Paul Skiff

Paul Skiff co-produced and created the astounding sound design that combines voices of 69 poets for the historic recording of poetry, Nuyorican Symphony, recorded in 1992. Today the recording stands as the single most unique, authoritative forward-looking document of what we all know about the current world-wide poetry scene. Presenting his work live since 1980 at too many venues to list here - both anti-commercial and mainstream- his body of work is a monument to the human spirit of creative free expression. “ I speak about common experiences, often very personal, and I speak about the experience of all that obscures and diverts thought and feeling. I want to call attention to how there are many forces that deprive us of our ability to be alive in a direct and full way. In a simple way I talk about relations between people. Often this means I speak a very simple logic and a very raw emotion together. This is a kind of spiritual commitment to an ideological view of harmony.” “ I write in many different styles from expressionistic to very formal, abstract and experimental depending on what level of consciousness and emotion I want to communicate with. So my performance is always full of a variety of ways to speak and use the voice, different ways the body physically finds natural sound with the voice. I may speak in simple definitions or chant emotional proclamations while drumming.” "Wild. Provocative. Beyond the limits of literature and media art." -Basler Zeitung "Brilliant and inspired." -New York Press "The Lower East Side Agit-Lore Artist." -Village Voice "Has been instrumental in the spoken word art form." -New York Poetry Calendar "Paul Skiff writes with a furious music all his own. Equal parts subconscious imagery and shocking logic, his work seeks to change the status quo by sheer force of sound." -The Kitchen "Paul Skiff transports emotion with an amazing passion and clarity. If his intent is pleasure you will find yourself shivering in joy." -Miguel Algarin