A “cento” is a collage poem; its name in Roman means “stitched together,” like a quilt — each line of the poem is drawn from a different source. The word “cento” also resonates with the number one hundred, and many centos are a hundred lines long. So when the Frankfurt Buchmesse turned fifty, and your poetry guide Bob Holman was commissioned to write the occasional verse, voila! — a SemiCento. Just as the Book Fair spans the globe, so the poem gathers poets from all cultures and times to say Happy Birthday, What Is a Poem?
The SemiCento is the performative edge of a poetry media project, The World of Poetry, where Holman created a new kind of anthology of poetry texts and performances, filmed, digitized, broadcast and available over the Net. The poem was created collaboratively, and the writer wishes to thank the performers and research team for their creativity, the poets and translators for lending their words. The end result, the Millennium Poem (1,000 lines! the whole world’s poetry in a single poem!), was performed December 31, 1999.
Here is the poem, 50 lines from 50 different poets:
Here are the program credits for the first performance of the SemiCento, October 7, 1998, at the Frankfurt Buchmesse Festhalle, before an intimate dinner party for 4,000:
Performed by Dana Bryant, Regie Cabico, Bob Holman, Edwin Torres
Written and directed by Bob Holman
Designed by Edwin Torres
Lighting & Sound by Daniel Pistorius
Research by Christopher Connelly, Director, David Grand, Carley Moore, and the performers
Books by Biruta Auna, Purgatory Pie Press
Typography by Jackson West
The SemiCento is part of The World of Poetry, a Washington Square Films Production
Managed by Julie Dercle, Exbrook Entertainment
Bob Holman is your Poetry Guide.
Edwin Torres is a bilingual poet/artist/provacateur, rooted in the languages of both sight and sound. He’s toured around the world performing and giving workshops all over the alphabet. His books include I Hear Things People Haven’t Really Said and SandHomméNomadNo. His debut CD, Holy Kid, was released by Kill Rock Stars.
Dana Bryant grew up in Brooklyn, New York. She made her poetry debut in 1991; in 1995, she released her first book of poems, Song of the Siren (Boulevard Books/Putnam Berkeley) and the following year her debut solo album, Wishing From the Top on Warner Bros. Records. She has performed in Europe and Japan with artists such as Speech (of Arrested Development), Zap Mama, PM Dawn and Ronnie Jordan.
Regie Cabico is coeditor of Poetry Nation: A North American Anthology of Fusion Poetry (Vehicule Press, Montreal). His solo show, “the poet welcomes his male muse a cabaret poem in 1 act,” was presented at The Public Theater in New York City. He was a member of the Poetry Slam Team, Mouth Almighty, which won First Place at the 1997 National Slam.
