The Founding Poets – The High School / College Years

"How did it all start?" You may ask yourself. "When did it all begin?" In Brooklyn, NY—Bensonhurst to be exact. A group of high school friends (all writing poetry since before they knew each other) met, gathered, exposed their work, and realized that they didn't fit in anywhere. They wrote poetry, but they didn't belong on the stage of the Nuyorican Poets Café, shouting and performing (although they liked to shout, but not always when they read), and they didn't belong among the stuffy lecture halls of pseudo-intellectuals (even though they were whip smart). So what did they do? The only thing they could—create a space where eclectic poets could gather without judgment or hesitation and rant, rave, romance, philosophize, bitch, get their freak on, and whatever-the-hell else.

Two of the founding poets Jennifer Barone and Christine LaRubio first got into trouble by heading up their high school art literary magazine, much to the giant protest of the student body when they featured poems that dared to express opinions about sexuality, love, and religious differences. They soon began reading their poetry in coffee houses in New York City's Lower East Side, as well as neighborhood cafés in Brooklyn.

Christine and Jennifer parted academic ways for college, and Christine went on to study English at Brooklyn College, famous academic residence of Beat poet Allen Ginsberg. It was there that she met Steven Baker, Douglas Duncan and Ingrid Keir. Jennifer went on to study fine art and design at The School of Visual Arts in New York City where she met visual and performance artists as well as poets and musicians. The circle grew wider and the poets who started gathering were written up in a local newspaper for a reading at a café in Park Slope.

Down-low and Loud in the Apartment –
Nearing the end of the college years, Jennifer finally moved out of her parents house. In a desperate attempt to create a cheap place to party and be entertained constantly by her talented group of friends, she began to have poetry readings in her apartment. Soon they began to bring microphones, amplifiers, artwork, performance/installation pieces, guitars, stand-up bass, organs, wigs, beer, wine, chocolate fondue!! It got out of control. But after a few knocks on the door by neighbors and the local police, it was time to move to a real space.

Brokeland Poets and the Kerry Brown Trio at Via Della Pace, East Village NY –
One night, in 2002, while getting her palm read at Via Della Pace in the East Village, Jennifer met Kerry Brown, a tenor saxophonist who sat and spoke with her until the café closed. It was destiny. What began soon after was "Live Thursdays" over a year of a weekly poetry and jazz nights with the Kerry Brown Trio. The poets originally called themselves "Brokeland", a name founded by Steven Baker—a tongue-in-cheek way of paying homage to Brooklyn, where they came from, and their sad financial status as artists. The band turned it into a party till we ended up exhausted and finally we were kicked out of the place for being “too loud!” Can you believe it?

Raga, East Village NY — The WordParty
The poets lost their space and went a few months without an outlet. They became frustrated until Ingrid Keir found a new home for the poets at a restaurant named Raga in the East Village, NY. Although the jazz band was missing, the night took on a totally different vibe in the new space with Jennifer, Ingrid, and Christine hosting. The notorious Buzz Heavy, leant his microphone and ended the nights with raucous performance pieces always built to shock or confuse. Opening and closing musical acts included our favorite local band, Luck Be A Lady. The music at Raga was unpredictable, from poppy punk to classical Indian music, and even the first ever performance of Jennifer and Pasquale singing and playing acoustic guitar. Jennifer, Christine and Ingrid decided to give the group a new name to reflect the positive and exciting atmosphere the readings conveyed and they came up with the WordParty!

A New Home in San Francisco — WordParty Tuesdays
at Club Deluxe with the Nova Jazz Quartet
Early in 2005, Jennifer met Daniel Heffez and decided not to leave her heart in San Francisco and suddenly moved there to be together—he just so happened to also play a mean saxophone! After Jennifer’s continuous hinting to the possibility of creating an event together, the owner of Club Deluxe, a bar Daniel played regularly on the famous corner of Haight and Ashbury, offered Daniel a Tuesday night spot. They decided to finally co-mingle their passions into the Wordparty Tuesdays open mic for poetry and jazz. Ingrid soon after decided to return to her long-missed home of San Francisco and Jennifer was happy to have her partner-in-crime come back in time to inaugurate a new venue for the WordParty. Jennifer, Ingrid and Daniel went on to host the weekly reading and jam session with Daniel heading the vibrant and energetic group of jazz musicians named the Nova Jazz Quartet.

This was not your typical poetry reading, WordParty Tuesdays in SF grew so big and wild that it was recognized in an article on the front and back cover of the SF Chronicle’s Datebook section for its 1 Year anniversary in 2006. Since then the West coast WordParty event has been featured in the SF Weekly and various local papers. Jennifer and Ingrid went on to publish and perform as featured poets at local venues and events as well as branch out and organize performances beyond their weekly reading all over San Francisco, creating a name for the WordParty and their favorite local poets. Some of these events include, She Speaks – an all female local poetry showcase, Pablo Neruda’s Anniversary and Passion Food - a night of poetry + food at The Red Poppy Arthouse.

The WordParty continues to keep true to their roots and create a space where all the misfits of poetry, art and music come together to express themselves and where there is always, laughter, inspiration, and good friends to be found. Hope to see you there at our weekly events and beyond!

The Party Continues…

The Word Party.
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