Went to see “Deaf Jam” this evening (and no, I don’t mean Def Jam), a documentary about a young Israeli woman, Aneta Brodski.  Aneta is deaf, lives in New York and makes poetry with American Sign Language.   Worth catching (if you’re in Wellington that is – more about the Documentary Film Festival here).  Seeing poetry performed as a visual language was very cool – all about making shapes and stories with your hands.  The film also shows her writing and performing in collaboration with a hearing Palestinian poet Tahani Salah.  Well worth getting along to (2 more shows in Wellies).  Local poets entertained us with a live reading  beforehand.

There are two other poetry-themed films in the festival: “We are Poets“, about young slam poets from Leeds in the UK who compete in the international slam poetry competition in the US, and “Lemon” about Lemon Anderson, a poet, actor and ex-con who grew up in New York, and was over here for the Auckland Writers & Readers Festival recently.

In lieu of a Tuesday poem, here’s a link to Aneta Brodsky and Tahani Salah performing.