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First things first: 27 year-old Kimberly Jane (KJ) Simms is straight. Yet she had all the dykes in the audience of her spoken word set at Ladyfest South on the edge of their seats as she recited her poem "Dancing Crooked" about a straight girl seductively dancing with another woman in a lesbian bar and loving every minute of it. Kimberly, a resident of Greenville, SC, is a veteran of the spoken word scene. In fact, she is a major resource for spoken word artists south of the Mason-Dixon Line as she keeps the region informed of events with her Wit's End email newsletter. Drop Kimberly a line at: witsendpoetry@yahoo.co.uk to get on the list.
Cheryl: Was this your first Ladyfest?
KJ: This was the first Ladyfest that I've attended. I had forgotten how fantastic it feels to read for an all woman audience. Karen G. [another artists who performed] mentioned that women are always apologizing on stage. In a mixed audience, I often feel like I have to apologize to the men in the audience for doing feminist pieces - or make a joke of it, "here's my obligatory feminist piece" - which is really stupid - particularly since 90% of what I write is very women oriented. Performing at Ladyfest was amazing! My stage energy totally fed on the huge waves of feminine energy that were vibing from the audience! I can't wait to attend my next Ladyfest!
Cheryl: How long have you been writing and performing your work?
KJ: I've been writing since I can remember. At eleven, I was writing skits for the neighborhood kids to perform. But I've been performing poetry since I was 18. At nineteen, I ran the Charleston Poetry Slam - which was the first slam in SC - a women from Denver had started it but then moved away - so it kind of fell in my lap.
Cheryl: Who are your influences?
KJ: Performance wise - Glenis Redmond has been a big influence - we were on the 1997 and 1998 Greenville Slam Teams together - and she really helped me hone my performance skills. Literary wise - I constantly read poetry - WB Yeats and Elizabeth Bishop were big favorites when I was in college - but presently I just try to read and see a lot of contemporary poetry.
Cheryl: How would you describe your writing?
How to describe my writingŠI always find that one of the hardest questions. Basically I write women's stories - whether I'm reinterpreting an old myth or exploring the women in the grocery store. I read across the South East and in London. I also run a venue in Greenville, SC - Wits End Spoken Word, which is the first Friday of every month, Upstairs at Dougal Maguire's Irish Pub.
Cheryl: Do you have a Web site where people can find out more about your work?
KJ: I will have a web site in January. But at the moment - email only: witsendpoetry@yahoo.co.uk. When I first moved back to South Carolina, I was really frustrated about how hard it can be to track down readings. Most aren't even listed in local papers - and with so many cities in the South East being so close together - I wanted to help facilitate the movement of poets across state lines and help build a community. The list grows more every month - presently only about 100 people receive it directly, but many of them forward it on to other poets they know. The hardest part is getting people to remember to send me information about local venues - if you know of any venues anywhere - please send me an e-mail!
Cheryl Coward http://cherylcoward.com is a Chicago-based freelance writer and novelist. Her work has been published in such publications as the Chicago Tribune, the Village Voice, Essence and Black Enterprise.
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