MEDIA WHORING

Teens going from bad to verse
Times Colonist
Published: Thursday, May 15, 2008

TEEN ANGST POETRY NIGHT

(May 24, 10 p.m., Intrepid Theatre Club, 1609 Blanshard St.)

Eight years ago, Vancouver's Sara Bynoe unearthed her old boyfriend's teenage love poems. These maudlin masterpieces were hilarious. So she phoned a girlfriend to enjoy a mutual guffaw.

That nasty yukfest was the seed for Teen Angst Poetry Night. For this performance, 27-year-old Bynoe reads her self-penned teen poems, then invites audience members to read their own horrific teen musings (e-mail her at sarabynoe@gmail.com to sign up).

Bynoe's interest in teen writing spun off into a successful website in which people worldwide post their poems. She wrote a 2005 book, Teen Angst: A Celebration of Really Bad Poetry, and hosts a monthly open-mike night at Vancouver's Railway Club for those who relish bad teen prose.

The floodgates of Bynoe's own pubescent scribbling opened in Grade 8, when her boyfriend James (a Mormon who'd "fake-drink" beers) dumped her after a month. This prompted a steady stream that resulted in 400 poems and a journal she kept from age 15 to 20.

One of her James-inspired poems goes: "You thought wrong/You thought I would cry/You thought I would die/But it was me that said goodbye."

For adults -- aside from the humour -- the appeal of such writings is a feeling of catharsis in realizing others suffered as teens, Bynoe says. Just as we did.

NEXT SHOW - JUNE 10

Teen Angst: A Celebration of Inadvertently Hilarious Adolescent Writing
NEXT SHOW - JUNE 10
At The Railway Club,
579 Dunsmuir Street,

Doors at 7pm show at 7:30- 9pm (sharp! We run on time because that's all the time we have at the venue)
$7 at the door.

This is a recurring monthly show on the second Tuesday of every month (June 10, July 8 etc.). If you'd like to read e-mail teenangstpoet@gmail.com.

Note to readers, due to our limited time at the Railway club please keep readings under 10 min. You can read anything from poems to diary entries, to singing old songs, reading plays, letters, essays- ANYTHING! so long as it adheres to the following rules.

1- The work must be your own.

2- You must have written it between the ages of 10-19.

3- You must be over your old angst.

4- It is recommended that if you read it and 'cringe' it's worth sharing.

Check out www.youtube.com/sarabynoe for Sara's examples

Teen Angst is co-produced by Sarah Morgan Events and TeenAngstPoetry.com

Teen Angst: May 13

Teen Angst: May 13
The Railway Club
579 Dunsmuir Street, Vancouver
7:30-9pm
$7 at the door
Free if you read: e-mail teenangstpoet(at)gmail.com

A Mask

A Mask

By: Karl


A mask

A mask

A mask that I wear everyday


A talking mask

A breathing mask

A smiling mask


A mask that I’ve sculpted

Sharpened

Honed

And loved


You’ve served me well…


In times of troubles

And in times of pain

You’ve been there for me


But now I know

I should leave you

But will I survive

Or just go downhill


I’ll never know

Until I remove


My Mask