Our Library spoke to multi-slam champion Emilie Zoey Baker about her poetry and what she loves most about performing her work.
If you’re aged 12-18 then don’t miss out on the chance to meet Emilie Zoey Baker at Rosebud Library on Friday 22 January and participate in a two hour workshop, which will bring your creative ideas to the page and the stage.
Poet and spoken word artist, Emilie Zoey Baker
What’s the best thing about being a spoken word artist?
You write your own script, you choose your own props and perform it however you like. You can be as expressive and experimental as you wish. It’s instant publication too – you’re able to see straight away if the poem is gonna fly like a newborn bumblebee or sink like a drunk duck.
How would you describe your writing practice? What inspires you?
It’s good to try and write every day but I’m not that disciplined. I write when I feel the itch so bad it works its way into my fingers. If I can’t write I try and read something that I know will start an itch. Non-fiction books are like a plague of mosquitoes.
Where do you usually work?
On my laptop, which is usually on my lap, but I like going to cafes or libraries where it’s oddly less distracting. The more chaotic the environment the more focused I become. I’m looking forward to Armageddon; I might actually get some work done.
What made you want to write when you started out?
I used to be into acting and I found myself reciting little things at bus stops – they weren’t plays or songs, but something in between. They were stray puzzle pieces that didn’t fit anywhere till I attended a performance poetry night and saw people doing all kinds of stuff with language and performance. It wasn’t what I’d been told poetry was about. It was like someone opened the door of a poem and showed me all the words inside having an unbelievable party. My little puzzle-piece verses and stories finally found a home! After that I started listening to spoken word from around the world, finding copies of CDs and publications like Going Down Swinging. These days it’s easier to find as it’s all over the internet on MySpace, YouTube and podcasts like Indifeed and Nothing Rhymes with RRR, and on the best spoken word radio show in Melbourne, Aural Text.
Which poets or writers have influenced you?
So many! But to name a few… Saul Williams, Sean M Whelan, Alicia Sometimes, Phil Norton, Richard Brautigan, Tom Robbins and lots of non-fiction too.
What are you currently working on?
A project for the 2010 Next Wave Festival, for which women writers and artists have teamed up to interpret an aspect of feminism. The result will be an exhibition and publication at West Space gallery in Melbourne. I’m really looking forward to it.
Don’t miss the opportunity to meet Emilie Zoey Baker!
Spoken word: Get heard
Friday 22 January, 2pm-4pm
Rosebud Library, McDowell Street
Snacks provided
Suitable for young people aged 12-18
Free, but bookings essential: rosecirc@mornpen.vic.gov.au
