New issue of Action Yes

The new issue of Action, Yes is up, featuring a Canadian poetry section curated by moi. You will find the work of a.rawlings, Jason Christie, Ray Hsu, Chantal Neveu, Angela Szczepaniak, gleN robsoN, Sonnet L'Abbé, cris costa, Daniel Canty, François Turcot, Hector Ruiz, Angela Carr, Sarah Dowling, Jenny Sampirisi, Jordan Scott, Darren Wershler-Henry and Bill Kennedy. François Turcot and Hector Ruiz were translated by moi. Daniel Canty translated himself. Chantal Neveu had several people translate her (there is also a video performance of her reading of d'après mentale online somewhere (it's in my bookmarks)).

It's obviously not meant to be representative of Canadian poetry, but a selection of people I know and the people they know (for this, big thanks to a.rawlings. There are many more people I would have loved to have included (Donato Mancini, Nathalie Stephens, Oana Avasilichioaei who with Angela Szczepaniak has the coolest name, Aaron Peck, derek beaulieu, Larissa Lai, Sina Queyras and many many more). There was also an instant messenging interview that a.rawlings and I wanted to conduct. It obviously didn't happen, mostly for technical reasons (a. being in Iceland or Belgium, me not having a computer between April and September). Anyway, I hear this is the first time (if not, one of the rare times) where French- and English-language Canadian poets are featured together.

The issue also features the work of Anne Lesley Selcer, Scott Abels, Maureem Alsop, Kathleen Anderen, Takako Arai (tr. Jeffrey Angles), Rachel Gontijo Araujo, Cara Benson, Megan Martin and others.

Link Post

Amy Trachtenberg has a new book.
October 15 Thursday 7PM Free
TRACKING GROUNDWORK: Making the Process Legible
AMY TRACHTENBERG and her project GROUNDWORK

With a series of notebook sketches, models and photographic source materials, the book Groundwork details San Francisco-based artist Amy Trachtenberg's process for her award-winning public art project Groundwork, at the new San Jose Public Library. The book contains essays by writers Rebecca Solnit and Mary Burger, Solnit offering a meditation on the associations of library, language, forest; and Burger interpreting Groundwork in the tradition of public artworks commemoration of labor history. Amy Trachtenberg will discuss the process of conceptualizing a permanent public artwork and making it legible to the viewer and reader through a publication.

1680 Market Street @ Gough San Francisco

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Alex de Campi writes about her new sequential project, Valentine, over at Bleeding Cool.

Why "sequential project" and not the more common terms "graphic novel" or "comic book"? Only because the project lacks a binding for now, so it seems silly to talk about a book. I am also puzzled by the term "graphic novel" in that it tries to legitimize through literary means a form that does not need to be so.

Oh, and I am one of the translators Alex is mentioning in the article.

Jordan Scott at nonsite

Jordan Scott and Donato Mancini came all the way from Vancouver to read at the Right Window Gallery at Artist Television Access.

Jordan also gave a talk at the nonsite collective. Anne Lesley Selcer's introductory remarks are posted here. Jordan's notes will be posted later.

NONSITE || Aesthetics as Somatic Practice: A Talk with Jordan Scott (author of Blert)

Anne Lesley and I are facilitating this event:

If you're in the Bay Area, join the Nonsite Collective on Saturday afternoon, October 3, for a discussion around Aesthetics as Somatic Practice with Canadian poet Jordan Scott, author of Blert (Coach House).

Blert suggests that language originates in the mouth. So how is language different for the person who stutters? Canadian poet Jordan Scott sustains one answer in his latest book length work, and in doing so, offers a possibility for language writing that is attached to the body.

3:30 - 6 PM at 935 Natoma Street in San Francisco

(btwn. 10th and 11th and btwn. Mission and Howard)

Close to Van Ness and Market (Muni) or Civic Center (BART)

from Blert:

"Jaw flex slate; tip crabs, techno as a Tourette tide spaz. A labyrinth, a game. Calcites glut. Cheliped sound lattice. A single storey of an L shape with one leg ending in a large glass conservatory" (50).

"Of my mouth and me. Of other people’s mouth and me. Of fluency and me. Of me and my mouth. Of me and other people’s fluent mouths. Of me and fluentcy. My mouth and me" (48).

http://epc.buffalo.edu/authors/scott/

Jordan Scott will be reading together with Donato Mancini and Lisa Robertson as part of the opening for Right Window's new show, Punctuation, on Sunday, October 4, 4 PM, at 992 Valencia Street in San Francisco.

More info here.

Poets Basketball

Part of the Deep Oakland project. Took place last June near Lake Merritt in Oakland.

First half

Poets Basketball: First Half from Deep Oakland on Vimeo.

Half-time interviews

Halftime Interviews from Deep Oakland on Vimeo.

Second half

Poets Basketball: Second Half from Deep Oakland on Vimeo.

Wrap Up

post-game wrap-up from Deep Oakland on Vimeo.

Rematch this Sunday, apparently...

Urbanités Littéraires

Anne Lesley, Sitka and I will be heading to Buffalo tomorrow for this event:

In the fall 2009, SUNY - BUFFALO in collaboration with the European journal Formules is sponsoring on the UB campus a bi-lingual international Colloquium entitled "Urbanités Littéraires / Cityscapes - Literary Escapes." The goal of the conference is to study the relationship between writing and the urban environment, and specify interactive engagements between literature, architecture, and urbanism. We have planned eight academic panels.

To read the abstracts of the communications go to : www.ieeff.org/cityscapesabstracts.html

Anne Lesley will be presenting a paper there.

Superman supports healthcare reform

Via Gerry Canavan

Sitka cried after hearing Tony Hoagland's Galleria poem in Poetry. I just went "Oh, Tony, you didn't!" No more Hoagland for Sitka. Mind you, her first poetry reading was Vanessa Place and Peter Culley at 21 Grand. Anne Lesley says Sitka likes Kurt Schwitters best.

Hip-hop D

Thinking about something Australian filmmaker David Cox said at the T-10 video festival last Thursday, about the rise of video-capable cellphones as a way to democratize filmmaking and a way to remain outside of the spectacle. Not to mention the greater availability of cheap-ish video camera (nevermind that I remain skeptical about being able to remain outside of the spectacle and about this utopian thought about technology. $199 is still a lot of money for some). Technique and (video) resolution is not what matters. What matters is that everyone can do it.

Thinking about the prospect irate letters regarding the flarf/conceptual issue of Poetry and the various reactions against flarf/conceptual poetry in various listserv (e.g., accusation of elitism etc.). All of which misses the point. One of the possibilities of flarf is that everyone can write poetry. Style and talent do not matter. Access to Google is not even necessary.

Think of Gary Sullivan's comic book Elsewhere.

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Having a look at Paul Celan's translation output. He threw himself into the Seine around 50, having translated 45 poets from French, German, English, Romanian and Russian. Some of whom might not have been lifelong commitments (Shakespeare).

I'm not even close to that.