THE OTHER ROOM
Experimental poetry in ManchesterArchive for Steven Fowler
Maintenant #41 – Jón Örn Loðmfjörð
The poetry of Jón Örn Loðmfjörð can be quixotic, even caustic, yet he is undoubtedly a poet so utterly without pretension, with such an indelible sense of humour and a violent sense of satire, that we cannot help but feel reassured that poetry as a medium for criticism is alive and well in his hands. Moreover his is a poetry with a voice that is far more sophisticated than mere polemicism. The paradox is that he is hardly an optimistic poet in manner or guise, but yet the feeling we are left with is one of urbane rigour and integrity. The final poet to be featured in the Maintenant series who participated in our exceptional Icelandic reading program in November 2010, the work of Jón Örn Loðmfjörð was a revelation to all who witnessed it read in the Icelandic embassy and the Rich mix centre. In a typically frank interview we are extremely proud to present Jón Örn Loðmfjörð as the 41st edition of Maintenant
http://www.3ammagazine.com/3am/maintenant-41-jon-orn-lo%C3%B0mfjor%C3%B0/
Accompanying the interview are five of his poems.
http://www.3ammagazine.com/3am/five-poems-jon-orn-lo%C3%B0mfor%C3%B0/
Maintenant is a series of interviews with European poets by Steven Fowler, presented with selection of each poet’s work. Catch up with the previous ten below:
» Maintenant #40 – Sergej Timofejev
One of the most adventurous and groundbreaking poets in the Baltic, Latvia’s Sergej Timofejev is a fundamental part of the radical reconfiguration of his nation’s poetic culture and landscape in the last few decades. A urbane, grounded, naturalistic stylist, the power of his poetry has allowed him to implement numerous innovations in a region associated with formalism. Experiments with poetry and music / art installations / performance / video & even computer games, have seen his popularity soar in Latvia, though he remains a poet writing in the Russian language. In the 40th edition of Maintenant, Sergej Timofejev discusses the influence of Western culture, the healthy state of Latvian poetry and the reward of poetic collaborative innovation.
http://www.3ammagazine.com/3am/maintenant-40-sergej-timofejev/
Accompanying the interview are five of his poems.
Soundcloud Maintenant page
Recordings from the Icelandic embassy reading on 26th November 2010 featuring:
- Jeff Hilson & Audun Mortensen
- Sam Riviere
- Tamarin Norwood
- Chris Page
- Ragnhildur Jóhanns
- Bryndís Björgvinsdóttir
- Tim Atkins
- Jón Örn Loðmfjörð
- Patrick Coyle
- Holly Pester
- Eiríkur Örn Norðdahl
Maintenant #39 – Efe Duyan
Via Steven Fowler:
Maintenant #38 – Volya Hapeyeva
Maintenant #35 – Ragnhildur Jóhanns
Celebrating the third Maintenant reading of 2010 we introduce Ragnhildur Jóhanns, one of four innovative Icelandic poets to read at the Rich Mix arts centre in London on November 27th, and one of the most exciting and elastic poetic talents to emerge in Europe over the last few years. A unique craftswoman, she is a sculptural, visual and physical poet, unhindered by convention. She works with text, with performance but seeks to create poetic objects, pure concrete poems, that is literally fashioning books out of her work and embodying the text. Fulfilling our remit to introduce poets who will undoubtedly rise to prominence in the next few decades and who refuse to be limited by what has come before, for the 35th Maintenant interview, Ragnhildur Jóhanns.
http://www.3ammagazine.com/3am/maintenant-35-ragnhildur-johanns/
http://www.3ammagazine.com/3am/ten-poems-ragnhildur-johanns/
Maintenant catch up and Iceland reading
Maintenant 32
An interview with the Slovenian poet, Primož Čučnik, the 32nd subject of the 3am magazine interview series centred on contemporary European poets. The interview is also accompanied by two poems.
http://www.3ammagazine.com/3am/maintenant-32-primoz-cucnik/
http://www.3ammagazine.com/3am/two-poems-primoz-cucnik/
Maintenant 31
An interview with the Norwegian poet, Paal Bjelke Andersen, the 31st subject of the 3am magazine interview series centred on contemporary European poets and the fourth and final Norwegian poet featured as part of the series to celebrate the Maintenant: Ny Poesi readings held in London recently at the Poetry Cafe & the Rich mix arts centre. The interview is also accompanied by five pieces of poetry translated into English specifically for the readings & interview.
http://www.3ammagazine.com/3am/maintenant-31-paal-bjelke-andersen/
http://www.3ammagazine.com/3am/five-poems-paal-bjelke-andersen/
Maintenant 30
An interview with the Danish poet, Martin Glaz Serup, the 30th subject of the 3am magazine interview series centred on contemporary European poets. An extraordinary poet, children’s author and critic, included with the interview are seven excerpts from his remarkable work The Traffic Is Unreal translated by Thomas E. Kennedy.
http://www.3ammagazine.com/3am/maintenant-30-martin-glaz-serup/
http://www.3ammagazine.com/3am/seven-poems-martin-glaz-serup/
Maintenant 29
An interview with the Russian-born British poet, Annie Katchinska, the 29th subject of the 3am magazine interview series centred on contemporary European poets. An extraordinary talent, she is one of the very brightest stars emerging in the UK. Included with the interview are three of her poems.
http://www.3ammagazine.com/3am/maintenant-29-annie-katchinska/
http://www.3ammagazine.com/3am/three-poems-annie-katchinska/
Icelandic & British Poetry in collaboration
3am magazine’s Maintenant interview series presents Icelandic & British Poetry in collaboration at the Rich mix
(35 – 47 Bethnal Green Road, London. E1 6LA)
Saturday November 27th – 7pm – Entrance free
Iain Sinclair & Ragnhildur Jóhanns / Eirkur Örn Norðdahl & Stewart Home
Scott Thurston & Bryndís Björgvinsdóttir / Jón Örn Loðmfjörð & Tom Jenks
zimZalla object 006
zimZalla object 006, Klitschko, an A3 poster poem by SJ Fowler, is now available. Visit the zimZalla site for details.
Soho Curzon Poetry Reading – SJ Fowler – October Wednesday 6th 7pm
A release of five SJ Fowler publications by four presses Zimzalla / Knives Forks & Spoons press / Kitt press / Arthur Shilling press (http://www.zimzalla.co.uk) (http://www.knivesforksandspoonspress.co.uk) (http://www.kittpress.com) (http://arthur-shilling-press.blogspot.com) Wednesday October 6th 2010 ~ 7pm ~ Entrance free the Soho Curzon cinema, Mezzanine bar
99 Shaftesbury Avenue London W1D 5DY 0871 703 3988
A unique collaborative poetry event featuring the presence of the four of the UK’s most vital and productive publishing organisations. The event will feature a forty-minute reading from SJ Fowler and a sales table with work from the list of each of the presses.
SJ Fowler is one of the most prolific and inventive young poets emerging in Britain. A formidable reader, his poetry is concerned with the latency of aggression in passive cultures, and the violence of the banal. A devotee of boxing, his symbolic engagement with the combative arts lends his writing an assailing immediacy. Concurrently antagonistic and innovative, his poetry is distinct and affecting whether spoken or read from the page – Robert Sutcliffe (editor of Kitt press)
Kitt press present Saint Augustine of Hippo
A poetic / pictorial collaboration with the artist David Kelly, the book is a love letter to Augustine’s secular lust and apparently disingenuous commitment to chastity. The fragmented abstract of an Augustine icon permeates the poetry.
The Knives forks Spoons press present Arthur Abraham
Ten poems in celebration of the German / Armenian boxer recall the tonality of epic Anglo-Saxon poetry run through the grinder of avant-garde documentation.
Kitt press present Animal Husbandry
A series of poems written in response to the Rorschach inkblot paintings of Sian Williams. Each is a meditation on the novelty of this psychological test and the supposed inevitability of its response – an invocation of the sexualized female form.
Arthur Shilling press presents Antonio Margarito
A poetry cycle dedicated to the Mexican boxer banned for loading his gloves with Plaster of Paris, the poems evoke Aztec ritual invocations and Beat-esque free verse ecstatics.
ZimZalla presents Klitschko
Zimzalla object number 6 is a boxing poster designed by SJ Fowler in the manner of the Vienna group concrete poets. Mixing heavy blocked type with irreverent commentaries on the nature of punching people in the face for a living.
Maintenant #27 – Zvonko Karanović
Juan Andrés García Román
Via Steven Fowler:
An interview with the Spanish poet, the first Spaniard to be featured in Maintenant, Juan Andrés García Román, the 26th subject of the 3am magazine interview series centred on contemporary European poets. Four of his poems are also included. An exceptional interview by an exceptional poet.
http://www.3ammagazine.com/3am/maintenant-26-juan-andres-garcia-roman
http://www.3ammagazine.com/3am/four-poems-juan-andres-garcia-roman
We can happily announce that November Saturday 27th will feature our third Maintenant reading in London at the Rich mix centre in 2010. From Iceland we will welcome Ragnhildur Jóhanns / Eiríkur Örn Norðdahl / Bryndís Björgvinsdóttir / Jón Örn Loðmfjörð. As part of the event, the four poets from Iceland will collaborate to produce work with four poets from Britain and we can announce those participants too – Iain Sinclair / Stewart Home / Scott Thurston / Tom Jenks.
It’s Nice That
“It’s Nice That curate, publish and direct the finest work and practitioners from across the creative industry. Since setting up in April 2007, we have remained dedicated to staying up to date with studios and individuals and discovering new talent from all over the world, adding to our online archive daily.
itsnicethat.com, has evolved into a well populated and respected online platform, viewed by an ever expanding audience of over 90,000 visitors every month, looking for their daily fix of inspiration and reference. From it’s online home, It’s Nice That has evolved into some broader ventures, including a biannual publication, as well as a curated series of talks and a weekly podcast series.
Alongside publishing regular content, It’s Nice That also run a creative studio. Drawing on their awareness, It’s Nice That art direct relevant practitioners for both big and small companies, helping them speak to a relevant audience.”
Ny Poesi
Ny Poesi: 3am magazine’s Maintenant interview series presents New Norwegian Poetry at the Rich mix (35 – 47 Bethnal Green Road, London. E1 6LA)
Saturday September 25th – 7pm – Entrance free to all
Jenny Hval / Endre Ruset / Paal Bjelke Andersen / Audun Mortensen
A free evening of International poetry and performance from four of the most vibrant and resounding young poetic talents in a grand Scandinavian tradition. Hval, Ruset, Mortensen and Andersen belong to a generation of poets that measure the sophistication of literary poetry with the groundbreaking developments of the avant-garde poetic practise and performance. This reading will feature poets who have already gained prominence for their originality and power, and seemlessly engage the boundaries of what poetry can and should become as we reconfigure poetry as song, as lyric, as art and text.
The event will also see the release of a one off special publication from Knives Forks and Spoons press featuring poetic collaborations between the visiting Norwegian poets and Jeff Hilson, Sean Bonney, Agnes Lehoczky and Sam Riviere.
Jenny Hval – http://www.myspace.com/rockettothesky
Audun Mortensen – http://www.audunmortensen.com/
Endre Ruset – http://www.3ammagazine.com/3am/maintenant-16-%e2%80%93-endre-ruset/
Paal Bjelke Andersen – http://nypoesi.net/
In association with NORLA and the Norwegian embassy in London.
Special thanks to Susanne Christensen, Andrine Pollen, Anne Ulset, Judith Palmer, Oliver Carruthers, Øyvind Rimbereid & Caroline Bergvall.
Reillumination
The second of Steven Fowler’s article series with Nthposition.com focused on unjustly overlooked European poets. This edition focused on the Russian Absurdist Daniil Kharms. It also features three small poem fragments.
Maintenant
The 3AM magazine interview series continues with more conversation with and work from contemporary European poets. The 24th interview and selection of poetry features Norwegian poet Audun Mortensen. Numbers 21, 22 and 23 feature German poet Marco Kunz, Greek poet Kostas Koutsourelis and Croatian poet Ana Božičević.
Maintenant #20 – Adam Zdrodowski
From Steven Fowler:
An interview with the Polish poet, Adam Zdrodowski, the 20th subject of the 3am magazine interview series centred on contemporary European poets.
Three of his poems are also included.
http://www.3ammagazine.com/3am/maintenant-20-adam-zdrodowski/
http://www.3ammagazine.com/3am/three-poems-adam-zdrodowski/
The entire Maintenant series can be viewed here.
We have now confirmed the date of the next Maintenant reading for Saturday September 25th at the Rich Mix arts centre near Brick Lane in London. The event will feature Norwegian poets. More details to follow. http://www.richmix.org.uk/
Maintenant #19 – Krystalli Glyniadakis
An interview with the Greek poet, Krystalli Glyniadakis, the 19th subject of the 3am magazine interview series centred on contemporary European poets.
Five of her poems are also included.
http://www.3ammagazine.com/3am/maintenant-19-krystalli-glyniadakis/
http://www.3ammagazine.com/3am/five-poems-krystalli-glyniadakis/
The entire Maintenant series can be viewed here – www.maintenant.co.uk
3am magazine presents contemporary Romanian poetry
Via Steven Fowler:
3am magazine presents contemporary Romanian poetry – Elena Vladareanu, Ruxandra Novac and Adrian Urmanov.
The Rich Mix arts centre, London (Shoreditch / Brick Lane) – Saturday May 29th – 7pm – Entrance free to all www.richmix.org.uk
For the first of the Maintenant interview series readings 3am magazine presents three of the most exciting and acerbic contemporary poets emerging from Romania since the millenium. Challenging, caustic and resolute, their poetry retains the dark humour so prevalent under dictatorship with the utterly modern vernacular of a generation that has come to fruition post-1989. Attacks on misogyny, sexual repression, political idealism and linguistic correctness are interspersed with exactingly crafted free poetry, literary and resounding, distinct for it’s energy and image, and despite a textual tendency to the climactic, this reading will remain very much literary in style. Performing as part of a national tour, this is a chance to see the brightest young talent from a distinct and vivid European poetical tradition.
Selections of their work have recently been published by Cleaves Journal http://www.cleavesjournal.com/issue2/romania/romania2.htm.
Interviews with each poet are available here at 3am, Cadaverine and Pomegranate magazines respectively.
http://www.3ammagazine.com/3am/maintenant-2-elena-vladareanu/
http://www.pomegranate.me.uk/submission/read/well-sing-for-the-third-millenium-an-interview-with-ruxandra-novac
http://web.mac.com/thecadaverine/Site/Interviews/Entries/2010/2/3_Adrian_Urmanov.html
Maintenant live event
To mark the tenth edition of the Maintenant interview series…
The 3am magazine Maintenant series aims to evidence, through discussion with Europe’s most exceptional young poets, the continued pertinence of poetry for a new generation of talent from a diverse selection of European poetic traditions. The interviews, and the poetry that accompanies them, have shown the slow dissolution of stylistic recalcitrance, internal bias to gender and race, methodological snobbery and poetical jingoism. The fusion of poetic expression inevitable in a world of increased communication, access and political freedom is remarkable and cause for optimism where so often there is pessimism in poetry circles. The range and depth of poetry on display, and it’s standard, is a small representation of what each nation is producing.
The Maintenant dictum is to introduce poets that might lie outside of the Anglo-American scene, or be overlooked until they have reached the prominence of middle age. Though not an orthodoxy, we also aim to introduce poets who might be considered experimental or seminal.
The series is published each Sunday at www.3ammagazine.com and features an extensive interview coupled with a selection of poetry of the poet’s choosing in English translation. The first ten editions can be found below, with links to both interview and poetry.
The first Maintenant reading to accompany the series will take place Saturday May 29th at the Rich Mix arts centre in London, located near Brick Lane. www.richmix.org.uk Three Romanian poets – Adrian Urmanov, Ruxandra Novac and maintenant featured Elena Vladareanu will be in attendance to read recent work. Entrance is free and the event begins at 7pm.
More about Maintenant here.
