An anthology by Red Ceilings featuring 18 poems of 18 words from each of 18 poets:
Available now at Knives, Forks and Spoons Press
£9 (A5 107 pages)
Writer’s Forum North first workshop on 5th March has unfortunately been postponed. Likely to be rescheduled in early April.
CALL FOR PAPERS
The University of Edinburgh supported by The Roberts Fund
and in collaboration with the Scottish Poetry Library
ConVersify: Poetry, Politics and Form 10-11th September 2011
[conversifyconference.blogspot.com]
This two day postgraduate led conference will bring together poets and
researchers to engage in a conversation about experimental, innovative
and alternative approaches to poetic form. While many poets
self-report that political objectives underlie their practice, in the
realm of, but not limited to, ideology critique, the assertion or
negation of identity and/or a confrontation with mainstream
publishing, charges of elitism, passivity and inaccessibility can be
levelled. Taking this point of tension as our catalyst, and adopting a
trans-historical perspective, we wish to consider what “experimental”
poetry is, and what it is for.
We are calling for twenty minute papers which: discuss poetry of any
period or genre which challenges or aims to challenge convention
through formal innovation and/or interaction with political, social
and cultural realities; explore the labels we use to denote
“experimental”, “avant-garde” or particular stylistic modes of verse;
question whether political objectives and/or antagonisms can be
articulated or furthered through radical approaches to composition and
language; consider how readers engage with experimental poetry.
Inseparable from these themes is the issue of what we perceive as ‘the
political’, what counts as a political act and whether the writer has
a responsibility to assert political agency; we are particularly
interested in papers in which these questions are at the forefront of
discussion.
Please send 250-300 word abstracts for 20 minute papers as a word
attachment to conversifyconference@gmail.com by 16th May 2011.
The conference will take place at 19 George Square, University of
Edinburgh. We will also be organising evening poetry readings in town
– please mention when you submit your abstract if you would be
interested in reading.
Organised by Lila Matsumoto, Greg Thomas and Samantha Walton.
Via Joseph Walton
It is rather apt, or rather remiss, that for the fiftieth edition of Maintenant we present our first French poet. The first of many no doubt. It is all the more appropriate, given our dictum, that our first French subject is the youngest, and 35th, member of Oulipo. As the most contemporary representative of that legendary group of writers and poets, it goes without saying Frédéric Forte is an adroit, inventive and certain presence in the ever-lively and rich French poetry scene. We are extremely pleased to mark our half-century featuring a poet who epitomises our commitment to urbane, intelligent and important poetry which is still evolving into its own distinguished completion.
http://www.3ammagazine.com/3am/maintenant-50-frederic-forte/
Accompanying the interview are eight of Frédéric’s poems, translated by JJ Poucel and Michelle Noteboom.
Huge online issue of Veer about hosted at Intercapillary Space.
Contributors:
Edited by Adrian Clarke and William Rowe.
Veer About includes work from: Jennifer Pike Cobbing, Scott Thurston, Karen McCormack, David Caddy, Gavin Selerie, John Cayley, David Miller, Maggie O’Sullivan, Harry Gilonis, Chris Paul, Matthew Martin, James Harvey, Antony John, Doug Jones, Steve McCaffery, Nat Raha, Wayne Clements, Steve Willey, Mike Weller, Martin Gubbins, Sean Bonney, Pansy Maurer-Alvarez, Richard Owens, Gregorio Fontén, Steve Fowler, Johan de Wit, Frances Presley, Rod Mengham, Becky Cremin, Justin Katko, Elizabeth Jane Burnett, Stephen Mooney, Greg Thomas, Mendoza, Rob Holloway, John Seed, Jimmy Cummins, Allen Fisher, Niamh O’Mahony, Keith Jebb, Carol Watts, Rose van Hensbergen, Aodán McCardle, Peter Philpott, Tom White, Phillip Terry, Gilbert Adair, Ryan Ormonde, Edmund Hardy, Juha Virtanen
Issue 3 of Department out now.
Poetry by
Wayne Clements
David Grundy
Catherine Hales
Ryan Ormonde
Posie Rider
Marcus Slease
Tom Watts
Essays by
Marie-Angelique Bueler
Matt Dalby
David Grundy
Go buy it on their website
From The Other Room 22, February 2nd 2011.
The notion and standing of the “poet” as a figure of cultural significance varies enormously from European nation to European nation. It almost goes without saying that by and large there has been a reduction in the audience and therefore cache afforded the poet as an artist, and many poets eschew the self-analysis and regard traditionally afforded to those recognised as somehow significant in their field. However there are poetic cultures that remain indelibly “literary”, where the poet is a voice representing far more than just their own concerns. Emilian Galaicu-Păun is inarguably one of these poets – eloquent, assured, politically engaged, his work has left a firm mark on European poetry, and is uniquely bound to the idiosyncratic circumstance of his home nation, Moldova. For the 49th edition of Maintenant, Emilian Galaicu-Păun.
(this interview was translated, conceived and written in collaboration with Livia Dragomir.)
http://www.3ammagazine.com/3am/maintenant-49-emilian-galaicu-paun/
Accompanying the interview are two of Emilian’s poems, translated by Adam J. Sorkin and Cristina Cîrstea
http://www.3ammagazine.com/3am/two-poems-emilian-galaicu-paun/
LIKE by Colin Herd
Knives Forks and Spoons Press, 16pp
Reviewed by James Davies
• I LIKE the way found-texts are written which aren’t quite found-texts
• I LIKE the voice
• I LIKE the alleviated status of the trash written about without that puke-ingusting feeling that you are ‘viewing everyday objects in an extraordinary way’
• I LIKE the condemnation of capitalism
• I LIKE the grotesque & squiggy imagery; esp the mushyness of George Bush Sr. Do sculptures at Madame Tussaud’s get melted down like the Wicked Witch of the West or do they go into storage at the Tate Gallery?
• I LIKE the way the art criticism is done here
• I LIKE the juxtaposition of magik and humanism: see Franz Kline poem
• I LIKE Franz Kline any day of the week
• I am sorry Denise Levertov was so mean to Colin Herd but kinda glad also
• I enLIKED to hear him growl. Thank you so much for teaching me how to growl
• There is this woman I LIKE a bit (she’s so naff), who I’ve seen advertising non-aging cream, but I had never heard of Jane Rafter before but I am GLAD that I have done now
• Just LIKE Colin Herd I enjoy watching crap TV sometimes and I LIKE to satirise it. Crap TV is one of many things that needs to be satirised and is evidence enough to agree with Adorno’s threadlike arguments
• I LIKE Colin Herd’s poem about Eva Longoria even though I don’t know who the hell she is: I’m not going to google her but will no doubt get told who she is subsequent to this review
• I LIKE to laugh; laughter is both the happiness and sadness of the people, our escapism and our warning
• I LIKE the way Colin Herd does détournement
• I LIKE to start my day with Nescafe (LIKE hell I do)
• I LIKE ‘LIKE’
Both from The Other Room, February 2nd 2011.
Reading:
Interview:
Ken Edwards submits to questioning about Reality Street at Rob McLennan’s blog, here.
Reviews and audio for Counting Backwards 5: Phil Davenport, James Davies, Helen Shanahan and Juxtavoices available here
The Crater Press is pleased to announce a new articulated double-sided broadside by Rob Holloway from his sequence-in-progress Flesh Rays. The pamph./side contains 7 brain-squeezers; here’s some explanation:
Crater XI samples from the early stages of Rob Holloway’s new prose sequence ‘FLESH RAYS’ that one day will stretch to 107 such sections. One sentence reads ‘All sun’s got inside breath, soft as a head without a ghost.’ Another, ‘Shift left red sun, I’m cutting out a girl of paper.’, so perhaps it’s all about the sun. Then again, we’re instructed to ‘Rinse roads as if bricks were still wrapped in their towels’ so best we head for the hills. The ‘two Asian women soldiers at Checkpoint Charlie’ mentioned in the section ‘Moulded Books’ are real. ‘Reassembling the central crabapple’ is the ultimate purpose of the sequence.
Exhibition Preview
BORN AFTER 1924
EXHIBITION PREVIEW: Thursday 17 February, 6-9pm – All Welcome!
EXHIBITION CONTINUES: 18 February to 10 April 2011
Tim Noble & Sue Webster Gregor Schneider
Ingo Gerken and invited artists: Matti Isan Blind, Madeleine Boschan, Rainer Ganahl, Antonia Low, Tim Noble & Sue Webster, Reto Pulfer, Gregor Schneider.
Castlefield Gallery is proud to present BORN AFTER 1924 project by German artist Ingo Gerken. Interpreting the contemporary legacy of the Merzbarn[1] and Kurt Schwitters in the UK, Castlefield Gallery has invited Gerken to respond to Schwitters’ Merz Magazine (issue 8/9) of 1924 called Nasci[2]. The theme of the magazine, Nasci, meaning ‘being born’ or ‘becoming’, was co-edited with Russian Constructivist artist El Lissitzky[3] forging an alliance of Dadaist and Constructivist ideals and included reproductions and texts by Vladimir Tatlin, George Braque, Man Ray, Piet Mondrian, Kazimir Malevich and Mies van der Rohe among others.
The exhibition will become a site-specific and physical manifestation of Gerken’s collages which will include other invited artists, from the UK and Germany as ‘articulations’ or ‘punctuations’ of his own practice thereby resulting in a group show.
[1] Kurt Schwitters’ (1887–1948) Merzbarn is located in a remote woodland in Cumbria and stands much as he left it, incomplete after his death in 1948. After considerable discussions about its future which involved the British pop artist Richard Hamilton, the surviving Merzbarn wall was removed for safe keeping and presented by its owner, Harry Pierce to Newcastle University Hatton Gallery in 1965, where it is now on public view. The Merzbarn building itself still survives and contains evidence of Schwitters’ original working methods and materials.
[2] Nasci is the Latin word for ‘nature’, ‘being born’ and ‘becoming’.
[3] El Lissitzky (1890 – 1941) was a Russian Constructivist designer and artist.
For further information please go to http://www.castlefieldgallery.co.uk
BORN AFTER 1924 is part of MERZMAN. MERZMAN is a city wide programme of exhibitions, performance and public events across Manchester exploring the contemporary legacy of Kurt Schwitters in North West England, coordinated by the Littoral Art’s Trust.
BORN AFTER 1924 is kindly supported by ATLAS Bar & Café; Manchester, Barefoot Wine’s and Mint Hotel; Manchester. Please join us for the BORN AFTER 1924 after preview party at ATLAS Bar & Café from 9pm, Thu 17 Feb 2011.
BORN AFTER 1924 visitors receive 10% of their total bill when ordering food at ATLAS Bar & Café.
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TALK
Tues 15 Feb, 11am
Ingo Gerken Talk
Location: The Whitworth Art Gallery, The University of Manchester http://www.whitworth.manchester.ac.uk
Coinciding with his exhibition BORN AFTER 1924 at Castlefield Gallery, Ingo Gerken will talk about this project and his wider practice.
FREE/BOOKING NOT REQUIRED
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PARTY & LIVE PERFORMANCE
Thurs 17 Feb, 9pm
BORN AFTER 1924 Launch Party & Mini MERZ Kabaret
Location: Atlas Bar, Deansgate, Manchester, M3 4LY
Celebrate the launch of BORN AFTER 1924 and Merzman with a live performance of Schwitters’ Ursonate sound poem by musician/composer Florian Kaplik and guests.
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TALK
Thurs 10 Mar, 6pm
Ian Hunter and artist David Medalla in conversation
The Spirit of MERZ: an interview and presentation by international artist David Medalla with Ian Hunter Director, Littoral Trust. http://www.merzman.co.uk
More on: David Medalla was born in Manila, Philippines in 1942 and is a pioneer of kinetic, land and live art. His work ranges from sculpture and kinetic art to painting, installation and performance art. He lives and works in London, New York and Paris.
More on: Littoral is a non-profit arts trust which promotes new creative partnerships, critical art practices and cultural strategies in response to issues about social, environmental and economic change.
FREE EVENT /BOOKING RECOMMENDED To book please call the gallery on 0161 832 8034 or email events@castlefieldgallery.co.uk with your contact details and number of places.
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TALK
Fri 18 Mar, 2pm
Artists’ Survival: Interview with Billy Childish
Ian Hunter Director, Littoral Trust will interview artist, poet, photographer and musician Billy Childish on working and living as an artist today. http://www.merzman.co.uk
More on: Billy Childish is a cult figure in America, Europe and Japan. A poet, musician and painter in 1999 Childish alongside Charles Thomson founded the Stuckism movement.
Sean Bonney runs the voodoo down at The Literateur, here.
You are invited to the… / Estáis invitados al…
Release of Alba London Magazine Issue nº1
On the 17th of February at 6.30pm at the Instituto Cervantes’ Auditorium.
Come along!
Tim Atkins, Gregorio Fonten, Alfonso Grez and Harry Gilonis will be reading their poems.
We will provide some wine!
For more information visit our website: http://www.albalondres.com
Cervantes Institute
102 Eaton Square, London SW1W 9AN, Reino Unido
+44 20 7235 0353
londres.cervantes.es
Looking forward to see you! Thanks for your support.
Lanzamiento revista Alba Londres
El día 17 de febrero a las 18:30h en el Auditorium del Instituto Cervantes.
¡Estáis invitados!
Tim Atkins, Gregorio Fontén, Alfonso Grez y Harry Gilonis nos leerán sus poemas y traducciones.
¡Habrá vino!
Para más información visitad nuestra web: http://www.albalondres.com
Cervantes Institute
102 Eaton Square, London SW1W 9AN, Reino Unido
+44 20 7235 0353
londres.cervantes.es
Os esperamos! Gracias por todo el apoyo.
New work from a whole lot of writers, including SJ Fowler, nick-e melville, Anatol Knotek and Stephen Nelson, whose work will be featured in this year’s Bury Text Festival.
Read it here
otherroom.org 