Anis Mojgani, age 33, works both in visual art and spoken word poetry. He was born and raised in New Orleans, then moved to Georgia and completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Comic Book art from the Savannah College of Art and Design and a Master of Fine Arts in Performing Arts. Until recently he was based in Portland, Oregon. However, he just made public his plans to move to Austin, Texas. Further information can be found on his blog http://mojgani.livejournal.com/.
He has been a big part of the slam community over the past several years: not only did he win titles in the National Individual Poetry Slam in 2005 and 2006, but he was also in the documentary Slam Planet: War of The Worlds and HBO's Def Poetry Jam. He won first place at the 2007 World Cup Poetry Slam held in France and placed 2nd in Poetry Slam, Inc.'s 2007 Individual World Poetry Slam. Most recently, he was also part of the Junkyard Ghost Revival slam team in 2008 with Buddy Wakefield and Derrick C. Brown.
Mojgani names among influences of his "Jeffrey McDaniel, Richard Brautigan, Charles Bukowski, Gregory Corso, Kerouac, MF DOOM, Aesop Rock, Robert Rauschenberg, Basquiat, Chris Ware, Frank Miller, Saul Williams, Walt Whitman, Savannah, GA, New York, New Orleans, being broke, being a hermit, Shoot the Piano Player, the Bahá'í writings and history" ("An Interview with Anis Mojgani". The Commonline Project 0 (13). 2007). However, this man's skill extends far beyond just a compilation or mutation of the works of his predecessors and mentors. A small, meek looking man, he twists language in any way he can to perfectly suit the environment and subject of the poem. His words can be both sweet and harsh, his poetry a strange mixture of eloquence and street-talk. In such informal places as blog entries, his genius can be found. A short piece that particularly appealed to me was this one:
"the wet streets.
the city lights above you.
laughter and arms below.
the wet streets. the open road.
one car talking to the night alone. red lights. the black windows turning blue. your skin turning blue, as the dark in all is wondrous magnificence opens itself to breaking. the soft-o how soft-the soft skin of the morning coming through those cracks. how soft and pink and becoming orange its shoulders are. how wondrous to be the first and only thing awake watching this from the back or front seat of the car, the buildings tall and praying outside, and you, like the day being born, are laid bare." (Found on http://mojgani.livejournal.com/, entry for 9/8/10)
Apart from written works, recorded copies of his spoken word poetry can be found any number of places, most conveniently and YouTube. For an introduction to his work, I very much suggest you follow this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMS1SfHx8hk. It includes his poems "Direct Orders," "Here I Am," and "Shake the Dust," a personal favourite of mine. You can also find him (and links to his various other technological identities) here, at http://thepianofarm.com/.
I definitely recommend Mojgani's work, whether written, played, painted, drawn, or spoken. He's incredible.
Sara
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