Zoa Smith (1955- ), performance artist, spoken word historian & philophonist (lover of sound) grew up in central Ohio in the 100 yr. old, family farmhouse where she succeeded in escaping her parent's middle-mid-west expectations by playing softball & hiding in tree houses while dreaming of becoming either Joan of Arc, Annie Oakley or Babe Zaharias.
Zoa's earliest splash as a performer was displayed at the local swimming pool where little Zoa accepted 10 cent admissions from kids vying to crawl inside her modular mini-auditorium made of picnic tables & beach towels. In a flashlight spotlight, she read her favorite short stories aloud & reenacted TV episodes of Twilight Zone. At 11yrs. old (they say), she could do a riveting impersonation of Rod Serling.
High school was a blur of rebellion, psychedelics & angst. Mostly shy of authority & mostly high during the 70's, Zoa earned a BA from Bowling Green State University of Ohio in Interpersonal & Public Communications and (after numerous pitches to a resistant administration) was awarded the first minor in Women's Studies.
Having fallen in with the feminist community, Zoa followed a migration of lesbian activists to the Northwest in search of "green goddess enlightenment." Corvallis, Oregon was a growing hub for the battered women's movement, anti-nuclear protest & co-op communities. It was there she found opportunities to hone dramatic & literary skills by reading poetry at coffeehouses, grange halls, women's music concerts & political benefits. Zoa worked a variety of (then) non-traditional jobs— lumber millwork, salmon ranching, Christmas tree harvest & landscaping— to support her ultimate goal of becoming a professional writer/performance artist.
Keeping close track of fringe art trends, Zoa foresaw a resurgence of Oral Tradition in America. Studying the works & audiences of Laurie Anderson, Spalding Grey, Lily Tomlin & other lesser-known monologists & multi-arts experimentalists, she intuited that a renaissance of spoken arts was about to boom. In 1987, she positioned herself in Portland (Oregon's largest urban area) to pioneer the burgeoning Spoken Word Movement in that region.
Zoa Smith is the inventor of Talkapella™ which means "talking musically" and is the term given to her brand of performance that draws on the conventions of storytelling, theatrics, poetry, comedy & electronic sound experimentation. Content is arranged with attention to spoken rhythm and is riddled with alliteration, puns, irony & humor. A heap of "impure" poetic diction, rhythmic beat & wacky-wisdom is driven by innovative sound effects.
Zoa Smith introduced "performance poetry" as a valid art form to audiences throughout Oregon. She self-produced & performed over 50 full-length theme shows, produced & hosted a local cable TV series on independent art, & created word collaborations with professionals in dance, music, sculpture, theatre & fashion. She has appeared at poetry events, musical showcases, festivals & conventions and presented commissioned works for numerous private, civic & non-profit organizations.
In a career spanning two decades, Zoa has delighted, inspired, educated & mesmerized a diverse crowd with original half-sung story/poems delivered in her signature gender-bending persona. She received the 1994 Lilla Jewel Award for Women Artists from the McKenzie River Gathering Foundation for her multi-arts achievements & the impact of her work on social change.
Zoa spearheaded two spoken word bands - The Talkapella Band (jazz/klez/blues) and Zoa Smith & Third Uncle (progressive/grunge/rock). She has recorded three audio tapes of words with music (no longer available) but hopes to offer a retrospect CD in the future.
As far as finding her work in print, Zoa has said, "I'll put Talkapella on a page as soon as I can dance to a Jackson Pollock." Consequently, only two pieces have ever reached literary journals. "Crazy Wisdom" was printed in Wild Dog #6, June 1994 and "Paging Leonardo" was in Temple Magazine, Fall 2000, #4, 53. Paradoxically, Zoa is currently writing a read-aloud book about the wonders of sound and language.
Since 2001, after moving to "an old gable-front at the base of the Mt. Tabor volcano," Zoa traded the hectic schedule of an avant-garde icon for an avant-gone ascetic. Currently, she is immersed in the study of acoustics, physics & philosophy. She offers a creative, comprehensive, & conscious view of the Oral Tradition on her new website SpokenOak: The Roots & Branches of Amerikan Spoken Arts.
(from Only So Many Words, audio cassette, Zoa Smith & Third Uncle, a spoken art band, Portland, OR., ©1995) In the land of subtitles people chose their words so carefully move on toothpick legs, careful not to step on anyone or anyone's feelings one woman walked so lightly critics cleaned their teeth at the gate. The meaning of words will be poured on your skin, to help heal the pain or make you insane, they will help you or kill you or will you to do their will with simple words just simple words symbols, just beads of sweat around the neck of a culture. So, the image of, say... an eagle is the image of Spirit to one skin but the image of aggression to the next, so, the same feather that makes the bird sacred could be used in the quill of hated the same feather WILL BE USED. Chose your name carefully and carry it in a covered basket better break off one stale corner and cast it timidly at strangers present yourself, like a bad loaf of bread that's all you are, when your language is twisted and gone like mutated corn rows of crooked teeth find it so hard to speak and dry tassels WILL (never) wave down the rain. In the land of subtitles the type looks neat in elite font curious eyes get lost in the lies somewhere between the capital & the period, question the king of deceit & receive a royal backseat, demand a better translation & be damned... In the land of subtitles chose your words carefully only so many words fit on a screen take great pains to say what you mean say what you mean take great pains.
For more info about the Spoken Word Movement or Zoa Smith, see spokenoak.com
Contact:
E-mail zoa@spokenoak.com
Zoa Smith's Talkapella
PO Box 14592
Portland, OR 97293