| Many Voices | SOULSPEAK / Sarasota Poetry Theatre | ||||||
| Books | Recordings | Videos | Write a Poem | Contests | Therapeutic SOULSPEAK | Contact Information | |
Elementary SOULSPEAK Programs
This program consists of a text and hands-on training at your location or at our headquarters in Sarasota Florida
Training:
We train you in Elementary SOULSPEAK so that you are self sufficient, which takes 3 hours. If we come to your location, we stay with you and assist you getting started (with your group or class) for as many sessions as you need. Normally this is 4 sessions.
Here are some sample chapters from the Elementary SOULSPEAK text book. The text sells for $25 and an accompanying karaoke tape of SOULSPEAK Music sells for $15.
These texts are not designed as stand alone but are generally a part of an Elementary SOULSPEAK program. We'd like to speak to you about their use if you wish to use them otherwise.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1.1 General 1
1.3 SOULSPEAK as an Art Form 5
2.0 ELEMENTARY SOULSPEAK, WHAT IS IT?
2.1 General 7
2.2 SOMETIMES IN MY DREAMS Poems 8
2.3 I AM Poems 11
3.0 GENERAL USE SEED WORDS
3.1 SOMETIMES IN MY DREAMS Poems- Seed Words 13
3.2 I AM Poems-Seed Words 14
4.0 EXAMPLES OF ELEMENTARY SOULSPEAK POEMS 15
4.1 SOMETIMES IN MY DREAMS Poems-Group 1 16
5.0 HOW TO CONDUCT AN ELEMENTARY SOULSPEAK CLASS
5.1 Suggestions for Instructor 25
5.3 Rules for Sessions 28
7.0 EVALUATING THE EFFECTS OF ELEMENTARY
SOULSPEAK 34
8.0 USING MORE ADVANCED FORMS OF SOULSPEAK
8.21 Great Poets SOULSPEAK 37
8.22 SOULMASK/SOULART/SOULVIDEO:
Visual Catalysts 37
9.0 APPENDIX 41
9.1 Specialized Seed Words for Therapists 42
9.4 Who We Are, How to Contact Us 49
1.0 INTRODUCTION TO SOULSPEAK
1.1 General
SOULSPEAK is a simplified version of an ancient form of oral poetry. SOULSPEAK allows anyone to express their emotions in a beautiful, healing and human way. It can be learned almost instantaneously.
This ancient poetry was used by our earliest ancestors, long before we learned to read and write. Sometimes called tribal poetry, it consisted of a simple story or refrain spontaneously chanted out to rhythmic music in antiphonal (speaker/ responder) fashion by the members of a tribe. It was created while the tribe moved in unison to rhythmic music. All early cultures used some form of it.
It is also a form of poetry that used all many of the separate art forms we know today (music, dance, costume, mask, storytelling, song). It is a very potent form of poetry. Most importantly, it is a form of poetry that is in our genes, much as our ability to gossip and joke are. It sounds complicated, but we already know how to do it. It simply has to be reawakened.
SOULSPEAK is especially easy to reawaken. For one thing, it only uses two aspects of tribal poetry: narrative speaking and music. In addition, only two people participate at any one time. Using SOULSPEAK techniques, they spontaneously create a story in speaker/ responder fashion to slow, rhythmic music.
Here is a transcribed example of such a spontaneous poem (less the music):
Sometimes in my dreams,
Sometimes
I see my mother.
She is looking back at me .
She has been dead now for almost 15 years.
Sometimes I forget.
She is beautiful.
She looks so young.
She is holding a basket.
I can see it.
The basket is full of secrets.
They are all colors.
Beautiful secrets, she says to me.
Her secrets.
They look like flowers .
Like roses in a window.
From far, far away
They are my secrets too.
From far, far away
From far, far away.
1.3 SOULSPEAK as an Art Form
Sometimes I explain SOULSPEAK by saying poetry, in its most essential form, is an ordinary human activity, and that SOULSPEAK is a technique that allows the poet in us to emerge for thirty seconds or so (which is the average length of SOULSPEAK poems). By that I mean the participants experience the poem as something that seems seem to form itself, of its own accord, from some deep mysterious place within them.
What SOULSPEAK allows them to experience (often for the first time) is the wisdom and power and beauty of the deeper self. To put it another way, they begin to sense that there is something more than the conscious self, that there is also a deeper, more mysterious self.
That realization is a critical one for any human being. Some people understand it at a very early age, while for others it can take a lifetime. But when we come to that realization, we begin to understand that the deeper self can be a powerful ally if we are attentive to it.
You might say that SOULSPEAK uses poetry the way Outward Bound uses mountain climbing: to make us aware of our true potential as human beings.
2.0 ELEMENTARY SOULSPEAK, WHAT IS IT?
2.1 General
Elementary SOULSPEAK is a highly simplified version of SOULSPEAK and makes very few demands for any type of specialized environment.
It is:
written rather than spontaneously spoken
is generally single-voiced
uses no recording equipment.
there are no restrictions on group size or room type
In this sense it is very much like the poetry we know today. It can be taught in almost any group or one on one situation
Elementary SOULSPEAK is not as powerful as SOULSPEAK (or Therapeutic SOULSPEAK) but unless you are dealing with a very difficult population, it is powerful enough, and simple enough, to easily yield positive results quite quickly.
The chapters that follow describe Elementary SOULSPEAK, and how it can be used in institutional and educational programs to help people of all ages express their deeper emotions.
Elementary SOULSPEAK poems can take two forms:
1) Story-telling poems called Sometimes in my Dreams Poems.
2) Refrain poems called I Am Poems.
Both of these forms use seed words as catalysts. The function of the seed words is to help guide the participant's interest and imagination. There are different kinds of seed words depending on the form of poem being used:
The following sections explain each form and how the seed words are derived for each.
2.2 SOMETIMES IN MY DREAMS Poems
The seed words for Sometimes in My Dreams Poems can be taken from the Appendix or they can be independently derived by using the Seven Categories Rule on the next page.
Here is a poem created with the seed words: brother, cold, sun, happy, arms, snow, regret.
Sometimes in my dreams,
I am happy.
There is snow outside
but I am not cold.
I am with my brother.
We both have our regrets,
We have grown old together with them.
We wear them like great wooly coats.
Sometimes, when we put our arms
around each other,
we can feel the sun
rising up between us
Here are the rules for creating Sometimes in My Dreams Poems using the seed words:
Look at the seed words. Let your eyes wander over them until you notice yourself looking at one of them more often than the others. Don't be self conscious about it, just do it. If one of them isn't sticking out slightly, look away quickly, then look back. Do it several times. The word your eyes keep going back to is the one with the most power. Forget about the others.
Don't get serious. You should be light-hearted, happy-go-lucky just like a daredevil. Just keep your eyes on the power word, because you're going to have a good time with it-the time of your life, if you want to know the truth.
Start out writing with the words Sometimes in my dreams, I . . . , and then connect "I" to the power word. Don't worry how, or what words you are going to use. Your imagination will take care of all that. Don't think. Just allow your imagination say what it wants.
Then, when you pause (because you don't know where to go), let your eyes jump immediately to another seed word in the list and use a new word to advance the story.
When you pause again, let your eyes jump to another word and keep going until you've used up all the words or the story simply stops. Either way, you'll know when the poem is finished because you'll feel the poem simply stop inside you.
2.3 I AM Poems
The seed words for I Am Poems can be obtained from the Appendix or they can be derived by randomly naming seven things, not ideas or emotions. Let your imagination float and the words will appear to you. Here's an example of a seed word list and the resultant I Am Poem.
truck I am a truck that is out of control.
seed I am a seed that won't grow.
star I am a star falling from heaven
brother I am a brother to everyone but myself..
dragon I am a dragon eating in a Chinese restaurant.
fire I am a fire in your mind.
moon I am a moon hurtling through space.
There is only one rule for using the seed words in the I Am Poems, and that is the form of the poem must always be as follows: I am a/the (seed word) that does something.
Although Elementary SOULSPEAK is very close to the poetry we know today, there are important differences.
Elementary SOULSPEAK only works effectively if the participants write in a stream of consciousness that imitates how they would tell an intimate story to a close friend. That openness has to be present or the poem will suffer. Being open and relaxed allows the poet within us to take over and suggest narrative phrases to the conscious mind.
Secondly, and very important, forget everything you know about poetry: no rhymes, no line breaks, no fancy poetic inversions, no thinking. Write quickly, exactly as you would speak.
If you are interested in also teaching the participants the mechanics of poetic notation, you can do this once the poems have been written out in stream of consciousness. At that point, you can introduce the ideas of line break, stanza break and meter as the ways poets format their poems so that the reader will have some idea of the rhythm of the original.
If this seems a little strange to you, you should be aware that the very first drafts of poems, even by masters, are very similar (in their looseness) to the stream of consciousness Elementary SOULSPEAK produces. After all, poets go through essentially the same process that SOULSPEAK induces.
SOULSPEAK creates true poems, poems in which the logical meaning of the sentences (and indeed the entire poem) may sometimes be difficult to explain logically, just as dreams are sometimes difficult to explain. This is because true poems convey an emotional truth not a logical truth. What is important is that creating the poem makes you feel something, something that is often beyond words and that fills you with light. You should be aware of this, especially since some participants may be puzzled by the fact that sometimes their poem seem to make no logical sense.
This is another reason for the instructor to look at each poem. You should tell such a puzzled participant that the poem has done its job, that poetry is meant to convey feelings, not logical meaning-that the poem is simply a vehicle for carrying a ball of light. Ask them to try and feel that. This type of encouragement is crucial, especially for participants who are controlling or who have never experienced the peculiar beauty of poetry. Once reassured of what they suspect is true anyway, they will fly.
3.0 GENERAL USE SEED WORDS
3.1 SOMETIMES IN MY DREAMS Poems-Seed Words
| SET 1 | SET 2 | SET 3 | SET 4 | SET 5 | SET 6 |
| mother | father | friend | stranger | ghost | grandmother |
| mountain | river | field | street | mirror | friend |
| love | love | love | respect | quick | eyes |
| lonely | ashamed | jealous | eyes | sad | love |
| window | hard | eyes | mistrust | listen | disturb |
| arms | heart | secret | heart | cellar | room |
| blue | touch | tree | yellow | peaceful | night |
3.2 I AM Poems-Seed Words
| SET 1 | SET 2 | SET 3 | SET 4 | SET 5 | SET 6 |
| truck | plane | forest | comet | brother | star |
| dog | fish | cave | runner | friend | king |
| house | door | attic | window | wall | hut |
| fire | storm | bomb | river | lake | path |
| tree | eagle | rainbow | bear | snake | whale |
| arm | face | heart | hand | eye | foot |
| soldier | pilot | poet | teacher | leader | ghost |
4.0 EXAMPLES OF ELEMENTARY SOULSPEAK POEMS
These examples of Elementary SOULSPEAK poems have been taken from the thousands of poems created over the years in various SOULSPEAK programs. The ages of the participants ranges from 8 to 66 years of age; few of the them had ever created poems before. As you will see, it is often difficult to determine the age of the writer, as all participants are creating the poems by tapping into the unconscious, or deeper self, a part of us that is essentially ageless.
Many different participants created the Sometimes in my Dreams Poems that follow. Some were in therapeutic programs.
The I Am Poems were created by participants of all ages in many different SOULSPEAK programs. All of the poems are printed as submitted by the participants. No corrections were made except for obvious typographical and punctuation errors.
Because these poems were created by the SOULSPEAK technique of simulating speech, speaking them out loud when you read them often makes them more understandable, more real.
4.1 SOMETIMES IN MY DREAMS Poems-Group 1
Sometimes in my dreams,
my head is hurt,
is hurt so badly
and my mother can look through the window
from her garden and see
that something's not right.
So she came in and said,
"What's going on?"
and she said, "I love you,"
and gave me a big hug and kiss
and then it was like the sun was shining in
through the window on both of us.
Sometimes in my dreams there is a window.
Through the window I see a car. The keys to that car are next to me.
I am so happy that I take the car for a ride.
I crash into a mountain. My heart stops. I am hopeless. I am mad.
Sometimes in my dreams I see my Grandma.
She is standing by a door. She seems so happy.
I get mad at my Grandma sometimes. Yet, I still love her. Sometimes I
see her by a tree, and she is thinking about something.
Yet, she won't tell me.
Sometimes in my dreams,
I went to a park. I saw people who were angry. I don't
know why, but one of them hit me. This made me
angry so I decided to take a walk. I went to a part of the
park no one went to. I saw an old bridge. I went across
to find a cave. Once I got over the bridge, sunlight
was drowned out. It became very dark, many clouds.
I went in and to my surprise there was a lot of love.
And I stayed there for awhile. I was happy.
Sometimes in my dreams
I see a door open.
My father is standing there.
He reaches out to touch me but I run.
I'm unwilling to let him touch me.
I follow the river and find a mirror.
I look into it and see loneliness.
Never will anyone touch me again.
Sometimes in my dreams
I see this window
this window with a little girl
a little girl in yellow
as I open my arms
my daughter comes running.
I feel love, and then I feel hate
I feel like a weeping tree
Sometimes in my dreams
I am orange up on the roof.
Depressed about all the sand in my head.
My brother put it there,
He said he loves me.
Too much sand in my sandy head.
5.0 HOW TO CONDUCT AN ELEMENTARY SOULSPEAK CLASS
5.1 Suggestions for Instructor
Despite the fact that SOULSPEAK has an immense therapeutic and educational value, you must remember it is art. If it is approached as therapy, or an educational lesson, it won't work as well as it should.
What makes SOULSPEAK work is the mysterious fact that this art form is somewhere deep within all of us, and like all art it has to be ignited by the imagination.
Tell the participants they are going to be shown a very human, very old, very special form of poetry called SOULSPEAK that can be done by anyone. That it will allow them to create something beautiful and true from the deepest part of their being.
For the very first session, that is all you want to tell them, because the major teaching lesson is going to be your own creation and speaking out of three poems. That is all anyone generally needs to understand how to make SOULSPEAK poems. They'll infer the rules simply by listening to you.
Before asking the participants to do anything, the instructor should create at least three poems from three different sets of seed words. The sets should be posted on a board where the participants can see them.
Speak your poems out loud to the participants. This is an absolute necessity. If time is a consideration, the poems can be written ahead of time. Unless time is really critical, try to create your SOULSPEAK poems right there in the session (rather than the night before). SOULSPEAK poems only take a few minutes to write. Not only will the participants see you taking the lead, they will be intrigued trying to figure out exactly what you're doing. When you go to speak them, you will still be feeling the intensity and freshness of your poems and so will those who hear them.
Your speaking of the poems is crucial. The participants will be instructed in how to create a SOULSPEAK poem simply by watching the seed words and hearing your poem. Hearing your poems will reawaken the form within the participants: they will suddenly understand how it is done without any formal instruction.
Hearing you speak out your poems is essential because they will pick up your pacing, your breathing, your sound, your emotions, your courage, your honesty, your sense of the beautiful, as well as the inherent narrative structure of SOULSPEAK poems.
If you skip this step, you may as well skip SOULSPEAK. The example of the instructor speaking out poems is everything to reawakening this poetry within the participants-everything.
will eventually find out the speaking out of such poems will instantaneously awaken SOULSPEAK in every fiber in the participants' bodies. It will encourage them to do the same. They will thank you with more than words.
Poetry is the kind of gift we are all waiting for but seldom receive. If you lead the way others will follow. Once that happens you will understand what SOULSPEAK is all about. To go into a room filled with anxiety and loneliness and watch SOULSPEAK slowly fill it with truth and beauty and humanity is to understand what poetry is all about.
5.3 Rules for Sessions
Here are the rules for participation in SOULSPEAK sessions:
The sessions for any one set of participants should last approximately 45-60 minutes. The sessions should be held on consecutive days if possible. The recommended number of sessions is four to seven
The seed words presented by the instructor must be used by everyone (including the instructor). Three sets of seed words must be posted. Participants can choose anyone of the sets. They must create at least one poem from that set. No intermixing of words between sets is permitted.
Only SOULSPEAK poems are permitted. No others. This is very important.
The Golden Rule has to be openly accepted by all participants prior to the group starting. If any participant is ridiculed or embarrassed in anyway because of a poem, the offenders are to be permanently and immediately removed the group. One strike you're out is the rule, and all participants should be made aware of it. I give no second chances and neither should you.
While poems are being written, silence must be observed, especially by those who finish early. Ask earlier finishers to use another set of words to create a second poem.
Everyone must try to create a poem. Don't forget, SOULSPEAK poems literally create themselves. All you have to do is relax and let the seed words work on your imagination. Those who say they can't or don't know how are really saying they're afraid of losing control, of exposing themselves. Let them quietly sit through a few sessions. The examples of others will almost always relax them and they'll be able to proceed.
No one is required to speak their poem out loud.
No one is required to share their poem with other participants.
Everyone is required to show the instructor their poems.
Psychologists have reported over and over, much to their amazement, that emotions brought up in SOULSPEAK sessions, no matter how deep, require little or no post-processing. SOULSPEAK, in other words, is self-healing, self-resolving. Therapists interested in learning more about this phenomenon should contact us.
7.0 EVALUATING THE EFFECTS OF ELEMENTARY SOULSPEAK
We use these forms like these to measure our success. The following form can be reproduced and used by instructors who would like hard, statistical back-up for the effects of SOULSPEAK. The first form is to be filled out by participants before any SOULSPEAK sessions start and the other at the end of all sessions with a particular group or individual.
Name _______________________________ Date _____________________________
School or organization ___________________________________________________
TO BE COMPLETED AT THE BEGINNING OF THE PROGRAM
CIRCLE YOUR ANSWER TO EACH QUESTION
1. Have you ever wanted to make a poem? Yes No Unsure
2. Do you think you can make a poem now? Yes No Unsure
3. Do you think you can make a poem by speaking Yes No Unsure
it instead of writing it?
4. Do you think poems are stupid? Yes No Unsure
5. Do you think poems can help you say things Yes No Unsure
about your life you couldn't say any other way?
TO BE COMPLETED AT YOUR LAST SESSION
CIRCLE YOUR ANSWER TO EACH QUESTION
1. Were you surprised by the Soulspeak poems? Yes No Unsure
2. Was making Soulspeak poetry a good experience? Yes No Unsure
3. Do you think Soulspeak poems can help someone Yes No Unsure
say something about their life they couldn't say any
other way?
4. Do you think making Soulspeak poetry might be a Yes No Unsure
way to learn something about yourself?
5. Do you think working with a partner (backup) made Yes No Unsure
the poems more interesting?
8.0 USING MORE ADVANCED FORMS OF SOULSPEAK
If you wish to learn more advanced versions of SOULSPEAK, contact us.
These special versions work in the same way as Elementary SOULSPEAK except they derive their seed words in a different manner.
8.21 GREAT POETS SOULSPEAK
There is a specialized way of developing seed words that revolves around a version of SOULSPEAK for children called Great Poets SOULSPEAK. It works well with middle and elementary school students. The idea is to bring every child in the class immediately into the world of poetry, and that means every child and immediately.
This is done using the SOULSPEAK process along with seed words taken from a great poem. The poems of Robert Frost are an excellent source because they are simple in vocabulary, narrative in form, and, although they are truly great poems, they can be understood on some level at almost any age. Generally, the children write their speakings (in stream of consciousness form) because the objective is to use the SOULSPEAK process to bring them into the great world of written poetry.
After the children have created their SOULSPEAK poems, they are shown the Frost poem from which the seed words were taken. It brings them into the big leagues immediately. They know how to ride the bike. Maybe they don't know how it works, what the brakes are for, or the gear changer, but they know how to ride. When the children are shown the Frost poem they see what he did with the same words, or the feelings represented by the seed words. You can see the intensity on their faces as they read the Frost poem.
The children learn more about great poetry in those few moments than they could ever learn by more didactic methods. The Frost poem is then used to illustrate the mechanics of written poetry, i.e. the rules for line break, stanza break, and so on. The children rewrite their written, stream of consciousness speakings to conform to these rules. What makes the process so powerful is that the poems created by the SOULSPEAK process are not trivial poems. Frost would be proud of them, and the kids know it-their bodies know it.
8.22 SOULMASK/SOULART/SOULVIDEO: VISUAL CATALYSTS
At the current time, three forms of visual catalysts are
used in the SOULSPEAK process: masks, paintings, and videos. The masks and
paintings are used to create a set of seed words through a specialized extraction
technique. These seed words are then used to create a speaking related to
the mask or painting. In the video technique, the speaking is created
SOULMASK
A potential speaker creates a mask (or chooses a picture of an actual primitive mask). The speaker then asks the following questions of the mask and writes down the answers:
What time of day is this mask worn?
What color in the mask is most appealing?
Who does this mask remind you of, besides yourself?
What is the main emotion the mask is feeling?
What is the opposite of that emotion?
Where is this mask worn?
What animal does the mask remind you of?
You will wind up with a good set of seven seed words similar in composition to the Seven Categories Rule. You then create a spontaneous speaking, not as yourself, but as the persona of the mask--speaking as the mask would. This process is called: SOULMASK. There is an imaginative freedom resulting from the speaker becoming the mask. We have seen sixth grade children create poetry of such a complex texture you would swear adults created it.
SOULART
Use a painting or a photograph created or chosen by the speaker. The painting or picture should be narrative and not abstract in any way. If the speaker has created the picture, quality is not important. Otherwise, the painting or picture should be a masterpiece. This process is called: SOULART. The questions asked are as follows:
Which color is the most appealing to you?
What emotion is the main figure feeling?
What is the opposite of that emotion?
Who (member of your family--including yourself) does the main figure remind you of?
What time of day is the painting taking place?
What thing or object in the painting is the most appealing to you?
Where is this painting taking place?
When you have a good set of seven seed words, create the speaking in the persona of the main figure.
SOULVIDEO
The following technique is best used with a narrative painting or collage that is extremely dense in imagery. If the artist who made the visual is available, ask them to create a video of it at extremely close range so as to reveal only one or two elements at a time as the camera travels slowly through the work. Otherwise, do it yourself. How the camera travels through the work is up to the cameraman, but the idea is to create a new work of art, one that reveals itself in a river of time. When the video is finished, play it back and create a speaking using the images as "seed words." This process is called: SOULVIDEO.
9.0 APPENDIX
9.1 SOULSPEAK Instructional Series
The SOULSPEAK instructional series was initially created to instruct teachers and therapists and parents in the SOULSPEAK process, so that they, in turn, could use SOULSPEAK to help their at-risk their children express their fears, conflicts and desires.
Because the series was shown to the general public over a countywide educational network, we found that in addition to teachers and therapists, the general public of all ages, including children, soon became fans of the series and reported it taught them a way of expressing their emotions they never knew existed. This is not surprising, because SOULSPEAK, in reality, can be used not only by at-risk children but also by anyone who has an interest in expressing themselves from a deep emotional level.
SOULSPEAK accomplishes this through a contemporary adaptation of oral, antiphonal poetry, sometimes called communal, or tribal poetry, a poetry that can be learned almost instantaneously by anyone regardless of emotional or intellectual background. It is the poetry that was used when everyone, not just a few, practiced poetry daily. In some very real sense it is in our DNA much as gossip or joke telling is. It simply has to be awakened by example, which is what this series basically is: examples, and explanations of the examples.
The complete 3-hour video series will be sent to you for $90, including shipping and handling. Individual tapes may be ordered for $30. See How to Contact Us in Section 9.4.
9.4 Who We Are, How to Contact Us
SOULSPEAK/Sarasota Poetry Theatre, Inc. is a non-profit corporation founded in 1992 to encourage poetry in all its forms; to promote poetry in collaboration with the other arts; to foster education programs and preserve the art form; to increase public awareness of poetry and make it more accessible to the community. SOULSPEAK makes poetry available to the young, the elderly, minorities, at-risk populations, and the general public. We do this through SOULSPEAK performance/workshops at schools, colleges, festivals, rehabilitations facilities, and libraries.
In addition, organization has an extensive youth program and has developed a revolutionary version of communal oral/musical poetry for working with at-risk children and adults called Therapeutic SOULSPEAK.
SOULSPEAK also conducts national and local poetry competitions and houses a library of over 500 volumes. The Sarasota Poetry Theatre Press, established in 1994, is rapidly becoming a major publisher of poetry chapbooks..
Web visitors can find out more about the organization through our WEB page and can download books, articles and recordings free of charge.
All gifts and donations to SOULSPEAK/Sarasota Poetry Theater are tax deductible.
SOULSPEAK/Sarasota Poetry Theatre, Inc., a non-profit organization
P.O. Box 48955, Sarasota, Florida 34230
Phone: (941) 366-6468
Fax: (941) 954-2208
www.soulspeak.org
E-Mail: soulspeak1@comcast.net
The activities of SOULSPEAK/Sarasota Poetry Theatre have been partially funded by individual donations and grants from: Bank of America Client Foundation; Bates Foundation; Beattie Foundation; Community Foundation of Sarasota County; Community Youth Development (CYD); Kates Foundation; Knight Foundation; State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs, and Florida Arts Council; Florida Department of Juvenile Justice; Sarasota County Foundation; Selby Foundation; Tourist Development Tax through the Board of County Commissioners, the Tourist Development Council, and Sarasota County Arts Council; Venice Foundation; and theWoman's Exchange
RESUMES
Justin Spring
Justin Spring resides in Sarasota Florida. His poems have been published in such distinguished periodicals as American Poetry Review, Passages North and Organica as well as numerous anthologies such as Florida in Poetry. He is the recipient of many prizes and honors including the 1997 State of Florida Individual Artist Fellowship, and is the author of four collections of poems, Polaroid Poems, published in 1995 by White Eagle Coffee Store Press, and Other Dancers, published in 1991 by March Street Press, and Talkies and Nursery Raps, published 1n 2002. Mr. Spring's oral poetry can be found on the following MANY VOICES/SOULSPEAK STUDIO recordings: GATHERING (1997), SMOKE (1998), NURSERY RAPS (1998), SPEAKINGS (1999), IN YOUR MIND (2001). Mr. Spring is the Artistic Director and founder of SOULSPEAK/Sarasota Poetry Theatre, a nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing poetry back into the lives of everyday people. Mr. Spring is the originator, along with Scylla Liscombe, of SOULSPEAK, a contemporary version of ancient oral, antiphonal poetry.
He has also developed Therapeutic SOULSPEAK, a specialized version of SOULSPEAK that is used extensively in programs for at-risk children and adults in therapy. Over 30 schools and institutions and over 2500 children and adults have participated in these programs since 1995. The program has been hailed by teachers and therapists as an innovative, healing technique for deep emotional expression that can be used by anyone.
Mr. Spring is the author of SOULSPEAK: The Outward Journey of the Soul, published by Sarasota Poetry Theatre Press, March 2002. This Book/CD is intended for a general audience and gives the background and history of SOULSPEAK as well as techniques for creating this contemporary version of ancient tribal poetry. Mr. Spring was educated at Columbia College.
Scylla Liscombe
Scylla Liscombe resides in Sarasota Florida. She is an artist, poet and dancer, and recipient of the Sirius Award for Oral Poetry. Her poems can be found on the following MANY VOICES/SOULSPEAK STUDIO recordings: GATHERING (1997), SMOKE (1998), SPEAKINGS (1999), and IN YOUR MIND (2001).
Ms. Liscombe is the Production Director of SOULSPEAK/Sarasota Poetry Theatre, a nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing poetry back into the lives of everyday people. She is the originator, along with Justin Spring, of SOULSPEAK, a contemporary version of ancient oral, antiphonal poetry. She is also editor of the Sarasota Poetry Theatre Press, which has published over 35 poetry chapbooks resulting from Therapeutic SOULSPEAK programs and four national poetry competitions.
Ms. Liscombe has also participated in over 30 Therapeutic SOULSPEAK programs, a specialized version of SOULSPEAK that is used extensively in programs for at-risk children and adults in therapy. She was educated at Radford University.