Gabriel Squailia; photo by Jennibeth Gomez
Tension was high at Y Bar in Pittsfield on Tuesday, July 31. Eight contenders had entered the fray, and only two remained: Curtis Asch and Gabriel Squailia, aka DJBFG. After winning six consecutive rounds, Squailia was favored to win, throwing down incisive compositions, such as: “The masochist is made of Yes. The sadist always answers Maybe.” But then Asch rallied, landing blow after blow – each more powerful than the last – winning seven straight rounds to take the title of Haiku Slam champion. Squalia and Asch will likely face off against each other on another fifth Tuesday, Y Bar’s standing date for Haiku Slams. Until then, they’ll have other events to look forward to at The Writers Room, Y Bar’s weekly gathering of the spoken-word clan. Each Tuesday evening, the Writers Room features a different theme, meant to inspire the literarily inclined to create and perform their work. For example, there’s a creative writing open mic on the second Tuesday of each month, while every third Tuesday features by-invitation authors readings from their work. The electricity during July’s Haiku Slam reached particularly high wattage due to the fact that it preceded the WordXWord festival, a conglomeration of word-centric happenings that begins this Saturday, August 11, and runs through August 18. Entering its fourth year, the festival covers all the bases of words out load, with more than 40 events ranging from singing, poetry, and non-fiction readings, with the core of the festival focusing on spoken word. And most of the events are free.
Jim Benson; photo by Jennibeth Gomez
WordXWord was started in 2009 by Jim Benson, proprietor of Y Bar and its sister North Street restaurant, Mission Bar + Tapas. “The goal of the festival is to bring the best from all over the world,” says Benson. Inspired by the popular Austin, Texas SXSW (South by Southwest) festival not only in name but in set up, WordXWord events take place in a multitude of venues scattered throughout downtown Pittsfield, including nontraditional performance spaces such bars and stores, such as Benson’s restaurants, Bra & Girl lingerie boutique, and Shawn’s Barbershop. “I love the idea of a sprawling, multi-day, multi-venue festival,” says Benson. Adds festival manager Bill Yehle via email; “I think it presents a unique opportunity for audiences to explore the area as they roam from one venue (or) event to another. This migrating audience, attending multiple events at multiple locations over several days in a small area also creates a bit of a community; that in and of itself is interesting.” Over the years, the community has come to have high expectations for WordXWord, and Benson does not disappoint. “The word gets out more and more every year, and we have a steady growth in attendance, that’s no small task,” he says. “The festival grew bigger every year both in size and quality. This year, however, we scaled back the size and focused on bringing out the best possible. I am incredibly proud of the line-up this year….” which includes returning spoken word performers Derrick Brown, Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz, and Taylor Mali, plus first-timer Anis Mojgani, whom Benson calls “The top-ranked spoken-word performer in the world.” Poet Derrick Brown, who made his WordxWord debut last year, echoes the sentiment “This will be the biggest WordXWord ever. We are focusing a little more on the literary arts. Pittsfield is rising. We are glad to join forces because poetry is rising, too; it is morphing and changing from its stereotypes into an event as entertaining as a New York rock and roll concert.” Brown, who travels across the country to perform, notes that participating in WordXWord is special: “I had such a blast when I was featured and was honored by the emails from folks saying they didn’t know a poetry show could be full of terror, laughter, and joy. I wanted to bring that to every single show.” That creative fulfillment plus, he insists, the food at Mission are two things that will keep him coming back to Pittsfield.
Photo by Jennibeth Gomez
But WordXWord is not only about bringing talent in; it’s also about inspiring local wordsmiths and giving them a chance to shine. Says Benson, “Word is about mixing local and non, getting them into the same space. There are a lot of opportunities for local performers.” Case in point: Haiku contender Gabriel Squailia. “I've been involved in WordxWord one way or another each year, whether as a DJ or an author,” says the 32-year-old novelist and poet. “It's a no-brainer either way. The crowds are fantastic to mix music for, since everyone's excited, engaged, and intelligent. And as an author who enjoys performance, the festival was the best way for me to get my work on stage locally, until Writers Room started up this winter.” Benson says he created the Writers Room to keep the energy generated by the WordxWord festival humming throughout the year. “WordXWord’s commitment is not just an eight-day festival," he explains, "but year-long programs with writers and working with the community.” For example, this year he introduced a 30-day/30 poems writing challenge and developed an educational program for 200 inner-city Pittsfield students based on art and spoken word.
Reigning Slam Champion Curtis Asch; photo by Joshua C Volff
New interactive elements in the festival offer more opportunities for community involvement, including writing workshops, a day-long Scrabble Challenge, daily writing prompts, Head-to-Head Haiku Challenges on Sunday, August 12, and, on Tuesday, August 14, an evening of PechaKucha, a sort of speed PowerPoint presentation cum performance (20 slides, each presented for 20 seconds) at Berkshire Museum on August 14 (admission: $5; free for members). The Museum is also screening special films as part of the festival, and Barrington Stage Company will present a one-night-only staged reading of Tom Stoppard’s Tony-Award-winning play The Real Thing on Monday, August 13. The poetry slam ranks among the most popular returning events; spanning four days, this four-day competition puts poets head to head, with three minutes to perform an original poem. The final showdown on Saturday, August 18 at Shawn’s Barber Shop on North Street is a festival highlight. Says reigning champion Curtis Asch (winner of the aforementioned Haiku Slam), a teacher who had not performed poetry in more than ten years until he heard about the festival last August the day before it began, “There’s something about the mix of poets, authors, screenwriters, lyricists, all merging together. It’s exciting to see people stepping out of their discipline and getting their feet wet. It serves the everyday person, not the fictional poetic elite.”
If the sold-out kick-off rooftop party is any indication, this years WordXWord is definitely on track to be the best yet. That’s Benson’s plan, but he is aware that it’s not all up to him. “We don’t try to make it obvious but rather mysterious, have people show up and see for themselves.” He says. “I’ll put it out there and it will be good, but you have to show up and see for yourselves.” —Rachel LouchenWordXWord FestivalAugust 11 - 18, 2012 Downtown Pittsfield, various locations Related storiesWord Up! Taylor Mali on WordXWord Festival 2011 and the Lives of the PoetsFrom Mountaintop to Rooftop: Celebrants Scale the HeightsPittsfield’s WordXWord Festival Takes to the Roof
