Hear Poets Recite with the Naked Voice!

　　詩人の肉聲を聴く！　ラウンドポエトリーリーデイング(巡回朗読会)
Hear Poets Recite Unamplified! A Circuit of Poetry Readings
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　天童　大人　Ｔｅｎｄｏ　Ｔａｉｊｉｎ
昨年の１０月１４日に第１回の｢ラウンドポエトリーリーデイング(巡回朗読会)｣が、日本のポエトリーリーデイングの先駆者、白石かずこさんに口火を鑽って貰い、銀座のギャラリーアートポイントから始まった。（１２月２１日迄。既に２５回終了）
今、何故、詩人自らの肉聲での自作詩朗読を行う必要が有るかと判断したか。
それは一昨年の１２月、イタリア文化会館で開催された｢日欧現代詩フェステバルin東京｣で、朗読した日本の詩人たちの｢聲｣の貧弱さに愕然としたからだ。熟達の白石かずこを除いて、なんとお粗末な｢聲ノ力｣なのだと！このままこれを見過ごしてしまったら日本の詩人の聲は世界で太刀打ちできなくなるだろう、と考えた。
幸い私は肉聲に拘り続けて四十年余り、豊富な国内外での経験を十全に活かせれば、詩人の聲の嵩上げに繋がるのではないかと考え、既知のストライプハウスギャラリーの塚原操女史と話し合い、微力ながらプロデュースをすることにした。
｢肉聲ノ復権｣をめざし、詩人、自らの肉聲で行う自作詩朗読を聴く会を、都心の心在る四つの懇意の画廊オーナー達の賛同を得て、ストライプハウスギャラリー(六本木)、ギャルリー東京ユマニテ(京橋)、ギャラリーアートポイント（銀座）、Star Poets Gallery(渋谷)、で開催し、巡回する事にしたのだ。また詩集販売専門店も閉店になり、何処で、詩集を売っているのか、買えるのか分からなくなった。そこで会場では、出版社の協力で朗読した詩書を販売して、参加された聴衆に詩集を確実に持って貰う事も併せ行う事を考えた。
またこの国の詩人の姿を画廊で見掛ける事は滅多に無いので画廊と言う場は詩人にとっても良い出会いの機会のはずだ。
入場料の二千五百円（音楽も、１ドリンクも無い）は、高すぎるとの批判もあった。
しかし、詩人の肉聲の朗読は貴重なもの。詩人自らによる表現を安い料金に設定することで｢詩人｣を、貶める事は避けたい。そういうものが欲しい人は自分達で新たに朗読会を立ち上げれば良いのだ。この｢ラウンドポエトリーリーデイング｣は詩人が肉聲と、詩とを鍛える場で在ると同時に聴衆も自らの好みの｢聲ノ力｣、｢聲ノ質｣、｢言葉ノ力｣等を生で聴き比べながら、捜せる自らの｢耳ノ力｣を鍛えていただく場でもあるのだ。詩人が地方や海外から東京を訪れる日時が三ヶ月以上前に分かれば、随時、この会に織り込んで行く。
何れ東京を、何時でも詩人の肉聲と詩とを聴ける詩心に満ちた大都会にしたい。何れ参加した詩人たちの詩や聲を、一編でも一人でも多く、参加した皆さんの力で、世界に送り出したいと願っている。
是非、詩人並びにこの読者の皆さんの協力、参加、喧伝をお願いし、肉聲の魅力を世界に広めて頂きたいと思う。

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　詩誌｢現代詩手帖｣２００７年１月号掲載より

Hear Poets Recite with the Naked Voice!
Circuit of Poetry Readings

Tendo Taijin

On October 14, 2006, the front runner in Japanese poetry reading, Kazuko Shiraishi, started off the first round of “A Circuit of Poetry Readings” at Gallery Art Point in Ginza. (It lasted until December 21, 2006, and finished after 25 sessions.)
I would like to explain a little about why I felt there was a need for poets to recite their own poems in their own naked voices, unaided by any kind of amplification.
It began in December 2005, at an event sponsored at the Italian Cultural Institute called “Festival of Contemporary Japanese and European Poetry in Tokyo,” where I was appalled at the poor, weak voices of the Japanese poets. Except for the accomplished reading of Kazuko Shiraishi, their voices were lacking any sense of power. It was then that I thought, “If I ignore this, then the voices of Japanese poets will be no match for those of other poets around the world.”
Fortunately, as I have been reading without any kind of amplification for over 40 years, I thought that if I completely made use of my own rich experience both at home and abroad, I might be able to help Japanese poets to improve their recitation skills. So I spoke with Ms. Misao Tsukahara of the well-known Striped House Gallery, and it came about that I would try to the best of my ability to produce this event.
Aiming for “the reinstatement of the naked voice,” and deciding to hold a series of readings in which both myself and other poets would recite their own works with the naked voice, unaided by amplification, I approached the owners of four centrally located galleries, with whom I was on friendly terms, and obtained their agreement, upon which I planned to hold a circuit of poetry readings that traveled among the Striped House Gallery (Roppongi), Galerie Tokyo Humanité (Kyobashi), Gallery Art Point (Ginza), and Star Poets Gallery (Shibuya). Also, as stores specializing in the sales of poetic anthologies had closed their doors, no one knew where such anthologies were being sold if at all and thus no one was able to buy them. This time, through the cooperation of several publishers, we were able to sell the anthologies from which the poets read right there at the readings, which was in conjunction with my thought that the participating audience could have those anthologies in hand.
It was also a good opportunity to re-acquaint the poets of Japan with galleries, where they were hardly even seen.
The entrance fee was set at \2,500 (approx. $20), which was criticized as being too high (especially as there was no music and not even one drink was included).
But recitations by poets of their own works in their own naked voice are very rare events, and I wanted to avoid insulting the poets by setting the fee too low for a performance in which they were making personal appearances. If some people wanted cheaper readings with music and drinks, then they could make arrangements for such events themselves. This “Circuit of Poetry Readings” was to be a forum in which poets could hone their voices and their art; at the same time, it also offered a venue in which participants could not only compare by listening to the naked voice the type of “vocal power,” “vocal quality,” and “power of words” they prefer, but could also hone their own “auditory power.” If I knew about three or four months ahead of time when the poets would come to Tokyo from the countryside or from abroad, then I could make the necessary schedules.
It was my desire to someday make Tokyo a metropolis filled with poetic spirit in which one could always listen to poets reciting their own poems with the naked voice. It was my fervent wish to someday present to the world the poems and voices of Japan’s poets, even one poem or one poet more, through the power of all the participants.
I earnestly request the cooperation of, the participation of, and the advertising of this event by the poets and by the readers, and it is my sincere hope that we might spread around the globe the fascination of the “naked voice.”

—From the January 2007 issue of Contemporary Poetic Notebook