Date: Fri 25-Apr-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDREA

Illustration: C

Location: A13

Quick Words:

Vicinanza-poetry-chapbook

Full Text:

(profile of poet & slam coordinator Faith Vicinanza, 4/25/97)

An Evolving Poet In The Thick Of CT's Slamming Sensation

(with photo, sidebar)

BY ANDREA ZIMMERMANN

By day she is a business systems analyst, by night and weekends she is a poet

who, within the past five years, has broadened the definition of poetry and

popularized the art form in Connecticut.

Faith Vicinanza's latest chapbook title, In The Thick Of It , gives a strong

hint as to the character of the woman who, along with a colleague, brought to

Connecticut poetry slamming - a form of poetry that is "appealing, very

intense, urgent, and current in content." And much of the Newtown resident's

work in the field is coming to fruition this year as evidenced by last

weekend's Spring Invitational Performance Poetry Extravaganza in Hartford, and

the upcoming 8th Annual National Poetry Slam Championship and 1997 Connecticut

Poetry Festival, to be held in Middletown, August 5-9.

"On August 9, 1992, Charlie Chase and I hosted the first slam in Connecticut,

in New Haven. Twenty-four poets read, and more than 200 people attended. They

were standing from door to door," said Faith. "Until that day, we did not

realize there would be that amount of interest."

The two friends, who had met at a writing group, established four venues in

the state for poetry slamming. They started, ran, and advertised the events.

"By the second year, we had eight ongoing slams," she said.

Poetry slams are competitive readings where poets perform original works and

are then given scores by judges selected from among the audience, explained

Faith. The competitive nature of these events creates a dynamic energy that

can pull listeners through the full emotional spectrum.

"Slamming is an extraordinary form of expression. I love the arts - I sang,

painted for a couple of years. But poetry, for me, is a powerful form of

expression," she said.

"There is a drive for me about poetry. It's efficient, creative, powerful,

free form, diverse, flexible, challenging. But all artists would tell you that

about their art form," she laughed.

Faith wrote her first poem when she was in the sixth grade at Chase Elementary

School in Waterbury. She and her mother - a poet - collaborated on the piece

which was about the recent assassination of John F. Kennedy. The poem received

a good deal of attention in school as well as the local media, but Faith did

not put poem to paper again for three decades.

"My mother has been writing poetry for as long as I can remember. She writes

traditional, rhyming, commonly metered, mostly romantic poetry. She's in her

60s and she still writes regularly [to commemorate church or family events],"

said Faith. "They are the kind of things that are simpler, well-received, and

personal. It's not the edgy stuff of Kerouac or Ginsberg."

Faith writes "very personal" poetry. Her favorite creations are those that

express the "hardness" of life.

"I've had a lot of difficulties, a lot of trauma in my life," she said. Her

poems about incest and abuse are among the most well-received, but they are

not so graphic as to alienate the readers/listeners, she added.

The poet has published three books, all through Hanover Press: Jupiter

Colliding with the Sun , In The Thick Of It and It's All Right, It's All Wrong

. She has also had her work appear in many journals including Jam The Slam,

Limited Edition Broadside and Collective Voices . She has facilitated numerous

workshops and poetry/writing programs.

"I write all the time. Poetry is one of the primary things that I do; it's an

unmediated form of expression for me. Poetry becomes a form of

self-conversation. And maybe something in there is worth the refinement

process - personal expression turned into something poetically valuable.

People get tired of hearing therapeutic poetry," she said.

"I've had women in the audience come up to me, after I've read, in tears,"

said the poet, who was at first uncomfortable with having people tell her she

had given voice to their pain. "Now I'm thankful my poetry is emotionally

healing and `ventful' for them. Therapeutic poetry - if quality poetry - does

have a place. It's hard for young poets to craft therapeutic poetry into a

polished work."

Not everything is appropriate for a public reading, Faith explained. "And

`appropriateness' doesn't mean what the audience can handle, but what is

valuable . And that's controversial," she said. There are debates about this

within the microcosm of the slam community as well as the poetry community at

large.

Many academic poets view slams as "mud wrestling" by young artists, said

Faith. There is also the misconception that this form is "shallow, raw,

unpolished, ethnic, urban." But there are some well respected poets, such as

Patricia Smith, who write both academic and slam poetry.

Poetry, as other art, is a permanent expression of an experience that is gone

in an instant, said Faith.

"Art captures that and allows it to be experienced over and over."

A Poet Evolving

Faith said she is evolving as a poet and as a human being, and gives her

husband, Peter, much of the credit for that.

"I would not have done what I have accomplished in the past five years had it

not been for my husband," she said. "He has supported and nurtured me to grow

and find a joyfulness and peacefulness that was never there," she said.

"Two years ago, Peter wrote his first ever poem. And he's a damned good poet,

which pisses me off!" she laughed. "He has a wealth of knowledge, the tools

and the expertise that I don't have." That is why she will go back to school

to earn a degree in literature.

"I want to have access to the historical stuff, become familiar with authors,

have the command of the language that my husband has," Faith said.

Because she wants to pursue a degree and explore other aspects of poetry (for

instance, introducing school children to poetry), she is encouraging others to

take on most of the projects she started. Right now she co-hosts only one

slam, at a location in Waterbury. She also continues to edit the newsletter

The Connecticut Poet , which lists all the poetry readings in the state.

Much of her energy this year has been focused on organizing the Connecticut

Poetry Festival.

"It's the biggest event I've been involved in - it's a thrilling project," she

said. "It's an event that's going to shake up the poetry communities in

Connecticut."

Faith also enjoys experiencing the art of others. She ponders the reason poets

and other artists need to express themselves.

"I don't know if it's because we have a sensitivity, and have to do something

with it," she said. "Or because we are involved in the arts and get more

intense about life."