DA Kentner is an award winning author who also enjoys meeting and interviewing authors of many genres.

As author KevaD, my novel "Whistle Pass" won the 2013 EPIC eBook Award for suspense. Previously, in 2012, it won a Rainbow Award in the historical category. "Whistle Pass" is currently out of print, though I'm considering finding a new publisher, or self-publishing the novel. What do you think?

"The Caretaker", a 3,000 word short story, won 'Calliope' magazine's 18th annual short story competition. Click the blue ribbon to view their site and entry rules for this year's short fiction competition.

Friday, March 30, 2012

Word Rocker Cyndi Dawson

While exploring the raw and magnetic music of Babs Martin, I came across a video titled “Magus” by Cyndi Dawson. The work is Dawson’s poetry set to a calming melody.

“This is the dream of the holy man, of the man of sorrow, who waits by the split sea like Moses.”

I wanted to know more about the author behind the words and visual concept, which led me to Dawson’s book of poetry “Outside Girl.”

In “Outside Girl,” Dawson takes us into the off-the-grid NYC club scenes of the eighties, into the filth of bathrooms with junkies feeding their habits, false bravado thumped by those needing to fit in, the genuine lost souls, the hopes and dreams that will be left behind, and the beautiful hearts of those who will emerge from that era a little tattered, but all the wiser and stronger for the experience.

Dawson shares that world from her own experiences, her own viewpoint of the life she was living. As a “word rocker,” Dawson has performed her poetry to music in clubs around the world, always growing, always – in her terminology – evolving.

I think that’s one of the things that made her word artistry stand out for me. Dawson views life as a personal evolution. Because, after all, if we aren’t evolving, we’re stagnating.

A rocker at heart, Dawson (from the Cynz’s Facebook page) “and longtime musician friend Henry Seiz joined forces, grabbed fellow musicians Matt Langone, Bob Stockl and Patrick Schoultz, and put together what is being talked about as 'the closest thing to the sound of 1977 CBGB's since 1977'” - the band Cynz. Cynz is a hard hitting stage from which Dawson’s lyrical prose melds with skilled guitar licks, a solid bass foundation, and Stockl’s percussion perfection.

One of their most popular songs to date? “Evolution,” of course.

‘Actress’ Cyndi Dawson has appeared on Law and Order, Advil commercials and other film and TV projects. Her poetic prose has appeared in over fifty anthologies and magazines, as well as two other collections she published, “Dream Sequences” and “Inside of Outside.” As a performance artist, Dawson has enthralled international audiences. And yes, “artist” most accurately describes Dawson. She is a painter of words, and life is her canvas.
http://www.myspace.com/insideofoutside
“Magus”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ftd8zSp7hA&feature=related

Q) You founded the poetry and music venue 'Poets and Angels Music and Poetry Series.’ Would explain for our readers what that venue is?

A) I wanted to create a safe space where people could explore their work without having to be a 'professional' writer. I found a perfect cafe in town where i live and they gave me free reign to start the series up. Since I worked with musicians doing my poetry pieces, it evolved into a poetry AND music series. It was very organic. We all allowed it to become it's own animal, so to speak, and it was a beautiful one.

Q) I read a blurb that you once stood in for Madonna. When and why?

A) I was an actress in the 80's, and my agent called me one night and said I was to be on set 6am for a movie as a stand in. I asked for who, and she said, 'Madonna'. Well, you know Madonna was HUGE at that point. I was a dancer so our bodies were very similar at that point, though I look nothing like her in the face. But as her stand in they could use me to set up shots and to do shots where she would have been filmed from behind or running, etc. This film was 'Who's That Girl'.

Q) You truly are a language artist wielding a verbal brush sometimes caustic, other times graceful and serene. Poetry isn’t known for its ladders to success. Why devote so much of your life to it?

A) Art yields little financial success, almost as a rule for most. I can only say that, like breathing, it is essential for living to someone like myself. I've written poetically since I was a child. I think my thoughts in poetry. I have mild aspergers so learning how to outwardly reveal my emotions in a safe way made writing the same as oxygen for me. I am very comfortable writing or moving my body physically as a mode of communication.

Q) Which leads us to this question – in your mind, what is “success”?

A) Success is when something you do that connects you in a positive way to the world gives you great satisfaction. It's obviously not about the money to me, although how I admire those who DO make their living doing what it is they love. That's a bonus, but not necessarily success.

Q) Performance art and small clubs allow for interaction with the audience. Do the people who come to your Cynz’s performances inspire your work, and if so, how?

A) Absolutely. The interaction with the audience can make or break a performance. It's an alchemy of energy. You try and bring everything you've got to every show. I've never experienced a dead audience at any of our shows so far, whether we had 100 or we had 20 people. They all move towards the stage and you can see it in their faces. We are definitely experiencing some shamanic exchange of purge during our performance. I often think the audience NEEDS me to cut loose and get that scream out. It's OUR scream, together!

Q) Any parting thoughts for readers not yet familiar with your poetry?

A) Jair-Rohm Parker Wells wrote that gorgeous music for 'Magus'. I've worked with some wonderful musicians over the years.

As for my words, I think the one thing I try and create is a set of 'unrules'. Craft is important. I hope more young writers learn how to edit and workshop. I am a 'street poet' but I still try and make sure every line is essential, that the piece doesn't go on too long just for my own ego, and that it isn't so written for myself that a reader couldn't grasp any of it. In that case, keep a journal of your work, but don't necessarily post it places. I find younger writers posting 2-3 times a day just to get comments and the work wasn't well thought out in regards to editing or crafting to make it really great. So- yes, no rules in terms of free style poetry, but having said that, at least take more time on your work to make sure it's not the best expression of the message you want to speak and/or share with readers. I write from where I live. Not every word is in chronological order, but most of my work is gleamed from my life or thoughts pertaining to bits of mine and/or another's.

I find if you write from a place of truth, there's a sense of urgency in the words you just can't fake. And the reader knows this.
DA Kentner is an author and journalist. http://www.kevad.net/

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