“In everything I write whether it’s poetry or an essay I assume an audience, that is to say I assume that interaction. It’s not a personal event.”
- June Jordan
“I don’t know why I got so offended”
- Grace Paley
…It is pathetic. I love it. is a meeting for playing with writing as it provokes doubt, offence, secrecy, perversity and defensiveness. It will take place from 5th-12th May 2024, and you are warmly invited to participate.
In Autumn 2023 we initiated the Anonymous Poets Society in collaboration with several groups of PAF attendees. In these meetings, the “poets” submitted their writings anonymously, which were performed live during the gathering, allowing for open and playful criticality and casual experiments with delivery and performance. Many of the submissions were not in fact poems, but polemic, song, essay, instructions for voice… Following on from the generative nature of this format, we will use anonymity as an instrument throughout the meeting.
Anonymity, why?
K: For play with the social weirdness of writing At All, the level of risk, social risk, when trying anything experimental. It’s a way to undermine politeness codes, to play with offence/defence, secrecy.
R: I like what it does to people and their ideas.
L: more about touching than seeing, anonymity to avoid pre-chewed performance, under-selling yourself, not this authorship shit.
R: Cool.
R: Also we should say something about the fact that maybe people know, but they’ll never really know if you don’t want them to.
K: You don’t have to be in allegiance with your writing
L: So no codependency there.
In keeping with this premise, we (Roya, Lumi, Kate) will offer our own days of pathetic interventions for playing with writing as a social (doubtful, secretive, perverse) act, and we also invite attendees to announce their own pathetic interventions ahead of time using this form and the instructions on it. At the beginning of the week, we will host an Anonymous Poets Society session. At the end of the week, we will produce a publication for the meeting with an accompanying printing ‘performance’. In between, there will be other things, such as recitals in the dark, workshops on literary self-defence/offence, ‘recipe’ writing exercises and morning movement sessions. A more detailed day-by-day breakdown will be sent to all participants at least a week before the event begins.
Practical details:
…It is Pathetic. I love it. will take place from 05/05/2024 - 12/05/2024. To come earlier or stay longer is of course possible. The meeting will have a cap of 30 participants so please book early in order to ensure your place.
Reservations:
contactpaf@gmail.com
This year PAF will implement a sliding scale payment system as part of a more extensive effort at making PAF more accessible. We encourage you to pay as much as you can so that we can start to address structural asymmetries among PAF users. 18 euros per night is the basic fee; combined with the volunteer efforts of all PAF users, it has enabled PAF, as a project, to stay afloat for the last few years. You can keep paying 18 euro per night if your financial situation is fragile and a higher nightly price would prevent you from coming to PAF. 20 euro is the advised base price per night. 20 - 25 euro or more if you have stable income, institutional funding, property or family wealth. PAF will not ask you about your financial situation, you will evaluate the price to pay by yourself. The membership fee is now 20 euros per year. All contributions above 18 euro per night will go to The Mattress fund.
The price for food per day will be 12 euro, including breakfast, lunch, dinner. If you have any specific dietary requirements, please email patheticpaf@gmail.com
We can only accept payments in cash (or French chèques), so bring it along (there is an ATM in the village).
If you would like to participate but feel you are unable to for financial or other such reasons, please reach out, also to patheticpaf@gmail.com
Access notes:
At the time of writing, more detailed access notes are in the process of being made by a working group at PAF. Until then, we really appreciate you contacting us to ask about any information that is missing in the provisional notes below: patheticpaf@gmail.com
- There is a lift
- There are two bedrooms on the ground floor with toilets, and one with a shower.
- There are bathrooms on the ground floor but there is a step up to them. Please contact us if you would need a ramp to access these.
- None of the toilets are equipped with handrails.
- There is a big variation in mattress quality and light/sound levels in bedrooms. If you have any needs in this area, please get in touch with us so we can discuss options.
- There will be mediation volunteers on site to handle any accessibility/accountability issues that may arise during the course of the meeting.
There is no public transport from St Erme station to Paf, so it is best to get the taxi. It is around 25 minutes to walk, and it is uphill.
The taxi brings you for 6 euros to paf from St Erme station and for 35 euros from Laon. The same price for a 3/4 person taxi as for a 7/8 person one. Before 7h and after 19h and the weekends 7 euro and 42 euros. They only speak french. Call them in advance as they have to come from St. Erme - as they are a small taxi firm it is advisable to call at least a day in advance. Inform them when you have a lot of luggage.
Taxi Leblanc (St Erme) tel +33(0)323226909