THE OTHER ROOM
Experimental poetry in ManchesterShearsman Reading – Tony Lopez & Peter Robinson
The first reading in Shearsman’s 2012 series takes place on Thursday 6 February at 6:00pm for 6:30, and features Tony Lopez & Peter Robinson, who will be officially launching their new Shearsman titles: Only More So and The Returning Sky.
The reading venue is: University of Notre Dame in London, 1 Suffolk Street,
London, SW1Y 4HG (Just around the corner from the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square).
Admission free. but RSVP required as space limited. More details at the Shearsman site.
Philip Davenport’s ‘Appeal in Air’
“Appeal in Air is a poem for lost voices — a suicide overheard; a list of posts; a valedictory call of bird-names. Davenport uses the spreadsheet as poetic form, collaging lines, random data, birdsong.” Out now from Knives Forks and Spoons.
P. Inman: PoemTalk no.49
Michael Golston, Danny Snelson, and Sarah Dowling joined Al Filreis this time to talk about two short poems by P. Inman from his book at.least. (published by Krupskaya in 1999). The poems are “lac[e]y.” — dedicated to Tom Raworth — and “reception. theory.” — which is “for Diane Ward.”
An episode of Poem Talk on P. Inman is now available.
Read more and listen at this LINK
Maintenant #85 – Gonca Özmen
Contemporary Turkish poetry looks confidently back upon the iconoclastic individuals who have constituted its genuinely remarkable tradition, and the current cohort of poets emerging from the 21st century possess the unique sensibility in language that marks them from their predecessors and stamps their entire generation with the influence of their work. As the light of poets like Ilhan Berk and Nazim Hikmet begins to fade from view, it is poets like Gonca Özmen who have come into their own. After just two collections and a variety of prizes, Gonca has become one of the most direct, concise and eloquent voices in Turkish poetry and one who has begun to grow a reputation far beyond the borders of her home nation, thanks to last year’s publication of the Sea Within, a collection of translated poems from Shearsman press. In our 85th edition, we are pleased to welcome, our second Turkish respondent, Gonca Özmen.
http://www.3ammagazine.com/3am/maintenant-85-gonca-ozmen/
Accompanying the interview are five of Gonca’s poems, translated by George Messo, Ruth Christie, Mel Kenne, Saliha Paker respectively.
Stephen Emmerson reviewed
Telegraphic Transcriptions reviewed by Tom Jenks in 3AM Magazine.
Poetry Reading of Bill Griffiths’ Poetry
Friday, January 27, 2012, 5:00pm. Lecture Room 149, Northumberland Building, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne. Readers include: Peter Barry, Sean Bonney, Clive Fencott, Allen Fisher, Alan Halsey, Jeff Hilson, Ann Matthews, Mendoza, Will Rowe and Juha Virtanen.
Xing the Line
Wednesday, February 15, 2012, 7:30pm, The Apple Tree, Mount Pleasant, London WC1X. Becky Cremin and Alan Halsey.
Two new books from Knives Forks and Spoons
The Only Life by Robert Sheppard and Soma | Sema by David Toms. Available now from Knives Forks and Spoons Press.
SJ Fowler and Ben Morris at Liverpool Music Week
An experimental, highly affecting experimental poetry and music performance for unsuspecting audience at Liverpool Music Week, commissioned by Mercy.
Sucking on Words
Sucking on Words
A night of primordial sonatas, to celebrate 10 years of writers’ collective information as material
Venue: Whitechapel Gallery, London, E1 7QX
Date: Saturday 18 February 2012
Time: 19.30-22.30
Tickets: online here or tel: +44 (0)20 7522 7888
A feast of sonic poetry with performances by Rob Lavers and Simon Morris, Nick Thurston, and a headline set by Dutch avant-garde composer Jaap Blonk. A VJ playlist, put together especially for the night by Canadian poet Christian Bök, will provide sights and sounds between performances and alongside the drinks.
The audience are politely reminded that the ears have no lids.
As Jaap Blonk recalls: “The reception of these first public performances [of Kurt Scwitters' Ursonate] was varying widely. On many occasions I was performing at rock or punk clubs as an opening act for a band, and lots of people were not at all into it. Their preference was either to just talk with their friends or hear their habitual kind of music. So they started to scream and protest, and often throwing things at me, especially beer, which fortunately was mostly given out in plastic, not glass containers. The culminating point of this kind of experience was a performance of the Ursonate, opening for a concert of The Stranglers at Vredenburg Music Center in Utrecht in 1986, for an audience of about 2000 fans. When I was announced, even before I had opened my mouth, people started calling out: “Rot op!” (“Fuck off!”), and when I started, the atmosphere became very much that of a football match, but clearly an away game for me. With massive roaring they tried to drown out my voice, but of course the P.A. made me louder. Six stage guards were working hard to keep people from climbing the stage and hitting me, and hundreds of half-full plastic beer glasses flew about me. But in the course of the performance I managed to win over at least a few hundred people, who were roaring in my favor. The next morning one newspaper had the headline “Jaap Blonk Shocks Punk Audience With Dada Poetry”, which for me was a nice testimony to the fact that Schwitters’ piece was still very much alive, in spite of its age.”
Book launch: Uh Duh by Sarah Jacobs
Via David Berridge:
Please join us at 7pm on Wed 25th January 2011 at X Marks the Bökship for a launch and performance reading of Uh Duh by Sarah Jacobs, the inaugural title of the LemonMelon/VerySmallKitchen book series:
Hi Zero! #TEN Contemporary Poetry Readings in Brighton
Tim Atkins, Connie Scozzaro, Ryan Dobran. Tuesday, January 31, 2012, 7:30 for an 8:00pm start.
Notes and Sounds
Mick Beck’s Splendid Big Band, Gated Community
Plus
ALAN HALSEY & MICK BECK
Sound Poems
Gated Community is a collective improvising group formed by Mick Beck in 2005. Membership ranges from 10 to 15, and in this performance there will be 14 -
> Martin Archer : sopranino sax, bass clarinet, bass recorder
> Geoff Bright : saxophones and voice
> Neil Carver : guitar and effects
> Stephen Chase : guitar and other sounds
> Charlie Collins : drums, percussion
> Sarah Henderson : cello
> Lyn Hodnett : trumpet, voice
> John Jasnoch : lap-steel guitar
> Steve Jouanny : electric bass
> Herve Perez : soprano sax
> Mark Ridler : guitar
> Pete White : voice.
> Gillian Whiteley : piano
> Mick Beck : the motivator, tenor sax, bassoon, whistles.
THURSDAY 19th JANUARY
THE LANTERN THEATRE
18 Kenwood Park Road
Nether Edge, Sheffield S7 1NF.
Doors open at 7:30 for 8pm Start
£7 waged, £5 unwaged.
Intercapillary Places: Poetry at Parasol unit
Sanja Perovic – Critical talk ‘On the Control of Time and the French Revolution’. Dominic Lash, David Stent & Sarah Hughes – Music composed by Antoine Beuger and David Shepard. Thursday 12 January 2012, 7 pm, (drinks from 6:30 pm). Parasol Unit,Foundation for Contemporary Art, 14 Wharf Road, London, N1 7RW. T 020 7490 7373. £5/£3 concessions – free drinks & “Interior Ears” for all. Booking recommended
A Soft That Touches Down & Removes Itself
By David Tomaloff, a limited edition chapbook from The Red Ceilings Press.
PENN sound radio
PennSound Radio, a 24-hour stream of readings and conversations from the PennSound poetry archive. Our daily schedule includes rebroadcasts of such series as Live at the Writers House, Charles Bernstein’s Close Listening, and Leonard Schwartz’s Cross-Cultural Poetics, as well as a curated selection of our favorite performances. You can play PennSound Radio through iTunes on your computer, or by installing the free TuneIn app on your iPhone, BlackBerry, or Android device. Listen at work! At home! At the gym! While rebuilding a transmission! And while you’re at it, follow us on Twitter (@PennSoundRadio) to keep up with all of our new programs and special features.
the little shed of various lamps
Published towards the end of 2011 by Mark Cobley’s The Red Ceilings Press, Nikolai Duffy’s chapbook the little shed of various lamps will be launched at The International Anthony Burgess Foundation, Manchester on 19th January at 6 o’ clock PM. Also reading are Jeremy Over and Ian Seed.
Reality Street Supporter Scheme
For £40 (UK/Europe) or £50 (outside Europe), you will receive copies of all four Reality Street books published during the year. Your name will also be listed in the back of the books ( and on relevant publicity material, unless you prefer to remain anonymous. Books scheduled for 2012 are:
- Paul Brown: Cabin in the Mountains
- David Miller (ed.): The Alchemist’s Mind
- Maggie O’Sullivan: Waterfalls
- Sean Pemberton: White
More details at the Reality Street site.
Polyply> 15: Colour
POLYply > 15: COLOUR
Sam Dowd
Robert Hampson
Mark Leahy
Nisha Ramayya
Dawn Scarfe
Thursday 12 January, 7pm
The Centre for Creative Collaboration
16 Acton Street, London WC1X 9NG
Free entry
