar. PLEASE FOLLOW THEM - failure to do so may exclude you from consideration.

If you havn't got your copy of the landmark Catalyst 4 yet, why not write to us and subscribe - we deliver! Back issues are available but stocks are running out and we won't be reprinting so be in quick.

CATALYST CHRISTMAS CLEARANCE SALE!

You betcha, kid.

If you're in our hemisphere why not come and join us for a right ol' knees up as we celebrate another year of bringing poetry to the masses. It's our very own brand of gross consumerism which is, after all, what Christmas is all about. If you're able to come you'll have the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to purchase back issues of Catalyst, the coolest, most innovative and exciting literary journal in NZ at never-to-be-repeated prices. Poetry is hotter than ever - but stocks won't last! If you are one of the accursedly unlucky who do not live in Christchurch or indeed New Zealand you can make yourself feel better with some long distance poetry therapy - namely SUBSCRIPTION! Yes! We deliver! And it's cheaper than normal too - plus your currency is probably stronger than the kiwi so you'll make on the deal! Wow! We live in a beautiful world. Details are in our profile in the sidebar. Share poetry with a loved one this Christmas. Stuff the kids stockings with something other than playstation or toys - yes you can change the world!

Catalyst. Because you're worth it...

Hitting Our Virtual 'Snooze' Button...

We are recovering from our collective book-launching-hangovers. Thank you to all who made it to Lyttelton for our party and grand unveiling. Maybe I'll file a wee report on it when I can bare to look at the screen on normal brightness... Until then, stay tuned: the next Catalyst Poetry Night will be another big knees-up our last one for 2005 - The Catalyst Christmas Clearance Sale - Poetry at cut prices. We're gonna stuff your stockings...

sneak preview! CATALYST VOL 4 COVER

CATALYST 4 + CD RELEASE

The official launch and release of Catalyst volume 4 and Catalyst Spoken Word Series 1 is on Thursday December 1st. The launch party details are:

Catalyst 4 release party

Thursday 1st December, 8pm

Wunderbar, Lyttelton

The launch will feature readings from featured and guest poets and writers from around NZ plus tracks from the very first in Catalyst's Spoken Word Series. Be the first in the world to hear the latest innovation from your ever-lovin' Neoismist Press and She'll Be Right Records.

The CD was produced by Jody Lloyd of She'll Be Right Records and represents a collaboration between writers/speakers and original New Zealand music. It is a bold project that dares to feature music on an equal footing with the spoken word and sets a tough bar for future Spoken Word CDs to achieve. Featured are voices/accents from around the world now resident in Aotearoa and one or two pieces of music by New Zealanders now based overseas. This reflects the great kiwi tradition of immigration/emmigration - the transient nature of modern New Zealanders and the fluidity of citizenship and belonging to this place we call 'home'. Catalyst has always sought to highlight this multicultural reality as well as feature established artists alongside emerging or young talent. The Catalyst Spoken Word Series is true to this form with several recognisable names among a few 'first-timers'. All with unique voices, listen for yourself.

The CD of Catalyst Spoken Word Series comes with your copy of Catalyst volume 4. Copies and subscriptions will be available for sale on the night or email us using the sidebar link.

Details regarding submissions are included in the book or alternatively please check out our profile in the sidebar. Submissions not following the guidelines may automatically be excluded from consideration.

Next Catalyst Poetry Open Mic

Thursday 17th November, 8pm - at the Wunderbar
Please note: The launch party for Catalyst 4 has been pushed back to Thursday December 1.

- a continual source of wonder and awe! Live at the Wunderbar

Bring your writing to share or come, listen, have a few drinks - you know the drill!

Carmen Tafolla - Live at Creation - 10th November - with Poetry in Wartime

Doors Open 7pm

105 Worcester Street, behind Cathedral Square

NEWSFLASH:

BONUS!

Direct from the Wellington International Poetry Festival - a one-off screening of powerful new documentary Poetry in Wartime will follow Carmen's performance. Don't miss your only opportunity to see the film that had everyone talking at the International Poetry Festival.

Courage Day - November 10th - Christchurch event

Every year, the New Zealand Society of Authors (NZSA) commemorates writers around the world who have been suppressed, abused, imprisoned or executed.

This year, Courage Day commemorates the 10th anniversary of the execution of Nigerian writer Ken Saro-wira, who was executed along with eight others for campaigning against the devastation of the Niger Delta by international oil companies.

This Courage Day, the Canterbury Branch of NZSA will hold a readings event and get-together on Thursday 10th November at the Madras Cafe Bookshop at 165 Madras Street (opposite the CPIT). The event will commence at 5.30 pm for a 6 pm start and will feature Zimbabwean journalist and human rights activist, Shupayi Mpunga, as keynote speaker, and a series of readings, highlighting Ken Saro-Wira's life and other freedom of expression issues, by local writers.

The NZSA is a non-profit organisation and there is no charge for this event.

So go along, check it out and follow it up with My Heart Speaks a Different Language, the one-woman show by Mexican-American poet Carmen Tafolla at 7pm in Creation. See previous post all about this amazing event.

Next Catalyst Poetry Open Mic

Thursday 17th November, 8pm
at the Wunderbar in Lyttelton. It will also be the launch party for Catalyst volume 4 + Catalyst Spoken Word Series volume 1 CD. Stay tuned for a post all about it...

Next Catalyst Open Mic

8pm Thursday 3rd November - at the Wunderbar

BYO poetry, performance work or prose. Share - Listen - Enjoy
Come on! You know you want to...

Catalyst presents: Carmen Tafolla

MY HEART SPEAKS A DIFFERENT LANGUAGE

Continuing our ongoing commitment to bringing international poets & writers to Christchurch, Catalyst is proud to present the only Christchurch performance of a dramatic one woman theatrical show by internationally renowned Mexican-American writer Dr. Carmen Tafolla.

Thursday 10th November, 7pm
Creation - 105 Worcester Street, (behind The Press building, Cathedral Square)
Price: TBA please contact Creation 03 366 4009

Called by Roots author Alex Haley "a world-class writer," she is the author of five books of poetry, one volume of non-fiction, seven screenplays, and numerous short stories, articles and children's works. Many of her works, she says, are dictated by ancestors "whispering over my shoulder." Her book of poetry, Sonnets to Human Beings, received the First Prize in the Poetry Division of the UCI National Literary Competition. She has most recently been awarded the Art of Peace Award by the President's Peace Commission of St. Mary's University for "writing which contributes to peace, justice and human understanding." Dr. Tafolla is visiting Aotearoa/New Zealand for the Wellington International Poetry Festival Nov. 3-6. We are hosting this one-off performance for the South Island. For more information on her career please visit her website www.carmentafolla.com

MY HEART SPEAKS A DIFFERENT LANGUAGE:
a dramatic medley of voices from Mexamerica, both poignant and funny, voices ranging from the young child on her first day of school to a black woman janitor to an elderly Mexican-American veteran of World War II. Tafolla will make you laugh and cry and celebrate and dream of a world where we all wear our names and identities proudly. This one-woman show has been presented throughout Europe and the US, Canada and Mexico.

Next Catalyst Open Mic - Thursday 20th October

That's right, BYO poetry, prose, lyrics, rants, etc. Come, listen, share, enjoy! 8pm at the Wunderbar, Lyttelton this Thursday (20/10/05) click the Wunderbar link in the sidebar for location details. As always, copies of Catalyst and other fine Neoismist Press books will be available for purchase including the latest release: Porno Ku XXX

All the ways back from October 2003, the cover of Catalyst Volume 1. Cathedral Square in Christchurch, Aotearoa. Complete with Eiffel Tower.

Catalyst Volume 1 cover

Part Two - Romerias de Mayo Festival, Cuba 2005

Part Two of a two part report from Aotearoa-based African American poet and world traveller L.E. Scott on his impressions and experiences of Cuba and his participation in Romerias de Mayo Festival in Holguin, Cuba 2005.

Above: Lewis Scott, Marlene Banbury (festival guide), Manuel Garcia Verdecia (poet & UNEAC vice-president)

Above: Children rapping on The Promenade in Havana.

UNION OF WRITERS AND ARTISTS OF CUBA

The president of UNEAC’s Holguin branch is the well-known painter Jorge Hidalgo and the two vice-presidents are Eugenio Marron and Manuel Garcia Verdecia. Both are well-known poets, both nationally and internationally.

The UNEAC building was where the poets, writers and painters presented their work over the course of the festival. Most of the artists were under the age of 30 and their minds were wide open to the experiences and ideas of their fellow participants. It should be understood that many of the artists were from countries in the Americas where the government does not take kindly to artists speaking "negatively" about the government or its leaders.

I spent most of my time with the Cuban poets and one in particular, the aforementioned Manuel Garcia Verdecia, professor of Cuban literature and prolific poet/writer and translator. He has translated the work of writers such as Alice Walker and Sylvia Plath into Spanish. We hung out together partly because he read my poems in Spanish at my readings and has translated some of my work for Spanish magazines but also because, as he said and I felt, "we seemed to have known each other from before".

Manuel's love of Cuba and its culture and history is beyond doubt. We did not talk directly of the current political state of Cuba. Rather, we talked of literature in general and in particular he wanted to know about the writers of New Zealand and Australia and what they were writing. He also was aware of some of the history of New Zealand and Australia and wanted to know how it was politically and socially for the indigenous peoples. He enquired as to how the cultures interacted.

Unlike many Cuban writers, Manuel has travelled outside of Cuba to western countries. Cuban writers generally do not have ready access to information about new trends in literature. He pointed out that while Cuban people have a vitality and flow in their daily lives, the poets read their poems in a very formal manner. As he said, Cuban poets have had little exposure to things such as "performance poetry".

As a poet and teacher, Manuel realises that much of the world is not aware that the arts are a strong part of daily life in Cuba and that the government plays a major role in this regard. As a vice-president of UNEAC, his dream is to create an opening for Cuban artists to have a wider audience. To bring that to fruition, he is presently translating the work of ten Cuban poets into English and hopes to have their work published in New Zealand, Australia and elsewhere.

HAVANA

After the festival in Holguin, my friend Manuel Garcia Verdecia gave me a contact name for the UNEAC branch in Havana. I took an overnight bus and headed for the capital city of Cuba. My contact person in Havana was Mr. Alex Pausidis, poet and vice-president of UNEAC’s Havana branch. When we met we had a long talk about poetry and New Zealand and Australian writers. He gave me copies of his poetry and that of the great Chilean poet, Pablo Neruda and another Cuban poet, Tito Junco. Alex also arranged for me to attend various poetry readings around Havana.

Between the poetry readings I visited some of Havana’s sights. First was the Museo de la Revolucion. The museum displays the history and artefacts of The Cuban Revolution and outside one can see the boat in which Fidel Castro sailed from Mexico back to Cuba in 1956. From there I went to the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, which houses Cuban art from the 16th century through to contemporary work. A short distance away was the Capitolio Nacional. This lovely architectural feat is a copy of Washington’s Capitol building but is richer in detail. The building was commissioned by the US-backed dictator Gerardo Machado in 1929 and cost US$17million. I also visited the house of one of Cuba’s national heroes, poet and liberator Jose Marti. And yes, I did end my sightseeing with a pilgrimage to La Bodeguita del Medio for a mojito. La Bodeguita del Medio is one of the bars Hemingway made famous and a mojito is a strong rum-based drink.

During my three weeks in Cuba I met poets, writers, painters and musicians as well as people on the street going about their daily lives. There is much in Cuba that one can see and hear, and there is much that one cannot. I am a person who believes (and history has shown it time and again) that the human spirit is a wondrous seed – and the hand of oppression may slow its growth, but not its flowering.

As I was getting ready to leave Cuba, one of the Mexican poets I had met, Leticia Herrera, said to me, “In October we’re having a festival of poets and writers in Monterey, Mexico – do you think you will be able to come?” I told her, “October is my month!”

Pictures from Romerias de Mayo Festival, Cuba 2005

Above: Poster about the 5 Cubans jailed in the US on charges of espionage.

Above: (L-R) Alexis Triana (festival president), Lewis Scott, Tatiana Zuniga (festival vice-president)

ROMERIAS DE MAYO FESTIVAL IN CUBA (A World Festival of Young Artists)

Part One of a two part report from Aotearoa-based African American poet and world traveller L.E. Scott on his impressions and experiences of Cuba and his participation in Romerias de Mayo Festival in Holguin, Cuba 2005.


In October 1962 I was a fifteen year old high school student in the United States of America and even at that young age I had an interest in the world and in politics. We were in the throes of what would become known to the world as “The Cuban Crisis” and that October, our teacher showed us how to hide under our desks should the firestorm come. If someone had told that 15 year old that in 1974 he would leave the United States and go and explore the rest of the world, I’m not sure he would have believed it possible, and especially if he had been told that one of the places he would go would be Cuba.

In October 1994, after living in Aotearoa New Zealand for many years, I celebrated becoming a New Zealand citizen. As a curious child of 15 I hadn’t even been aware that there was such a thing as dual citizenship that would open doors to other countries. But here I am.

In October 2004, the annual Gwendolyn Brooks Writers’ Conference at Chicago State University celebrated the artistry and contribution of the African American poet Amiri Baraka. I had recently written a profile on Baraka for the magazine JAAM and at the conference I had an opportunity to give him a copy of this magazine. During our conversation we spoke, among other things, about his time in Cuba in the late 1960s and he urged me to go there if I got the chance. I recalled an article he had written about that time, in which he related how some of the Cuban writers had told him to stop referring to the United States as “America”, given that it was just one of the countries in North America.


BEYOND THE OCTOBERS

Word of mouth is a powerful vehicle. By the time I returned to New Zealand from that conference, the word was out among the writing community and waiting for me at home was a contact name for Cuba.

Ms Tatiana Zuniga, vice-president of the Romerias de Mayo Festival in Holguin, Cuba was the name. After a number of emails back and forth, I received one from Tatiana which read: “I would like to invite you to attend the Romerias de Mayo Festival – you will read your poetry at the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba”. I would learn later that the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC) was created by the poet Nicolas Guillen shortly after the Cuban Revolution in 1959. The aim of UNEAC was, and is, “to preserve social justice and national independence and to promote the ongoing cultural, political and social ideas of the Cuban artists”.
On April 30th I flew from Aotearoa/New Zealand direct to Cuba. When I say direct, I mean from Auckland, New Zealand to Los Angeles, USA, to Vancouver, Canada, and then to Havana, Cuba. There are no flights from the United States to Cuba because of the US embargo.

On arrival in Havana I was met by a festival committee member. The next day I joined a group of other festival participants and flew from Havana to Holguin in an old propeller-driven Soviet aircraft. The one-and-a-half hour flight in this chartered aircraft, on which no safety briefing was given, left one believing that the idea of a God was not a bad one.

Holguin is the fourth largest city in Cuba and many thousands of people had gathered there from all over Cuba and the rest of the world for the festival. The opening address was given by the President of the Festival, Mr Alexis Triana, standing on a balcony high above the crowd and speaking in a Castro-style manner. He welcomed artists and visitors to the city of Holguin and then declared the city open for the festivities.

This annual festival was created twelve years ago and its focus has always been on young artists, with an underlying aim to bring them into contact with older artists to assist their development. Though this festival is open to the world, most of the artists are from the Americas. The festival is always held in Holguin and each year young artists from a particular country are highlighted. This year it was the poets, writers, painters, dancers and people of the theatre from Mexico. In 2006 it will be the artists from Venezuela. The Romerias de Mayo Festival is fully funded by the Cuban government.


BACKDROP TO THE FESTIVAL

Cuba is one of the last remaining socialist states and Fidel Castro has been in power since 1959 when the former US-backed dictator Batista was overthrown. Everything in Cuba is controlled by the state and people are aware that loose tongues can be a danger to well-being. The daily lives and movements of Cubans are closely watched. In each neighbourhood, every four or five blocks, there is an “appointed person” whose job it is to make sure his area runs without problems. Cubans cynically refer to this person as “the watcher”.

As a result of the US embargo on Cuba since the 1960s and the fall of the Soviet Union in the 1980s (the Soviets having supported Cuba in many ways including trade and aid), the country is in dire need. There is a shortage of everything and everything is rationed. Long queues are a daily reality. The Cuban people say, very quietly, that they face not only the embargo from the US but also an embargo within Cuba.

It is perhaps the older Cubans who worry most about what will come “after he is gone”. The young, they point out, will have a better chance to deal with whatever fire comes next. Throughout Cuba the government has posted photographs of the five Cubans imprisoned in the United States on charges of conspiracy to commit espionage. The Cuban government holds that these “Cuban heroes” went to infiltrate the large Cuban community in Florida to prevent acts of terrorism on Cuba from that community, which is widely anti-Castro. And so the historical dance of antagonism between the US and Castro just keeps swinging to the same tune.


HOLGUIN

From May 2nd Holguin was jumping. There were thousands of people in the streets and music, street theatre, dancing and poetry readings were taking place all over the city. On my arrival, Tatiana Zuniga (who I would come to know over the next week as a warm and beautiful human being) had arranged a personal guide for me for the course of the festival.

Ms Marlene Banbury, school teacher and aide to the festival committee, was my guide and what a gift she was. Marlene was born in Holguin of Jamaican parents (as she says, “some fifty years ago”). It was Marlene’s job to get me to my readings and discussions. And when she discovered that I could not dance, she made it her mission to get me to learn the Salsa before I left Cuba. After the day’s events she had my nights set up for listening to Cuban bands at Casa de la Troua (a club named after one of Cuba’s greatest musicians) and a space on the dance-floor reserved! Marlene says that when she met her husband, some 12 years ago, the first thing she wanted to know was whether he could dance. She told him, “I don’t care if your mother and father think I’m the best woman you will ever meet; if you can’t dance, I’m moving on!”

In Marlene’s company I learned a lot about daily life in Cuba. In spite of all the hardships that Cubans face, we walked the streets and alley-ways of Holguin enjoying a city full of festivity and life. And my guide, a woman who hadn’t much, had a beautiful spirit that was priceless. We became friends.

To be continued...

Neoismist Press unleash XXX Porno Ku - a little hard something for your pocket

It's haiku but not as you know it. As featured in Catalyst 3 - Porno Ku has been rounded up and committed to its own little cell in the form of a handy wee pocket book. Neoismist Press who publish Catalyst decided the work of Dickey Woodside, Sheila Shorthand and Jock Helldonger deserved to be locked up "not only for amusement." It's been given the treatment, complete with illustrations by Elizabeth Davidson and is, in the words of Sheila Shorthand, "a little hard something for your pocket."

The book is being launched as part of Christchurch's Four Square Festival at Creation arts space with music from Le Mot Cafe, visuals from The Neoismists show Fears & Fetishes and a glass of wine or three.

It is not known whether the authors who are US based will be in attendance at the launch. Neoismist Press say the book is likely to retail for $10 a copy. Advance orders can be sent to Neoismist Press, P.O. Box 3083 Christchurch, New Zealand.

Poetry Idol Grand Final

... and as the dust settled, only one remained standing... and the winner, the grand champion, the Catalyst Poetry Idol 2005 is... But let's start at the beginning. Over 5 weeks we saw some talented, gutsy poets put to the sword. Well, as put to the sword as it gets in Aotearoa, namely "would you mind maybe standing over here while I stick this sword into you, mate, if you don't mind, sorry mate, you don't have to..." - you get the picture. That brought us to Thursday 25th of August and Grand Final night, live at the Wunderbar in Lyttelton. The five finalists were: A.J. Coyle Cris Fulton Lucette Hindin Dylan Kemp Derek Laver The tension built as the start was delayed by a late arriving poet but eventually the games could begin as host Doc Drumheller announced the format for the evening. Each poet would perform two sets of three poems, the audience would score both sets out of 30 - 10 points per poem. The running order would be drawn out of a hat and reversed for the second set. The prizes were unveiled: 1st: Catalyst Poetry Idol 2005 receives a $50 bar tab + $50 grocery voucher courtesy of Super Value Lyttelton. 2nd: receives $20 bar tab + $20 grocery voucher courtesy of Super Value Lyttelton. 3rd: receives a bottle of bubbly courtesy of the Wunderbar. Poetry Idol will also get a feature on this very website including one or two poems and Doc announced a surprise for all finalists: a years subscription to Catalyst and a poem to be included in the print journal. Not too shabby eh? The contenders then partook of the traditional Catalyst salute of a shot of Jagermeister and gird their loins for battle... As you'd expect it was as if all the finalists had brought their 'A-game' . At the break it was hard to pick who the audience most appreciated - we were in for the long haul. At the end of the second set it fell to recently returned Catalyst co-host Unkle Travelling Kez to scrutineer and tally the scorecards. Alas there could be only one Poetry Idol and as the dust settled... the results were: Catalyst Poetry Idol 2005: Cris Fulton 2nd place: Dylan Kemp 3rd place: Lucette Hindin Stay tuned for an upcoming feature on our Poetry Idol Chris Fulton on this very website and a feature section in Catalyst 4 with our five finalists.

Very special thanks from Catalyst go to

Peter Jackson and Super Value Lyttelton

and our buddies Jason and Tony at the Wunderbar in Lyttelton

for their staunch support of poetry!