| Visiting Queen From
The Planet of Slam Two months after the publication of 'Depending on the Light,' author Thea Hillman was on tour, bringing her to Cambridge June 26 By Gina Perille
Hillman is no stranger to life on the road. She performed as one half of the Hell on Heels National Poetry Tour in 1999. She has won numerous poetry and slam contests and is rumored to be most proud of her 1998 title of Tag-Team Haiku Champion from the Albuquerque Poetry Festival. When asked whether she has a favorite town so far on the "Depending on the Light" tour, Hillman laughed, "Last night in Denton, Texas, I performed at Mabel Peabody's Beauty Shoppe & Chainsaw Repair. The crowd was so freaky, so queer, and so appreciative. The audience was really focused. It was like a dream audience. For me a dream audience is an audience of freaks, people who really are excited about what we have to say and about us being ourselves onstage. My work is a mix of poetry, prose, erotica, and slam. The best is when people appreciate and are hungry for that mix." Judging from her reviews and the buzz that surrounds her, it appears that audiences and readers are quite hungry for Hillman. She has developed a following both as a writer and as a spoken word performer. "I used to think I was a writer," recalls Hillman, "but I didn't consider myself a performer. It's happened slowly. Slam poetry really helped. I had been performing my work for years and slam taught me that I had to take it seriously and that I really had to work at it. The more I care about my work, the more I think about the fact that I am a performer whether I like it or not. I always tell myself to work on that as much as I am working on the poetry itself. And, as I have done it over the years, the way people see me has shifted. They see me as a performer. I have taken that identity on, and I am not just reading my poetry anymore. And it does look different." Energy created "Depending on the Light" is published by Manic D Press in San Francisco. When Hillman first approached the small press, it was not accepting manuscripts. Hillman kept at it and six months after her initial contact with Manic D, she got her manuscript in. "You have to show small presses who you are as a person," Hillman says, "that you can create energy around yourself and the book. I had always had a strong feeling that Manic D Press was the right place. Many of my heroes have been published there." Hillman's book is divided into five sections, each of which is started off with a haiku. The contents of the sections range from erotic poems to letters to short narratives, many with driving rhythms, all with urban turns of phrase. When Hillman performs, the rhythms and phrases become tools. "My focus is on connecting with the audience," says Hillman, "and the goal is to make the poem sound in the air the way it sounds in my head. I try to make it a conversation that sounds like it is happening in that moment rather than sound like a staged performance." And what's next for Hillman after her 7,000-mile tour? "There is a new book that I am working on," says Hillman. "It's about coming out to yourself, to family, and to the world in terms of being queer, sex positive, and being intersex. I am going to commit to writing when I get back from this tour." Thea Hillman will read from "Depending on the Light" on Tuesday, June 26 at 7 pm at New Words bookstore. Elizabeth Stark and Letta Neely will also be performing. New Words is located at 186 Hampshire Street in Cambridge. |
