"Trach" Reading by Zoe E. Ramos during April Poetry Month
by Emily Misch, Associate Editor
On Tuesday, April 23, Zoe Ramos took an audience through her Virtual Poetry Performance further delving into the world of what trach poetry is, their own stylistic choices, and the work that they have been putting together for some time.
If you have never heard the term “trach” to describe a style of poetry, you’re not alone, it was a completely unknown term to me before this event, but I was quickly enlightened with this new world of literary practice. Creating the space of a way to open the minds of the audience while still making it understandable.
To begin, we got to see a glimpse into Zoe’s choices when it comes to style and what they wanted to display using a trach style. “Trach” was used to explain a stylistic choice that is mostly seen through the lack of editing (or what seems to be a lack) and an overall an anti-aesthetic form of creativity. It was easy to see that Zoe’s style was filled with memes and photography through the first few slides, which created a playful and real feeling even through the new and abstract information that was being presented.
After being brought through a work consisting of varying acts, still following the use of trach style, the understanding of the importance and creativity of this work was upon me. Hearing Zoe explain how poets who use trach as a style “start to see value in everything”, due to all of the specifics and details that go into intentionally or unintentionally leaving in errors, the small and large portions of each step, and everything else.
However, Zoe says it best herself. “That's why Trach as a style, episteme, and practice work - you can allow typos and unfinished ideas to remain, providing space for exploration authentic questions; you can also use notes, handwritten pieces, found influences (i.e. screencaps, quotes), and other trach things that you typically can't make use of. In this, I want to make scholarship and the sharing of ideas accessible and useful to more people than just the academic few. I am also a big supporter of visual poetry because it is also an accessible, opened up artform that regular people can use. Visual poetry may seem difficult or like a hard style, but it can be as simple as scraps and trash.”
I highly encourage anyone to attend a showcase of somebody displaying their art and performances, even if you think that you would have no interest in it. Going through each step of this performance allowed me to tap into a side of my thoughts that have not been activated in a while, and being in a space that had others who were just as interested and a performer who was more than willing was comforting as an audience member.
Zoe read at SSIRCA at Session 8 and earned 3rd place in Graduate Arts!
We also wanted to thank the Bell Library staff, including Lorin M. Flores (Instructional Services Librarian), for being open-minded and for allowing Zoe to read Trach.