Literary Serial and Goethe-Institut will present in the course of 2007:
“Page with a Stage”, series of six text performances by some of the best-known authors of German contemporary literature live scene. The first event features:

This is Not a Concert
|Dies ist kein Konzert|

text performance by the German slam poet Bas Boettcher

About the author:
During the early 1990s Bas Boettcher was the first German speaking rapper to perform his lyrics as a new form of poetry and put them on stage in the context of literary events.
He developed a new form of poetry which is dynamic and rhythmic, as well as very direct and driven by the sound and melody of the language. At the same time his poetry shows sophistication, accurate choice of language and style, and highly developed linguistic skills.
Boettcher did not just introduce rap into the German poetry scene - he exposed the German speaking HipHop world to more lyrical elements with his first album 'Poesiealbum' (Indigo/OP23).
Bas Boettcher has gained reputation as an outstanding text poet. He has won numerous slam competitions and was crowned the "Poetry Slam King" at the 1st German National Poetry Slam competition in Berlin in 1997. He was also invited by the Goethe-Institute to give guest lectures on Rap-Poetry.
This rap-poet just doesn't write the kind of "Party, party all night long. Move your hands up in the air"-phrases. Bas was the first rapper in Germany to combine rap and poetry. He performed his lyrics at poetry slams and walked off with one prize after another. [i.e. at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe and at the ‚International Poetry Slam in Amsterdam'] In the meantime he has been lecturing about rap poetry at Goethe-Institutes around the world.

Many of his texts have been published in poetry anthologies. Just as a really good book can still surprise you on the third reading, you can always discover new thoughts and turns of phrases in Boettcher's texts. The Rap poetry of Bas Boettcher and his band Zentrifugal is closely connected to American Slam-Poetry.

About the genre:
The genres use distinct pictures, "drawn" with words. The first poetry slams took place in the late 1980s in American bars, cafes and clubs. One of them was the Nuyorican Poets Cafe in New York where young American poets organised literary competitions that they called "Slams".
At the beginning of the 1990s, first slam competitions were organised in Germany which soon developed a slam scene of its own. Poetry slams are far removed from literary readings. They represent a literary experiment with a high entertainment factor for the listeners as these also function as the jury.

Latest projects:
Tat oder Wahrheit is the title of the latest CD from Bas Boettcher. On this one he and DJ Loris Negro show that they won't be categorised. The sound on ,Tat oder Wahrheit' is different: smooth, relaxed and chilled out - very laid back. Poppy songs with hip-hop beats and elements from a wide range of musical styles. You can hear cool swing rhythms ("Das susse Leben") as well as Break-Beats ("Coolawinta") or Ragga-Muffin'-Parts ("Tat oder Wahrheit"). "Rap is a form of expression of the new generation. Some texts maybe just a collection of hackneyed phrases, but other rap lyrics do have high literary value."
By Lawrence Ferlinghetti (City Lights Press)



February 23 (Friday), 7.00 p.m.
Red hall
For more information: www.basboettcher.de
In German, with Bulgarian subtitles.
Free entrance




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