About

Jason Stoneking photographed by Chris Plytas

photo by Chris Plytas


Bio

Jason Stoneking is a writer, artist, and performer originally from the United States, who has made his home in Paris, France. He has published several collections of poetry and essays, released an album of original songs, and written several screenplays. He has been performing his art and writing live for more than 30 years, at venues ranging from the main stage at Lollapalooza to the Pont Neuf in Paris and the rooftops of Cairo. In recent years, his practice has concentrated on the creation of handwritten and site-specific texts. For his Bespoke Books series, he writes an entire unique book by hand, in a single draft, for an individual reader, event, or residency. In his video series Found Stages, he improvises spontaneous poems in public spaces that feel suitable, if not intended, for performance. For his newest series, Portrait Sittings, he invites subjects to sit for him as they would for a painter, while he composes their portrait in handwritten words, then presents them with the original manuscript he has drafted during the session.

Performances + Exhibitions

2025
Jan, group show at Galerie Arnaud Lefebvre, Paris
Mar 15, group livestream reading with Paris Heretics for Lit Balm
2024
Jan 23, guest performance at Prose and Woes, Cork
Jan 28, curated group performance at Dublin’s Finest, Dublin
Jan 29, featured performer at Circle Sessions, Dublin
Feb 17, guest reading for launch of The Future of Surfing at Ofr, Paris
Mar 13, guest reading for launch of The White Fin Project at Pral, Paris
Apr 20, guest reading at Love Love Magazine party, Paris
Apr 27. guest performance for Lala Drona: Virtual Reverence, at Elios Gallery, Paris
June, residency with Cie Hekau at The Melting Pot, France
June 13, curated radio performance for Lumpen Station, Switzerland
Sep 19, featured performer at Vocable Poets, Lismore, Australia
Sep 27, curated group performance at Gaffa Gallery for Poetry Sydney, Sydney, Australia
Sep 30, featured performer at Poetry at the Pub, Newcastle, Australia
Oct 1, featured performer at Passionate Tongues Poetry, Melbourne, Australia
Nov, residency and performance for Swerve Magazine, Skibbereen, Ireland
Dec 31, street performance outside Galerie Arnaud Lefebvre, Paris
2023
Jan 24, curated group performance at Castel, Paris
Feb 21, curated group performance at Ivy Writers, Paris
Mar 2, introductory act for the Bad Pelicans at Point Ephemere, Paris
Mar 18, group performance with Paris Heretics at Void Voices, Rotterdam
Mar 19, group performance with Paris Heretics at ACU, Utrecht
July, residency and performance with Cie Hekau at le Petit Théâtre du Bât de l'Âne, France
July 31, featured performer at Sidewalk, Beirut
Nov 27, featured performer at Spoken Word, Paris
Dec 12, curated group reading of Checklist 33, Biel/Bienne (remote)
Dec 13, featured performer at The Ramshackle, Utrecht
2022
Mar 25, featured performer at Espace Canopy, Paris
May, group show at Galerie Arnaud Lefebvre, Paris
May 25, solo performance at Galerie Arnaud Lefebvre, Paris
Oct 12 curated group reading for Verse of April, Paris
Oct 14 guest performance with Merry Youth at Les Bains, Paris
Nov 15 curated group performance at Castel, Paris
2021
Jan-Dec, continuation of “Found Stages” series, multiple locations / online
July 9, premiere of short film by Cie Hekau based on my story The Butterfly and the Stone, at Shadows Across the Globe Puppetry Festival, San Diego (remote)
Oct 22, panel discussion at Marché de la Poésie, Paris
2020
June, group show Galerie Arnaud Lefebvre, Paris (remote)
Oct-Dec, beginning of my series Found Stages, solo online video poetry performances, conducted in empty public places during the pandemic restrictions, multiple locations / online
2019
Oct 20, solo performance for Galerie Arnaud Lefebvre at Cite International des Arts, Paris
Oct 24, in discussion with Katy Martin at Galerie Arnaud Lefebvre

Publications + Recordings

2024
Jan, SubberCulture, podcast interview
Feb, Ofr/Perfect Designs, The Future of Surfing, prose
Mar, Pral/Perfect Designs, The White Fin Project, prose
June, Lumpen Station, curated group radio performance
July, World Radio Paris, This is Not a Poem, podcast interview
Aug, Swerve Magazine, open letter
Aug, Birdcage Radio, Under the Albatross, podcast interview
Oct, The Weekly Write/Alex Morris, blog interview
Nov, Grenzprobleme, album by Paul* Hermansen, poetry
Dec, Gaffa Gallery/Poetry Sydney, Future Movement, show catalog
Dec, In Telescope Time, Poetry at the Pub Newcastle, anthology
2023
Jan, Love Love Magazine, written portrait
Feb, Tentacular Magazine, prose
June, Paris Underground Radio, City of Muses, podcast interview
June, Stained Glass Arrangements, album by Alison Grace Koehler, guest musician
2022
Dec, La Vie Creative, podcast interview
2021
July, Yes the Void, poetry
2020
Feb, Checklist 33, poetry
April, Zeles Magazine, open letter
2019
Apr, Verse of April, poetry
Apr, Luna Speaks, podcast interview
May, Empty Mirror, blog interview
July, High Times Magazine, excerpted interview

To download the full CV click here