Over on Substack, I wrote a post with this title, detailing the backstory of how I came to know the Greek cabaret (music) group StarWound. I won’t repeat that here (because you can read the post for free on Substack), but suffice it to say that they are performing my poem “Orpheus” along with others from their project “Interiors” at the Nisville Festival, one of the biggest alternative music festivals in Europe under the direction of the legendary Maja Mitic.
I’ll let you read in the Substack post about this performance and how they came to Columbus and performed at Mississippi University for Women. Instead, here I will add a little anecdote about how after their performance in Poindexter, as we were coming back to Puckett House after a slight detour to look for something to drink and to snack on, we encountered a deer ambling across College Street and onto the campus of Mississippi University for Women right by Whitfield Hall and the main gate. Now, we have quite a few wild animals on our campus, but I usually see feral cats, squirrels, and groundhogs, maybe the occasional armadillo, but never before (or since) have I seen a deer. It was a quiet night, so maybe he felt safe enough to explore (I’m pretty sure I remember right that it was a buck). That was just one of the magical moments that happened with StarWound during their visit. So far it hasn’t made it into a poem, though who knows.
There apparently will be a video of at least one of their upcoming European performances that I’ll be able to share. And I’m hopeful I’ll get to see video from tonight, though I’m not sure it will be sharable, at least not online. I’ll be doing a benefit reading later this month for a CD project with a selection of songs from StarWound’s US tours. More on all of this soon!
There’s lots going on, even when I’m not actively participating — but maybe one day I’ll be able to get over to Greece to see StarWound where they live or see them perform again in person. In the meantime, this fall, they’ll be touring several campus in the Northeast.
Kendall Dunkelberg 
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