Hello everyone,
I am still in Berlin and it is still raining. Today is the passing day of the poet, playwright and author Jean Genet. When I was young his work was banned in the United States but in the late sixties Grove Press was able to publish his novels. My favorite is The Thief’s Journal which traces his early youth as a vagrant poet in Spain.
The soundtrack is Wing, that I have posted before, but this is a live version from Tangiers. The film clip is from a small documentary entitled Three Stones for Jean Genet, shot by Frieder Schlaich in 2014. It shows my companions and I entering the old Spanish cemetery where he was buried. An account of this truly inspiring journey can be found in my book M Train.
Tonight I have two performances of new material with Soundwalk Collective. Outside my window a light fog is obscuring the walls of the cemetery. I am just sitting quietly preparing myself for the tasks ahead. I hope you enjoy the footage of the cemetery and will be drawn to read or reread the complicated, beautiful work of Genet
.
Thank you for your homage to this genius literary assassin.
Gloriously transcendent