City of Soul
Jessy James LaFleur and Band
Jessy James LaFleur is a travelling poet and HipHop artist, who has been wandering the million paths of this earth like a nomad for almost 14 years, always on the quest for new adventures to write about. She speaks 6 languages and uses 3 of them to interpret the colourful thoughts and ideas that run through her mind: sometimes mellow and literary, at times loud and anarchistic.
Jessy James LaFleur
Bio
Jessy James LaFleur, a nomad with conviction, a Spoken Word artist and rapper who’s taken a million and one paths around the world over the last 14 years. Aachen born, Belgium raised, she has brought her music and poetry to more than 15 countries in 3 different languages (German, French, and English) on the stage.
Dubbing herself a ‘Street Poet’, she travels with ‘Victor’ – her suitcase – from one city to another spreading the spoken word!
She’s connected to a vibrant network of Spoken Word and Hip Hop collectives located in Liege/Charleroi (Belgium), Warsaw (Poland), Estonia, Austria, and Paris, all who believe in changing the world through the power of spoken word.
To Jessy James LaFleur, the Spoken Word and Hip Hop culture is an engagement meant to
empower people through music and literature. She will explore this concept further with her upcoming book project “Angeprangert! – Words behind bars”, which includes poems and prose from inmates in High Security Prisons and “Confessions of a paper plane”, which is her first One-Woman-Theater-Piece based on her nomad
life and the love for her never ending spoken-word-mission.
Her home base is Berlin, where she is a founder and organiser of the biggest Poetry Tour in Berlin called the ‘Kiezpoeten subkul_Tour’ which includes 3 of her 7 Poetry Slams in Germany. With these Slam Events, she also hosts poetry workshops and Spoken Word events in German prisons, schools, and youth centres around the world.
Her events:
Berlin: https://www.facebook.com/bubbleslam
Berlin: https://www.facebook.com/Wortakkord
Berlin: https://www.facebook.com/boerseslammarzahn
Bernau: https://www.facebook.com/bAernau.sLam
Celle: https://www.facebook.com/angeprangert
Hannover: https://www.facebook.com/reimzeichner
**Her poems and short stories have been published in several books and magazines all over the world.
**She is Co-organizer of the Berlin / Brandenburg Championship in Poetry Slam and the Lower Saxony / Bremen U20s Poetry Slam Championship in Poetry Slam, wich will take place in Celle in 2017.
**Jessy James LaFleur is also the Founder of the project ‘PRISON SLAM’, which establishes Poetry Slam workshops and Spoken Word events in German high security prisons where she teaches creative writing and stage performance…and of course: positive vibes
**In 2016 she founded her nationwide youth project “Angeprangert!U20”, a Spoken Word workshop concept for young poets below the age of 20.
She has performed (among other places) at
– Several literature festivals all over the globe
– Several embassies all over the globe
– Theatre Hannover
– Apollo Theater Siegen
– Opera House Hannover
– State Museum Hannover
– Wilhelm Busch Museum Hannover
– August Kestner Museum Hannover
– State Museum Braunschweig
– Castle Celle
– Schouwbourg Theater Leuven (B)
– Atéliers Albatros Paris(FR)
– Book Fair ‘BUCH’ Wien (Ö)
– TarSlämm (EST)
– Prakriti Lit Festival (Indien)
– Belgium Championship Poetry Slam
– Lower Saxony/Bremen Championship Poetry Slam”
– Berlin Championship Poetry Slam
– Audimax events in different universities
– Bebelplatz Berlin for Gregor Gysi and the Left Wing party
– TEDx Linz
– …
William Chapman — ‘Words cut deeper than knives. A knife can be pulled out, words are embedded into our souls.’
References:
https://soundcloud.com/jessyjameslafleur