Conversations with Gregory “SETH” Harris

Today we’d like to introduce you to Gregory “SETH” Harris.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I am one of Colorado’s best known performance poets. A poet and experimental writer, I am author of the absurdist satire, The Perfect Stranger, a Kafkaesque examination of human folly and the folly of human institutions. My poetic memoir, A Black Odyssey, is modeled after Homer’s classic epic, using it as an allegorical scaffolding for my own experience as a Black Man in contemporary America. My experimental short fiction has appeared in numerous literary journals including Fugue, Portland Review, Lynx Eye and Happy. This year The Reluctant Messiah was released, a creative nonfiction hybrid of fiction, poetry and Socratic-style dialogues on the nature of God, comparative religions, Western dualism, the conservative vs. liberal perspectives, the art of poetry, quantum physics and more.

As a musician and actor, I have collaborated with countless musicians, poets, actors, dancers and other performance artists for more than 30 years. Living in Denver, CO, I am the founder of the musical-poetic ensemble, Art Compost & the Word Mechanics. An audiobook of A Black Odyssey, the entire collection performed with Art Compost is available where most audiobooks are sold. Formerly, I have performed 9 years with the poetry performance troupe Open Rangers and 11 years with the critically-acclaimed performance art trio, Jafrika.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The creative life is always a circuitous journey. My initial ambition was to write novels. I spent years experimenting with short fiction. I stumbled into writing radio theater comedy in which I sharpened my skills writing humor. I also learned how to act. I began dabbling in poetry. As fate would have it, I encountered two fellow poet/musician/actors. We began interweaving our words and talents. Audiences loved it. More importantly, we loved it. And working with each other. From there, things evolved. I spent 9 years with Open Rangers, experimenting with innovative ways to present poetry and spoken word, i.e. short fiction. While in Open Rangers, I became part of a critically-acclaimed performance art trio called Jafrika.. Audiences and critics alike loved us. Schools and art organizations paid us. I quit my day job.
Thus, began years evolving into a couple of decades living by my creative wits. Not just as a performer, but as an organizer, an instructor, a writer-in-residence. When Jafrika disbanded, there came time to finish a novel, publish a poetry collection and most recently, a work of creative non-fiction – all the while still performing weekly with a musical ensemble calling itself Art Compost & the Word Mechanic.
In the end, it has all added up to a success career as one of Colorado’s best known performance poets and innovative wordsmiths. No complaints.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Poet, fiction writer and performer SETH openly admits to having a love affair with language. His passion for words, particularly the rhythms and sounds of speech, extends not only to his craft but to his presentation. SETH has made a career carving out creative ways of presenting his poetry and short fiction.

As one of Colorado’s best known performance poets, SETH has collaborated with countless musicians, poets, actors, dancers and other performance artists in a never-ending quest to render poetry more entertaining, and thus more accessible, to general audiences. Over the years he has garnered several awards for his pioneering efforts to meld spoken word with the other performance art forms. SETH lives in Denver where he currently spearheads Art Compost & the Word Mechanics, an improvisational poetic-musical ensemble which invites other poets to join them every Sunday night at the Pearl, formerly the Mercury Café.

One of Colorado’s best known Performance Poets, SETH has made a career carving out creative ways of presenting poetry, with attention paid to both craft and performance. An actor and percussionist as well as a poet and fiction writer, SETH has collaborated with countless musicians, poets, actors, dancers and other performance artists for more than 30 years in his never-ending quest to render poetry more entertaining to general audiences.

He was a founding member of the performance poetry troupe Open Rangers (1991-2000) and member of the critically-acclaimed performance arts trio Jafrika (1993-2004). He currently spearheads Art Compost & the Word Mechanics, an improvisational poetic-musical ensemble appearing every Sunday night at the Mercury Café. Their first CD, Love, Death & Poetry, received Westword’s Best of Denver 2005 for Spoken Word CD. Over the years SETH has won several Best of Westwords for his pioneering efforts to meld spoken word with the other performance art forms.

SETH is the author of the poetry collection, A Black Odyssey, the absurdist satire, The Perfect Stanger, and most recently, The Reluctant Messiah, a hybrid of fiction, poetry and Socratic-style dialogues on the nature of reality.

Who else deserves credit in your story?
My greatest debt would go to Woody Hildebrant and Tupper Cullum, the orignal members of Open Rangers. Friends and brothers, these two brought me to the joy of performing poetry creatively. Just as important, they insisted Open Rangers not be exclusive but incorporate the poetry and talents of others.

If there has been a cornerstone to my success, it is that I developed a format that showcases the talent and creative energy of others. It has never been about me but us.

I am also indebted to the countless musicians, poets and performance artists I have worked with over the decades. I have learned and grown from my encounter with each of them as I hope they have grown in their encounter with me. It takes a village to create great artist. I give thanks to my entire village.

Pricing:

• A Black Odyssey $15
• The Perfect Stranger $18.95
• A Black Odyssey audiobook $19.49
• The Reluctant Messiah $16

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.wagingart.com/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gregory.s.harris.1
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIwgIycMZp_aXSAsKmbEKFA