Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Thursday, April 01, 2010
Monday, March 29, 2010
Rest Cure by Sandra Ridley (Apt. 9 Press, 2009)
to begin, a small word about Apt. 9 Press. so far there have been 7 limited edition chapbooks: 6 poetry and 1 fiction; 6 from Ottawa, 1 from Toronto. the quality of the production is excellent: stitched binding, fine paper, cellophane wrapped for the collector. the offerings have been eclectic and representative of the skill and creativity of Ottawa (and a Toronto) writers.
what i want when i read poetry is to be spellbound by images and sound. Rest Cure accomplishes this for me. in minimal and carefully chosen language, Ridley mesmerizes, evoking the character of a poorly woman with language that is reminiscent of a bygone era. each poem pays heed to the senses; when necessary, Ridley troubles syntax , but not in a heavy-handed way, just wee nudges that slow down the momentum. lines are built and broken based on rhythm, image, sound. Ridley has given us mood, tone and enough exquisite detail to allow us to be compelled by this character, but she hasn’t gone overboard. she’s given us space to fill in for ourselves. this is an excerpt from a longer manuscript called Post-Apothecary. Rest Cure satisfies like a curative elixir, yet leaves us craving another draught.
i.
Before running on nightshade & wormwood in a topiary maze.
Before hawthorn punctures her arm : poison tipped.
Before a peck of stones, she handpicks or pockets,
she is camphor-doused
& blinded
by a fold of wool : wet & held tight to her eyes.
Before his screen & clips & the red light & darkening, his hands pressed
forward
to his switchboard & mirror : apparatus of the in-out & charged.
Before her fluoroscopic diapositive &
the smell of two kinds of heat.
Nothing left hidden in her body.
Before & after, there is only this : four corners to a room
& the others pounding at the door.
what i want when i read poetry is to be spellbound by images and sound. Rest Cure accomplishes this for me. in minimal and carefully chosen language, Ridley mesmerizes, evoking the character of a poorly woman with language that is reminiscent of a bygone era. each poem pays heed to the senses; when necessary, Ridley troubles syntax , but not in a heavy-handed way, just wee nudges that slow down the momentum. lines are built and broken based on rhythm, image, sound. Ridley has given us mood, tone and enough exquisite detail to allow us to be compelled by this character, but she hasn’t gone overboard. she’s given us space to fill in for ourselves. this is an excerpt from a longer manuscript called Post-Apothecary. Rest Cure satisfies like a curative elixir, yet leaves us craving another draught.
i.
Before running on nightshade & wormwood in a topiary maze.
Before hawthorn punctures her arm : poison tipped.
Before a peck of stones, she handpicks or pockets,
she is camphor-doused
& blinded
by a fold of wool : wet & held tight to her eyes.
Before his screen & clips & the red light & darkening, his hands pressed
forward
to his switchboard & mirror : apparatus of the in-out & charged.
Before her fluoroscopic diapositive &
the smell of two kinds of heat.
Nothing left hidden in her body.
Before & after, there is only this : four corners to a room
& the others pounding at the door.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Gary Barwin in The A B Series
A B SERIES PRESENTS
GARY BARWIN READING
SATURDAY, MARCH 27, 2010
7PM DOORS OPEN
7:30PM PERFORMANCE
MERCURY LOUNGE
56 ByWard Market Square
Ottawa
$7 admission at the door / $5 for people with low income
ABSERIES.ORG
We welcome to The A B Series stage, Hamilton writer, poet and composer GARY BARWIN. He gives a feature reading, which will last one hour. The event takes place in The Mercury Lounge at 56 ByWard Market Square in Ottawa; doors open at 7pm and the reading starts at 7:30. Barwin is a writer well known for giving entertaining and engaging readings of his fiction and poetry. Barwin's readings combine high artistry with a sharp sense of humour.
Barwin's music and writing have been published and presented in Canada, the USA, Japan and Europe. He has a PhD in Music Composition from The State University of New York at Buffalo. His work has been commissioned and broadcast by the CBC. His third poetry collection from Coach House Books,The Porcupinity of the Stars, will be published later this year. Barwin's chapbook,Inverting the Deer, was a co-winner of the 2009 bpNichol Chapbook Award.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Poetry at the Writers Festival
Mayfair Theatre, 1074 Bank St. (at Sunnyside)
Saturday, April 24, 2010
6:30pm: Spotlight on Talon Poetry:
derek beaulieu, Weyman Chan, Frank Davey, George Bowering
8:30pm: House of Anansi Poetry Bash:
Michael Lista, Suzanne Buffam, Steven Heighton
Monday, April 26, 2010
8:00pm: Poetry Cabaret
Rachel Zolf, Jesse Ferguson, Erin Moure, Gregory Scofield
Tickets: $15 ($10 student or senior; free for festival members)
Tel. 613 562 1243
www.writersfestival.org
Saturday, April 24, 2010
6:30pm: Spotlight on Talon Poetry:
derek beaulieu, Weyman Chan, Frank Davey, George Bowering
8:30pm: House of Anansi Poetry Bash:
Michael Lista, Suzanne Buffam, Steven Heighton
Monday, April 26, 2010
8:00pm: Poetry Cabaret
Rachel Zolf, Jesse Ferguson, Erin Moure, Gregory Scofield
Tickets: $15 ($10 student or senior; free for festival members)
Tel. 613 562 1243
www.writersfestival.org
Tuesday, March 02, 2010
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
ROGUE STIMULUS: The Ottawa launch
Launch of the poetry anthology inspired by the Prime Minister's prorogation of Parliament.
Doors: 5:45pm
Start: 6:00 pm
Gallery 101
301 1/2 Bank Street
EARLIER - Rogue Stimulus on Parliament Hill!
At 2pm, join speakers, poets and performers together in a lighthearted protest against the prorogation of Parliament.
see: http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=331179216179&ref=mf
AFTER - the Rogue Stimulus launch, stay on site at Gallery 101 for an A B Series presentation of music by Call Me Katie and a feature poetry reading by Monty Reid!
http://ABSERIES.ORG
Rogue Stimulus
Edited by Stephen Brockwell and Stuart Ross
When Prime Minister Stephen Harper prorogued Parliament (for the second time in a year!) on December 30, 2009, he punted many vital bills into oblivion. But he also inspired hundreds of poems after Mansfield Press announced this government-toppling anthology. This book gathers a range of responses—from outrage to slapstick—by acclaimed poets (including Canada’s first Parliamentary Poet Laureate and several winners of the Governor General’s Award for Poetry), previously unpublished poets and, to paraphrase Stephen Harper, ordinary working Canadians.
Featuring poems by:
Sandra Alland ✺ Larissa Andrusyshyn ✺ Steven Artelle ✺ Tara Azzopardi ✺ Jonathan Ball ✺ Gary Barwin ✺ derek beaulieu & Andrew Topel ✺ Jonathan Bennett ✺ George Bowering ✺ Shannon Bramer ✺ Stephen Brockwell ✺ Mike Buckthought ✺ Alice Burdick ✺ Stephen Cain ✺ Chris Chambers ✺ George Elliott Clarke ✺ Stewart Cole ✺ Claudia Coutu Radmore ✺ Linda Lee Crosfield ✺ Michael Dennis ✺ Ann Diamond ✺ Adam Dickinson ✺ Christopher Doda ✺ Mark D Dunn ✺ Amanda Earl ✺ Hermann Eberl ✺ Amatoritsero Ede ✺ Maureen Egan ✺ Chris Faiers ✺ Laura Farina ✺ Andrew Faulkner ✺ Jesse Patrick Ferguson ✺ Laurie Fuhr ✺ Patrick Gass ✺ yaqoob ghaznavi ✺ David Greer ✺ Gwendolyn Guth ✺ Nathan Hauch ✺ Jamie Hawes ✺ Jason Heroux ✺ Joanna Lilley ✺ James Lindsay ✺ Jeanettes Lynes ✺ Nyla Matuk ✺ clay mccann ✺ Marcus McCann ✺ christine mcnair ✺ Peter McPhee ✺ kevin mcpherson eckhoff ✺ Bruce Meyer ✺ George Murray ✺ Leigh Nash ✺ Lillian Necakov ✺ Fraser Nelund ✺ The Poets of Nova Institution ✺ Vincent Ponka ✺ K.I. Press ✺ Robert Priest ✺ Michael Eden Reynolds ✺ Stan Rogal ✺ Joe Rosenblatt ✺ Stuart Ross ✺ Ingrid Ruthig ✺ Jeremy Sandler ✺ Greg Santos ✺ Brenda Schmidt ✺ Guy Simser ✺ Jim Smith✺ H. Masud Taj ✺ Daniel Scott Tysdal ✺ Priscila Uppal ✺ Steve Venright
http://www.mansfieldpress.net/Titles/rogue_stimulus.html
Friday, January 22, 2010
Christian Bök lecture at Carleton
Christian Bök
"Be Okay with an Umlaut-(A Grand Tour through the Work of Christian Bök)"
Munro Beattie Lecture 2009-2010
hosted by the Department of English, Carleton University
Thursday, March 4th 7:30pm
360 Tory Building
Free Public Lecture
Reception to follow
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Thursday, January 07, 2010
Bywords Warms the Night
Bywords Warms the Night: Fund Raiser for the Cornerstone Women's Shelter
Sunday, January 17, 2010-2pm
Dusty Owl Reading Series
Swizzles, 246-B Queen St.
Contact info: Amanda Earl: amanda@bywords.ca tel. 613 868 1364
Launch of the winter issue of the Bywords Quarterly Journal with poetry readings by Stephen de Paul, Mike Fralic, Anna Lee, Christine McNair,Luminita Suse and Bywords' editors Jamie Bradley, Amanda Earl, Vanessa Davies, Claudia Coutu Radmore, Carol A Stephen, JC Sulzenko
& music by Anna Lee.
Sunday, January 17, 2010-2pm
Dusty Owl Reading Series
Swizzles, 246-B Queen St.
Contact info: Amanda Earl: amanda@bywords.ca tel. 613 868 1364
Launch of the winter issue of the Bywords Quarterly Journal with poetry readings by Stephen de Paul, Mike Fralic, Anna Lee, Christine McNair,Luminita Suse and Bywords' editors Jamie Bradley, Amanda Earl, Vanessa Davies, Claudia Coutu Radmore, Carol A Stephen, JC Sulzenko
& music by Anna Lee.
Donors receive a free copy of the BQJ.
photo by Justin Van Leeuwen
Friday, December 04, 2009
John Barlow & Pearl Pirie read in The A B Series -- December 11, 2009
The A B Series hosts, on the same bill, a rare reading by Toronto poet John Barlow and a reading by beloved Ottawa poet Pearl Pirie.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Doors open at 7:30pm
Readings at 8 and 9pm
The Mercury Lounge
56 ByWard Market Square (upstairs)
Ottawa, Ont.
$7 admission ($5 students/seniors)
JOHN BARLOW began publishing poetry in magazines and journals in the 1980s. Barlow has authored three collections of poetry, each published by Exile Editions, Safe Telepathy, ASHINEoVSUN and ASHINEoVSUN II. He published a CD/booklet with Balmer Press titled The UFOs of South Toronto and a chapbook with Laurel Reed titled Minus 45: Some Days in Winter and a LYRICALMYRICAL Editions book, Poems and Films.
PEARL PIRIE has been writing for a couple decades, mostly in or around Ottawa. She does haiku and visual, corpus-based poetry, form and formless. She has been published at ditch,, Ottawater and by AngelHouse Press. Her last chapbook bOATHouse came out from above/ground press in 2008. She blogs for the Ottawa Poetry Newsletter and for herself at pesbo and Humanyms.
**
As part of the event, there will be a raffle draw with prizes that include copies of 'The Wrong World: Selected Stories & Essays by Bertram Brooker' edited and with an introduction by Gregory Betts/published by The University of Ottawa Press.
We'll be accepting book donations at this event for Ottawa's Booth Centre and the programs they run to assist homeless and other underprivileged people. Books will be accepted at the door for later distribution at the Booth Centre.
Monday, November 23, 2009
Monday, October 26, 2009
JOE ROSENBLATT in The A B Series / 2 Readings
The A B Series presents two readings by Governor General's Award winning poet, Joe Rosenblatt.
Doors open 7:30pm
Reading at 8pm
Friday, November 13th, 2009
Gallery 101
301 1/2 Bank Street (upstairs)
Ottawa, Ont.
$5 admission
Books by Joe Rosenblatt will be available for sale and signing
Cash bar
Over the course of a literary career spanning more than four decades, Rosenblatt has authored twenty books and his poems have appeared in over thirty anthologies of Canadian poetry. He has received major awards such as the Governor General's Award in 1976 and the BC Book Award in 1986.
Reading at 8pm
Friday, November 13th, 2009
Gallery 101
301 1/2 Bank Street (upstairs)
Ottawa, Ont.
$5 admission
Books by Joe Rosenblatt will be available for sale and signing
Cash bar
Over the course of a literary career spanning more than four decades, Rosenblatt has authored twenty books and his poems have appeared in over thirty anthologies of Canadian poetry. He has received major awards such as the Governor General's Award in 1976 and the BC Book Award in 1986.
And joining Rosenblatt in performance, Ottawa poet Andree Christensen reads in French from her translations of Rosenblatt's work that appear in the book 'Parrot Fever / Le perroquet fâcheux' (Les Editions du Vermillon).
Copies of 'Parrot Fever / Le perroquet fâcheux' available on site for sale and signing.
Saturday, November 14th, 2009
Doors open 6:30pm
Reading at 7pm
Art-image
855 boul. de la Gappe
Gatineau, Québec
t: 819-243-2345 ext. 2528
Free (a hat will be passed)
Bilingual presentation
For more information on this and other events in The A B Series, please visit:
ABSERIES.ORG
Max Middle
Artistic Director
The A B Series
Tel: (613) 237 4309
director at abseries dot org
The A B Series gratefully acknowledges the support of The Canada Council for these events.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
SOIRÉE POÉSIE de AB Series à Art-image avec Joe ROSENBLATT, récipiendaire du Prix du Gouverneur Général
Également en performance, la poète ottavienne Andrée CHRISTENSEN qui fera la lecture en français de ses traductions du travail de ROSENBLATT, se retrouvant dans le livre « Parrot Fever / Le perroquet fâcheux » aux Éditions du Vermillon. Des copies du livre seront disponible sur place pour vente et dédicace.
QUAND : Le samedi 14 novembre 2009
HEURE : Les portes ouvriront à 18 h 30
La lecture commencera à 19 h
OÙ : Centre d'exposition Art-image
Maison de la culture de Gatineau
855, boul. de la Gappe
Gatineau, Qc
819-243-2325
COÛT : Gratuit (un chapeau sera passé)
Présentation bilingue
Joe Rosenblatt est l'auteur de plus de 20 recueils de poésie et de plusieurs ouvrages autobiographiques. Au cours de ses 40 ans de carrière, ses poèmes ont figuré dans plus de 30 anthologies de poésie canadienne. Il a reçu d'importantes récompenses telles que le Prix du Gouverneur Général de poésie en 1976 et le BC Book Prize en 1986.
Pour plus d'information sur cette soirée et les autres événements de AB Series, veuillez visiter le site web :
ABSERIES.ORG
Max Middle
Directeur artistique
la série A B
Tel: (613) 237 4309
director@abseries.org
The A B Series remercie le Conseil des Arts du Canada pour ces événements.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Congratulations Marcus McCann
Marcus is the winner of Bywords' 2009 John Newlove Poetry Award for his poem Noise (from "Busy") published on Bywords.ca in February, 2009.
Congratulations also to the three honourable mentions:
A House with the Door Never Locked by Sylvia Adams
My Youth Machine-rolled, Smoked to Its Stub by Leanne Averbach
What I Remember of The Wars by Spencer Gordon
This year's judge was Stephanie Bolster.
For further information on the John Newlove Poetry Award, please go to www.bywords.ca and click on Newlove Award.
Congratulations also to the three honourable mentions:
A House with the Door Never Locked by Sylvia Adams
My Youth Machine-rolled, Smoked to Its Stub by Leanne Averbach
What I Remember of The Wars by Spencer Gordon
This year's judge was Stephanie Bolster.
For further information on the John Newlove Poetry Award, please go to www.bywords.ca and click on Newlove Award.
Thursday, October 08, 2009
Poetry highlights at the Ottawa International Writers Festival Fall Edition
October 20, 2009 (not part of the festival but close enough), 8pm
City of Ottawa Book Awards and Arc Magazine’s Lampman-Scott Prize
Library and Archives Canada
Two poetry books are up for the Book Awards:
Colin Morton, The Local Cluster (Pecan Grove Press)
David O’Meara, Noble Gas, Penny Black (Brick Books)
Lampman-Scott Award Finalists are Brenda Leifso for Daughters of Men (London, ON: Brick Books, 2008), David O’Meara for Noble Gas Penny Black (London, ON: Brick Books, 2008), and Monty Reid for The Luskville Reductions (London, ON: Brick Books, 2008).
The Writers Festival events take place at Saint Brigid’s Centre for the Arts and Humanities, 314 St. Patrick St.
October 21, 2009, 8:30 pm
6th Annual Bywords John Newlove Poetry Award
Launch of Rob Friday’s chapbook, “One Man Parade”
Announcement of winner and honourable mentions with readings.
Music by Call Me Katie
October 22, 2009
2pm-MASTERCLASS: THE POETRY OF COLLISION With Sina Queyras Hosted by Rob Winger ;
Join Sina Queyras for a Masterclass session on tradition and innovation in poetry.
6:30pm -•POETRY CABARET #1: Sina Queyras, Colin Morton, Christian Bök and Paul Durcan;Hosted by Rob Winger.
10:30pm-LATE NIGHT AT THE FESTIVAL -Featuring sound poetry by Christian Bök and music by John Lavery
October 26, 2009
6:30pm-POETRY CABARET #2: John Barton, Barbara Myers, Maurice Mierau and Karen Solie
10:30pm-LATE NIGHT AT THE FESTIVAL-In/Words Open Mic
There are many other excellent events and you’ll find poetry in those too. I’m sure there will be something poetic in David Byrne’s talk on his experiences cycling through New York City or Bram Stoker’s great-grand nephew’s book, Dracula, the Undead. Blood after all is a key poetic theme. There’s also lots of music this year with Call Me Katie, Glenn Nuotio and Sadie Hell playing the late night segments of the festival. I suspect the poetry will flow as well as the wine this year. Santé!
City of Ottawa Book Awards and Arc Magazine’s Lampman-Scott Prize
Library and Archives Canada
Two poetry books are up for the Book Awards:
Colin Morton, The Local Cluster (Pecan Grove Press)
David O’Meara, Noble Gas, Penny Black (Brick Books)
Lampman-Scott Award Finalists are Brenda Leifso for Daughters of Men (London, ON: Brick Books, 2008), David O’Meara for Noble Gas Penny Black (London, ON: Brick Books, 2008), and Monty Reid for The Luskville Reductions (London, ON: Brick Books, 2008).
The Writers Festival events take place at Saint Brigid’s Centre for the Arts and Humanities, 314 St. Patrick St.
October 21, 2009, 8:30 pm
6th Annual Bywords John Newlove Poetry Award
Launch of Rob Friday’s chapbook, “One Man Parade”
Announcement of winner and honourable mentions with readings.
Music by Call Me Katie
October 22, 2009
2pm-MASTERCLASS: THE POETRY OF COLLISION With Sina Queyras Hosted by Rob Winger ;
Join Sina Queyras for a Masterclass session on tradition and innovation in poetry.
6:30pm -•POETRY CABARET #1: Sina Queyras, Colin Morton, Christian Bök and Paul Durcan;Hosted by Rob Winger.
10:30pm-LATE NIGHT AT THE FESTIVAL -Featuring sound poetry by Christian Bök and music by John Lavery
October 26, 2009
6:30pm-POETRY CABARET #2: John Barton, Barbara Myers, Maurice Mierau and Karen Solie
10:30pm-LATE NIGHT AT THE FESTIVAL-In/Words Open Mic
There are many other excellent events and you’ll find poetry in those too. I’m sure there will be something poetic in David Byrne’s talk on his experiences cycling through New York City or Bram Stoker’s great-grand nephew’s book, Dracula, the Undead. Blood after all is a key poetic theme. There’s also lots of music this year with Call Me Katie, Glenn Nuotio and Sadie Hell playing the late night segments of the festival. I suspect the poetry will flow as well as the wine this year. Santé!
Wednesday, October 07, 2009
Poetry Past and Soon
Share some poems randomly this week. This is Random Acts of Poetry Week in Canada. At their blog check out how it unfolds...TA Carter is spreading the poetry at the NAC.
Dusty Owl hosted Danielle Gregoire's CD release. She was assisted by Steve and by her daughter at the mic.
When Steve and Cathy passed the hat, this time a portion went for jwcurry (see a previous post). Capital Slam October 3rd raised $150 to pass along as well.
For more news on Capital Slam, Rusty Priske's journal can keep you up to date. Teaser of news...? 5 female slammers were out the last time.
Recently we had some sound poetry with 5 local writers jumping in with The Be Blank Consort.
Max has some photos here. The Be Blank Consort was at Gallery 101 where the next event will also unfold with Margaret Christakos October 14th. The venue isn't well-signed so if you haven't been before, look for Atomic Rooster on Bank Street. Catch Daphne Marlatt in town on the 21st.
.ism(e):performance cabaret will be Thursday October 8 at Club SAW. Sometimes poetry, sometimes, indefinable, this time will have Living Statues and Chinese instruments among other things. Barry Dempster will be hosted at Tree on the 13th.
Jessica Ruano will read at New Stalgica October 19th.
Shortly after Writers Fest is upon us. Pre-events have started. One is the 14th, one the 20th and then the 21st to 27th, it's 12 hour days of literary goodness. Watch for the John Newlove Awards, Masterclass hosted by Sina Queyras interviewing Colin Morton, Christian Bok and Dublin's Paul Durcan. There will also be a poetry cabaret with John Barton, Barbara Myers, Maurice Mierau and Karen Solie.
The Tree series will bring Erin Moure on the 27th.
For all the events around town, check out bywords.ca
Dusty Owl hosted Danielle Gregoire's CD release. She was assisted by Steve and by her daughter at the mic.
When Steve and Cathy passed the hat, this time a portion went for jwcurry (see a previous post). Capital Slam October 3rd raised $150 to pass along as well.
For more news on Capital Slam, Rusty Priske's journal can keep you up to date. Teaser of news...? 5 female slammers were out the last time.
Recently we had some sound poetry with 5 local writers jumping in with The Be Blank Consort.
Max has some photos here. The Be Blank Consort was at Gallery 101 where the next event will also unfold with Margaret Christakos October 14th. The venue isn't well-signed so if you haven't been before, look for Atomic Rooster on Bank Street. Catch Daphne Marlatt in town on the 21st.
.ism(e):performance cabaret will be Thursday October 8 at Club SAW. Sometimes poetry, sometimes, indefinable, this time will have Living Statues and Chinese instruments among other things. Barry Dempster will be hosted at Tree on the 13th.
Jessica Ruano will read at New Stalgica October 19th.
Shortly after Writers Fest is upon us. Pre-events have started. One is the 14th, one the 20th and then the 21st to 27th, it's 12 hour days of literary goodness. Watch for the John Newlove Awards, Masterclass hosted by Sina Queyras interviewing Colin Morton, Christian Bok and Dublin's Paul Durcan. There will also be a poetry cabaret with John Barton, Barbara Myers, Maurice Mierau and Karen Solie.
The Tree series will bring Erin Moure on the 27th.
For all the events around town, check out bywords.ca
Friday, October 02, 2009
BE BLANK CONSORT LAUNCHES THE A B SERIES 3RD SEASON
THE BE BLANK CONSORT
performs ensemble
with local poets AMANDA EARL, COLIN MORTON and SANDRA RIDLEY
+ surprise guests!
Doors open at 7pm
Performance at 8pm
Saturday, October 3rd, 2009
Gallery 101
301 1/2 Bank Street (upstairs)
Ottawa, Ont.
$15 admission
cash bar
book table
**
After completing two very successful seasons of readings, The A B Series is set to launch its third season. The A B Series began life and its first season with a reading on November 1st, 2007. That first season culminated with a performance by Dutch sound poetry sensation, Jaap Blonk. The A B Series second season, which ran from fall 2008 to spring 2009, was equally auspicious. We witnessed the staging of 'MESSAGIO GALORE', a locally produced sound poetry spectacular. On February 6th, four Australian poets rocked The National Arts Centre's Fourth Stage. And we welcomed, amongst others, poets Clifton Joseph, Penn Kemp, bill bissett, Robert Priest and Christian Bok to The A B Series stage. We're looking forward to continuing this spirited tradition with readings in the third season, which will run between October 3rd and early June 2010.
THE A B SERIES LAUNCHES ITS THIRD SEASON with a performance by American sound poetry ensemble THE BE BLANK CONSORT on OCTOBER 3rd. It takes place in Ottawa's own and very dynamic artist-run centre, GALLERY 101. During the performance, The Be Blankers will call invited local artists to the stage for performance of select works from the Be Blank repertoire.
**
THE BE BLANK CONSORT was born in June 2001 at the Atlantic Center for the Arts (New Smyrna Beach, Florida) when all of its core members were part of a literary residency convened by Richard Kostelanetz. Each member is a writer using language in greatly expanded and often completely new ways and contexts. THE CONSORT was formed to perform various kinds of texts and visual texts, many of them created collaboratively, in ways that would reveal new resonances and possibilities. Some pieces in their repertoire are poems written by an individual member and scored for multiple voices by another. A few are entirely written and scored by one person. Many more were written in collaboration between two or more of the performers + others. Scott Helmes, in January 2002, initiated the first poems specifically designed for performance by THE CONSORT and many have followed since, created by all the members. In 2003, they released a CD, SOUND MESS: + OTHER POEMS.
THE CONSORT has performed numerous times with past engagements in Miami, New York, Columbus, Minneapolis, Baltimore, Boston, Roanoke, Prescott and elsewhere in The USA.
October 3rd, 2009 marks THE CONSORT'S first Canadian performance!
**
CONSORT members performing on October 3rd, 2009:
JOHN M. BENNETT has exhibited and performed his word art worldwide, and has published over 300 books of poetry; among the most recent are LA M AL (Blue Lion Press), CANTAR DEL HUFF (Luna Bisonte Prods), LENTES, (Blue Lion Press), and SPITTING DDREAMS (Blue Lion Press). He is Curator of the Avant Writing Collection at the Ohio State University Libraries.
SCOTT HELMES' professional activities have been mainly in the fields of architecture and education. Starting in 1972, he began writing experimental poetry and pursuing mail art activities and artistic printmaking/drawings. His writing archive from 1972 to 1997 is in the Avant Writing Collection of the Ohio State University Libraries.
MICHAEL PETERS is the author of Vaast Bin (Calamari 2007). Various manifestations of his written images have appeared in journals like SleepingFish, Word for/Word and Hyperrhiz: New Media Cultures, among others. With Poem Rocket and the Be Blank Consort, various manifestations of his recorded sounds have appeared on labels such as Atavistic and Luna Bisonte Prods. His visual-poetic manifestations can be found in various libraries and special collections, as well as appearing in both galleries and sound-image anthologies.
**
For more information on The Be Blank Consort and other upcoming events in The A B Series 3rd season, please refer to:
ABSERIES.ORG
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