Waxing Poetic: Reykjavík Poetics provides space for art, experimentation

Internationally infamous for its saturation of writers and authors, Reykjavík was designated a “UNESCO City of Literature” or “Bókmenntaborg” some 13 years ago. This honorific gains tangibility in its sponsorship of myriad literarily-skewed projects — one of which is Reykjavík Poetics. Founded in June 2023, Reykjavík Poetics occupies Mengi twice monthly with events for the local poetry scene.

Founder Ewa Marcinek is well established in said scene, with celebrated works like Polishing Iceland to her name and having curated Writers Adrift, a collection of essays by foreign-born writers in Iceland. When Reykjavík Poetics was conceived, it began as a curated night of work revolving around a specific theme and it was immediately well received.

“It’s always such a surprise how many people will come,” Ewa admits. “And I had this problem that we were not putting enough chairs, just humble you know, because who will come to poetry? It’s not like we are having a rock concert. And then there is a crowd!”

As more and more writers began knocking on the door, they conceptualised adding an open mic portion to the series. Writer Kjartan Már Ómarsson — the “godfather” of Poetics, as Ewa describes him — suggested shifting the events from once a month to bimonthly happenings, Ewa realised she couldn’t keep doing it alone. In May, Ewa added producers Francesca Cricelli, Martyna Daniel and Christopher Marcatili, and host Gabe Dunsmith to the board of Reykjavík Poetics.

Celebrating their one-year anniversary in June with the curated event “Til Hamingju!,” Reykjavík Poetics has so far hosted 14 curated Poetics events and four in their open mic series at Mengi, as well as two Writer’s O’Clocks events at Hafnar.haus, where writers can engage in stripped-down, no-mic conversations with anyone who attends. As that milestone came around, Ewa and co. tabulated that over 100 artists had performed at Reykavík Poetics events to date.

Not just poets

But don’t let the moniker mislead you, Reykjavík Poetics isn’t limited to poetry — they’ve showcased everything from screenplays and non-fiction to music and stand-up. “It’s a space for experiments,” as Ewa puts it. “Why just not go crazy and do fun things and surprising things and experiment!”

The themed nights are sometimes curated by a board member or someone outside the core team. They’ve held nights centred around glaciers, working in tandem with the Snæfellsjökull for President campaign, a neurodiverse literary event curated by Kathy D’Arcy, and a night for rants curated by board member Martyna and Grayson Del Faro. They’re keen to emphasise that they’re open to curation pitches. As Ewa explains: “it’s very different to come and read your poetry as an artist on stage, versus putting yourself in a role of curator, composing the program and presenting what you like and who you know.”

Everyone is welcome here

“I think we fill the gap,” Ewa notes about what Reykjavík Poetics adds to the local terrain, “because with the local literary scene you often see the same names and you have to have a certain level of accomplishment to be part to be invited. People who are maybe not the biggest names don’t find the space to also present their words.” There’s no expectation to present published work at these events; they heartily welcome those who might struggle to label themselves as writers or artists.

“I think I would probably not be writing if it wasn’t for this series” Martyna shares. When Poetics was started, Ewa suggested Martyna try to work on a piece to present. The response to her writing was phenomenal. “I remember I had shivers,” Martyna recalls. “I was like, ‘oh my god, I have to write more.’”

“I feel safe enough to read something that is not perfect, which is important. But I do want to, you know, give my best.”

Ewa chimes in to talk about seeing Martyna read, explaining that, “People were laughing so hard that it was hard to sometimes hear you, because people are laughing and cheering. It’s just amazing to see how authors are growing.”

I asked the board if they could share stories of readers who came to tell them how they felt about Poetics. Gabe tells me about a comedian who came up to him after an open mic event, sharing that “he basically said, ‘it’s so nice to come here, because whenever I do a comedy open mic, it’s like three or four people in the audience. They’re not there to listen to you, they’re just there to drink, they’re talking over you, you’re trying to make them laugh. And here people are respectful and attentive, and people actually laugh and people cheer for you.’ And I think he was just struck that there was really this very supportive atmosphere.”

A night of many languages

Though Reykjavík Poetics events are hosted in English, reading in English is not mandatory! “Sometimes people will get up and maybe feel a little bit reticent or shy about not speaking in English. And actually, we love that” says Chris. A recent happening featured readings in English, Icelandic, Italian, and Russian. It’s the inclusion of poetry in Icelandic that excites the board. By holding a multi-lingual space for poetry while welcoming Icelandic poetry, they’ve created a space for non-native speakers — who might not have attended an poetry event solely in Icelandic — to hear Icelandic poetry.

They all speak with such care and pride for this entity that they’ve nurtured. “Regardless of whether it’s difficult material, funny material, or whatever someone’s reading, the crowd is always in the mood for it” Chris describes. “You can laugh and cry” Ewa adds, eliciting smiles from the whole group.

Looking to the future, the board members are hopeful, but are stopping themselves from becoming too dreamy. The organisation is on a short-term contract with Reykjavíkurborg, so any talk about the future tends to extend months rather than years. Upcoming is an open mic on October 16, a curated night themed “Ghost Stories” on October 30, and a night of translated Palestinian poetry in November.

Though the group has found a home at Mengi, Ewa is pragmatic, joking that “I personally have it in mind, like, what’s going to happen when Mengi stops being Mengi and it becomes a puffin store.” Martyna is quick with assurance, offering “I think we will always find spaces. Physical spaces are physical spaces.” Seemingly convinced, Ewa agrees: “definitely, we already created this community. I think we could easily travel.”

Learn about Reykjavík Poetics’ upcoming and past events on Instagram @reykjavikpoetics and at rvkpoetics.com.