Poetry Nights

by Poppy Beale-Collins

April 3, 2011

Location

Granja de Gavà

37 Joaquín Costa, Barcelona, Catalonia

Event Info

Date & Time Apr 6, 2011 9:30 PM - 11:00 PM

A cowboy bursts through the wooden doors, all fired up, saloon-style, but instead of toting a gun and waging war on fellow Joaquín Costa street regulars, he is reciting poetry, and in his holster: a bottle of beer. This is how it all kicks off one Wednesday night at Granja de Gavà’s monthly open-mic poetry night. But appearances can be deceiving. Turns out the “cowboy” is not some Raval eccentric who took a wrong turn but, despite the outfit, is running the show, and holds court as person after person stands up and delivers some surprisingly punchy verse – new, old, borrowed and very off-the-cuff. The most striking thing about the night though (and there are a few) is the mix of people whose collective listening, cheering, clapping and exclamations of “molt bé” make for an anarchistic and spirited gathering of different ages and tongues.

One American man half-raps in English-peppered Spanish about the perils of chatting up women as a foreigner and as his finishing line “at least I’ll always have my dictionary” is met with a loud, cheering approval, it becomes clear what is so striking about the poetry nights: though the main language is Spanish, many others (even Norwegian) were blended into the mix, and nobody batted an eyelid. Despite the slightly livewire air of dissent, there was a hearty and warm acceptance of the hybrid, bi-lingual, multi-national identity of the city. According to the organizers, “Anyone has the right to read whenever they want.” Every night has an inspiring theme; April’s is “Mírame… ojos que ven, corazón que siente” (“Look at me… eyes that see, heart that feels”).

This former lechería (milk shop) has a literary heritage of its own, and I think that Terenci Moix – the openly gay Catalan writer famous for his criticism of Franco and who was born within the very walls of Granja de Gavà – would have approved.

April 6 at 9:30pm

Granja de Gavà. C/ Joaquín Costa, 37 (Raval).

Tag Topics: Poppy Beale-Collins