Waiting for Gustav

Waiting for Gustav

All our thoughts to Megan Burns, Dave Brinks & all the poets in New Orleans. I just spoke to Dave, they have evacuated & they are patiently waiting for Gustav to do his thing. The good news is the storm has weakened slightly before landfall, it is now a category 2 hurricane. Dave recommended getting infos from WWLTV.com, I have also been looking at the National Hurricane Center website.

Saturday, Megan Burns posted a poem on her blog about their current hurricane experience, I have pasted it below but do log on to Megan’s blog for more great poetry. I am also posting two videos made by Miles Joris-Peyrafitte with poems by Megan Burns & Dave Brinks. They were recorded, shot & edited when Pierre Joris, Miles (our son) and I, visited New Orleans after Katrina in November 2005. Miles was then 13 and by the way he will he be 16 tomorrow (Happy Birthday Miles!) since then Miles returned twice to Nola. I am planning to return early this winter and hopefully research on a project that involves food, poetry & genealogy. More on that later, meanwhile we are thinking of you friends down there!

3rd Anniversary/ 1st Evacuation Since…
by Megan Burns

More Than Halfway

infected season
if time won’t hold still
this life too is a dreary anger
let it come
take us what water that will
grasp at our designs
a life that falters as best can be described
it’s a short ride in darkening light
to a part of the city still trembling
and tethered
most of the block stays the same
looking further into the enveloping night
see how the homes have been beaten
a memory from childhood
taken out to lay down in disgrace
folded edges as witness palimpsest
danger overlapping disaster
shimmering gaze—all cities reject silence
desolate as is the world wrapped round us
the repetition of “towards recovery”
place holders these empty hulls
beached on the shore of this sunken city
exposed as a vacuum filling with anxiety
each time a breeze picks up in the Atlantic
each time a butterfly wing opens and closes
half way around the earth

Megan Burns
8.29.08

November 2005:
Long Night Moon poem Megan Burns, Video Miles Joris-Peyrafitte

Good House Keeping poem by David Brinks, Video Miles Joris-Peyrafitte

More about the summer

More about the summer

ready for the reading!

I promise this my last post about the “Voix de la Mediterranée” in Lodève (well maybe, because it bring so much joy to reminisce about it!). During 10 days, about 80 poets and performers, take over the entire town. Poets perform everyday and sometime twice a day. The readings are outdoor, they start at 10 AM and end at about 2 AM every day!
There are readings along the river with the audience on buoys, or with their feet in the water, on a hammocks, or in chaises longues at candle night very late, and sometimes even on a real chairs!
There are action poets, political poets, lyrical poets, great poets, boring poets, storytellers, translators, musicians and a big book fair. Poets & performers come from all around the Mediterranean countries. There were Occitanans, Catalans, Basques, Moroccans, Algerians, Tunisians, Greeks, Italians, Macedonians, Turks, Iranians, Egyptians, Saudi Arabians, Croatians, Israelis, Slovenians, Bosnians Herzegovinians, Syrians and even a bunch of French poets! Unfortunately the Palestinian poets were missing, they were not given visas, it is not clear to me how and why but it is deplorable.

Bon, that is is for now your turn to enjoy!
https://www.nicolepeyrafitte.com/imagesblog/lodeve/LODEVE.html

Bourg d’Oueil & Show

Bourg d’Oueil & Show

Time flies in the Pyrenees. I have been here for a week and quite busy getting ready for our Sunday performance (see poster below). Still, I took the time to hike to my favorite spot: my name sake “la peira hitta” or the raised stone and by extension Peyrafitte!

We also had a excellent family lunch. We had great fun “collecting” our food. Pierre and I got up early to be at the market place before the rush. I wanted to make a kind of trout ceviche, from the best trout farm I know of. The farm is owned by long time friends, but the truck wasn’t at the market, so I convinced Pierre that we should take the trip to the fish farm. The shop was closed until later but the dad was there; he calls himself the trout keeper and doesn’t handle any financial matter but that didn’t prevent him to quickly knock out a 2 pound trout and send us home with it. I still haven’t paid my trout! But I will see his son on the market on Saturday. The recipe was simple. I fileted the trout, sliced it really thin, marinated it in lemon, olive oil, salt, piment d’espelette, chives, dill, a little lovage, a few borage flowers and a gorgeous edible iris.

Then we went to get some lamb at the neighbor and grilled it in the fire place. Pierre made a delicious ratatouille. We had some ewe cheese from the Village of Poubeau and a Croustade aux pommes from Luchon. Voilà for now, I must run to rehearsal but I wanted to share the joy! A léu

Viva Lodève!

Viva Lodève!

didier cajella
Didier Calleja place de la Halle Dardé, Lodève

I had hope to post more often but I had NO time. The 10 days at the “Voix de la Mediterranées” in the small town of Lodève were really intense, brilliant and inspirering. I performed everyday and sometimes twice, and the rest of the time I went to see/hear readings and performances from 10 am until 1 am.
Yes! a POETRYLAND it was!
I have uploaded a first batch of pictures that can be viewed at:
https://www.nicolepeyrafitte.com/imagesblog/lodeve/LODEVE.html

More pix and postings from the Pyrenees where we are preparing for our show on Augustus Saint Gaudens August 10th.

Meanwhile ADISHATZ!

Summer Schedule

Summer Schedule

Dolmen de Coste Rouge

I am off Thrusday for 4 weeks to the South of France. First stop will be in Lodève (30mns Northwest of Montpelier) were I have been invited to the Festival Voix de la Méditerranée. The 10 days Festival hosts 80 poets/performers, 350 free readings in a 7500 people town! I have never been to Lodève and I am excited to dig into the history of the area. At around 300 B.C the town was a Volque capital, and I can’t wait to see the dolmen of Coste Rouge (see pix above).
Also interesting is the The Coat of Arms of the city of Lodève..–wink wink to poet Dave Brink & Megan Burns in New Orleans–. Once again: “Things fall where they lie”, when you will know that my next extended performance project will be the result of a -very- heuristic research project in New Orleans!

Lodeve Coats of Arms

Back to Lodève for now:
I will be performing every day at different times and different places. In case you would like to stop by, there is the detailed schedule at the link below: http://www.voixdelamediterranee.com/2008/index_poetes.html.

After that I will be going to my native grounds to perform my documentary performance on Augustus Saint Gaudens at the Théatre du Casino de Luchon with marvelous baritone Jean Ribet and pianist Carine Pérez, Sunday August 10 at 9PM. Click picture below for details.

Augustus Saint Gaudens Project

I’ll report and post pictures as often as I can, you should subscribe to the RSS Feed to get automatically updated.

Stay fresh & ADISHATZ!

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