Aubs.: “it is Good, it is Written” Reading Experience at 318 East Seventh Street in Davenport -- May 1.

Sunday, May 1, 7 p.m.

318 East Seventh Street, Davenport IA

Taking place in conjunction with the release of his third published book of poetry, Quad Cities author and spoken-word artist Aubrey Barnes – who writes and performs under the moniker Aubs. – will host a May 1 reading experience for it is Good, it is Written, a collection of 33 poems composed over the last three years. For many of us, that particular span might be recalled as a period of apathy, loneliness, and day-long Netflix binge sessions. For Barnes, it proved to be one of enormous opportunity.

“I was very productive,” says Barnes of the last 36 months. “I'm an introvert, so just having the time and space to create was like, 'Wow, let's take advantage of this silver lining right now!'” With a laugh, he adds, “And in the time I was working on the book, I worked on a spoken-word record, as well, with a myriad of different people – we worked on a project that was crafted out of Zoom meetings, which was really cool. So I definitely worked on a lot during that time. It was a good time for work.”

For the 30-year-old Rock Island native who currently lives in East Moline and works out of Davenport, Barnes' interest in writing began, he says, “when I was about 12 years old, just being a socially awkward kid and all that. I'm still a fairly socially awkward person, but when I was young, I always had a lot to say, but didn't know how to voice it. So I wrote poetry from when I was 12, and then through my junior-high, high school, and college years. Writing has always been there for me.”

After graduating from Rock Island High School, Barnes spent two years at Iowa Central Community College, and four at St. Ambrose University before finally earning a degree in educational studies from Western Governors University. It was at St. Ambrose, however, that Barnes says his passion for poetry first collided with his interest in a tangential art form.

“It wasn't until I was 23 when I found out about the art of spoken-word poetry,” says Barnes, “which is just kind of like taking poetry on the page and making it come to life in live performance. So that kind of drew me to it, because I had already been writing poetry all my life, and then transitioning to that (spoken-word) art became about just being comfortable in front of people. And for me,” he adds with a laugh, “that's still kind of a job in and of itself, you know?”

Barnes credits his eventually spoken-word success with his acquaintance with Chris Britton, the area spoken-word artist and creative-arts instructor. “When I was at St. Ambrose,” says Barnes, “I had a weekly men's group that I kind of facilitated, and Chris Britton, at the time, came to talk to our group about volunteering during the summer for a youth program he was doing. After he talked to us, he had two of his youth members come in and they did some spoken-word – and just seeing them do their art, and the way they did it, it was like, 'Wow.'

“After that,” Barnes continues, “me and Chris would meet up with each other, and he helped me get to know the world of spoken-word a little better through rap and battle rap, because that was his background. So he gave me a more unique lens to look at spoken word through, because no one, really, uses rap and battle rap as the foundation for showing somebody spoken word. So I give Chris a lot of credit for showing me the way he did it.”

Aubrey Barnes

Following the releases of his first two poetry collections, Unfinished and I'm Not Anti Love, Barnes three-years-in-the-making I Swear, it is Good, it is Written, says the author, “is definitely one of the books that I've taken the longest time with. But I think that's what happens – when you have so many thoughts to process, it's all a matter of taking time to figure out how they're gonna be processed, and figuring out which poems fit the aesthetic. With it is Good, it is Written, there were a couple of pieces I had to move to the next book.”

Describing his latest work, Barnes says, “It's kind of a lyrical, anthology of the last three years. It was COVID considered, it was social-isolation considered, and it was just kind of things I noticed – the social-isms of the world and how they're affecting me and the people around me. So all the poems are like this progression piece of my processing through the last three years, questioning some of the things I'm seeing, and finding hope in the midst of chaos. I think that's what's so unique about it – it's not this linear piece that feels like it talks about one thing. It talks about so many things from so many different angles.”

“I know that I lot of the pieces I wrote speak to black issues,” he continues. “But I think it's one of those things where even though you don't share the same ethnicity or experience, you'll still get it from the root of 'We're all human, and we all experienced this isolation or this chaos.' I think my experience kind of resonates with many people who experienced the last three years as I have, and creating that sort of resonance is special for me. It was really important for me that the poems have that kind of nuance.

“Ultimately,” says Barnes, “I think I'd like to provoke thought. One of things I've noticed in the last three years is that we like different ideas, but when new ideas seem to interrogate our ideas, we don't like 'em. And the ideas in my book are ones that will probably cause people to reflect … and that's okay. I guess that's my biggest mission. It's okay for you to have ideas that you wrestle with, and it's okay to have ideas that are kind of antagonistic to yours.”

Aubs.' reading experience for his latest collection it is Good, it is Written takes place at 318 East Seventh Street in Davenport on May 1, participation in the 7 p.m. event is $10, and more information on the book and the night is available by visiting PoeticAubs.com.

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