Colleen Michaels is a woman I admire on many fronts. She is a poet, essayist, cook, and creative force behind The Improbable Places Poetry Tour. I've had the pleasure to meet Colleen at the Massachusetts Poetry Festival and this year, my poems were included as part of the tour. It is difficult to explain the magic of seeing a poem in the window of a yarn shop or between the pages of a menu at a local restaurant. I can only imagine the joy and surprise of encountering poetry readings at banks, second hand shops and the other events Colleen has produced. This fall I hope to bring a bit of this magic to Seattle. However, it's Colleen Michaels who makes this magic happen. Read on!
1. Where did the idea for the Improbable Places Poetry Tour come from?
2. How long have you been producing the tour?
3. Can you talk about some of your most intriguing events? I know you've had readings in banks, flower shops, swimming pools and laundromats.
4. How do people react to poetry in flower shops or in massage parlors? Any reactions that stay with you?
5. I know you direct the writing center at an art college — what is the students' participation?
CM: The Tour wouldn’t work without the students’ participation. They’ve come to think of it as professional practice. Painters and sculptors show in galleries; writers go to readings. This is a way for them to share their work with the community.
6. Plans for the future? What’s next?
CM: I’ve got my eye on a local beauty salon and an auto parts store.
7. I know you recently participated in the Mass Poetry Festival with poetry coasters and window displays – how did that work?
CM: I was honored that the Massachusetts Poetry Festival had invited the Tour to participate, but I knew I had to change it up. A poetry reading at a poetry festival is just, well, too probable. I also wanted a way to feature some of the Montserrat artists who have found ways to add new layers to the Improbable Places Poetry Tour. We have letterpress artists, installation artists, graphic designers, filmmakers who all make the poetry tour better – I needed their talent to make it special, “improbable” in a new way. I decided that it had to be an installation piece, sort of a treasure hunt. The Tour is always about place; once I had the place in mind I thought about poems (especially your wonderful poem “Mapparium”) that might connect, or even push back a little.
8. An idea as superb as this should be replicated in different places. Any plans for other cites to follow your good lead?
CM: I’m hoping you will start a West Coast chapter! I’ve also been talking with Ariella Ruth, a poet from Naropa, who’s interested in starting it in Colorado.
9. Is it true that you usually sew a new dress to coordinate with each venue?
CM: You betcha! It’s hard to find bicycle-print and laundry-themed frocks off the rack.
Colleen Michaels directs the Writing Studio at Montserrat College of Art. Her poems and essays have appeared in print and in online literary journals, including The Paterson Literary Review, Blue Collar Review, The Mom Egg, Bread and Circus Magazine, Literary Mama, and the anthology, Here Come the Brides!: Reflections on Lesbian Love and Marriage. She was a 2010 finalist for the Split This Rock Poetry Competition and was the recipient of an honorable mention in the 2011 Allen Ginsberg Poetry Prize. She lives with her family in Beverly, Massachusetts.
CM: The idea came from a selfish desire - I love my city,
Beverly, Massachusetts, with its friendly community and great main street; I
love the school where I work, Montserrat College of Art; and I love
poetry. I wanted my three loves to
spend more time together. I was
walking from class one day, I passed the friendly bike shop, and asked if they
might host a poetry reading. Sixty people showed up, some serious cyclists, to
hear poems about bicycles. Do you
remember that scene from The Fisher King
where everyone is going about their business and suddenly begins ballroom
dancing in the train station? For
me, the readings feel like my whole neighborhood is dancing with me.
CM: The third season begins this fall.
3. Can you talk about some of your most intriguing events? I know you've had readings in banks, flower shops, swimming pools and laundromats.
CM: I think the tattoo parlor, Good Mojo, with the theme of ink,
was the most beautiful. The stage
looked like a jewel box. We had poets read from the front window with their
voices amplified onto the street while someone was being tattooed in the back
window. The police had to come and block the street because the crowd of 100
was flowing out into traffic.
Recently I used Emerson’s quote that “poetry is a type of
skating” as the call for work, and the reading was held at the Beverly Roller
Palace. The podium was set up under the disco ball, and skaters circled the
readers. You should know that January Gill O’Neil, a fine poet and the
Executive Director of the Massachusetts Poetry Festival, is also a very good
roller skater.
4. How do people react to poetry in flower shops or in massage parlors? Any reactions that stay with you?
CM: Massage Parlor?
I haven’t tried that one yet; thanks for the tip! The Laundromat crowd’s
reaction was one of my favorites.
I think they were the most surprised crowd, as many were just there to
do laundry and had no idea that a poetry reading was about to begin. The sound
of the coins going into washers added to the atmosphere and many stayed well
after the final spin. One family
brought in a pizza, folded their clothes, and listened intently. It’s a small moment, but one that
reminds me that poetry can and should be accessible.
5. I know you direct the writing center at an art college — what is the students' participation?
CM: The Tour wouldn’t work without the students’ participation. They’ve come to think of it as professional practice. Painters and sculptors show in galleries; writers go to readings. This is a way for them to share their work with the community.
6. Plans for the future? What’s next?
CM: I’ve got my eye on a local beauty salon and an auto parts store.
7. I know you recently participated in the Mass Poetry Festival with poetry coasters and window displays – how did that work?
CM: I was honored that the Massachusetts Poetry Festival had invited the Tour to participate, but I knew I had to change it up. A poetry reading at a poetry festival is just, well, too probable. I also wanted a way to feature some of the Montserrat artists who have found ways to add new layers to the Improbable Places Poetry Tour. We have letterpress artists, installation artists, graphic designers, filmmakers who all make the poetry tour better – I needed their talent to make it special, “improbable” in a new way. I decided that it had to be an installation piece, sort of a treasure hunt. The Tour is always about place; once I had the place in mind I thought about poems (especially your wonderful poem “Mapparium”) that might connect, or even push back a little.
8. An idea as superb as this should be replicated in different places. Any plans for other cites to follow your good lead?
CM: I’m hoping you will start a West Coast chapter! I’ve also been talking with Ariella Ruth, a poet from Naropa, who’s interested in starting it in Colorado.
9. Is it true that you usually sew a new dress to coordinate with each venue?
CM: You betcha! It’s hard to find bicycle-print and laundry-themed frocks off the rack.
Colleen Michaels directs the Writing Studio at Montserrat College of Art. Her poems and essays have appeared in print and in online literary journals, including The Paterson Literary Review, Blue Collar Review, The Mom Egg, Bread and Circus Magazine, Literary Mama, and the anthology, Here Come the Brides!: Reflections on Lesbian Love and Marriage. She was a 2010 finalist for the Split This Rock Poetry Competition and was the recipient of an honorable mention in the 2011 Allen Ginsberg Poetry Prize. She lives with her family in Beverly, Massachusetts.
Poetry of, and in, our everday lives. I just love this idea. I live on the West Coast and would love to get involved in a chapter here.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Susan,for providing this interview packed with good, practical applications for poetry.
Such a wonderful thing to do!
ReplyDeletePoet Nicelle Davis has taken poetry mobile out in California, and Maya Stein just completed a bicycle tour called Type-rider; she set up this old typewriter at all of her stops and invited people to sit down and write.