50 years of Helvetica

'Helvetica plays such an important part in our lives that the Museum of Modern Art in New York is celebrating its 50th anniversary by acquiring a set of the original lead type, making it the first typeface to become part of the museum's collection. MoMA is also opening a "50 Years of Helvetica" exhibition on Friday. And Helvetica is the subject of a feature documentary, which premiered last month at the South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin, Texas. Why make such a fuss about a typeface? In short, because it does its job so well.' Link Formal constraint is still a concern. Free play on the page is straitjacketed on the web, tied by countless non-breaking spaces and limited knowledge of coding practices. We are pawning our work by not considering basics such as font type, size, background colours, download times and browser compatibility. We should be uncompromising and pragmatic, considerate and challenging. If in doubt, pdf it. Screen and page should twin. If this is not the aim, such considerations become even more important.

Click to read more ...

Very Short Stories

'Hemingway once wrote a story in just six words ("For sale: baby shoes, never worn.") and is said to have called it his best work. So we asked sci-fi, fantasy, and horror writers from the realms of books, TV, movies, and games to take a shot themselves.' Link Great stuff, too much David Brin.

Click to read more ...

Openned 9 update

We have Elizabeth Jane-Burnett, Jow Lindsay, Albert Pellicer and James Harvey confirmed for the next reading. Keep checking the nights page for updates.

Click to read more ...

John Cayley: 'Writing on Complex Surfaces'

John Cayley will speak on 'Writing on Complex Surfaces' Thursday 3rd May at 8.00pm in room 101, 30 Russell Square WC1 with drinks at 7.30pm Sponsored jointly by the Contemporary Poetics Research Centre and the School of English and Humanities, Birkbeck College The day after the next Openned by the way.

Click to read more ...

Salt Margins: May reading

SALT MARGINS The Whitechapel Gallery 80-82 Whitechapel Road London E1 7QX Tube: Aldgate East www.whitechapel.org Thursday 3 May 2007 7pm; FREE ENTRY 'The second in our brand new series of arts events at The Whitechapel Gallery, produced in association with Salt Publishing. In May poet and former professional snooker player Jane Holland reads from Boudicca & Co (Salt) and Stuart Taylor premieres his poetic exploration of the city, Metropol. Cult author Amy Prior fuses words and visuals with her latest book I Can’t Believe How Great I Feel, featuring live drawing from Sarah Doyle. Plus, bright young thing Joe Dunthorne reads a selection of poems and stories.' Choices, choices.

Click to read more ...

Sean Bonney reads Bauderlaire

Link Bonney! Keep it down in there!

Click to read more ...

George Orwell's five rules for effective writing

Link Should be compulsory reading for anyone with a blog.

Click to read more ...

Lipsynch

'"Chaos," says theatre director Robert Lepage with a zen-like smile that makes him look like a small, round Buddha, "is a good thing. People think that it is negative, but in fact chaos can be very fertile." Which is just as well because it is already Wednesday afternoon and his show, Lipsynch, opens tonight with a script nowhere near finished and a couple of characters not yet created. What script there is appears to be on crumpled bits of paper in people's pockets. You might expect cast, crew and director to be running around in a frenzy, but everyone looks remarkably relaxed. That's because Lipsynch, at Northern Stage in Newcastle, is no ordinary show.' Link Sounds, great, but £28? Cheeky.

Click to read more ...

Scenes from Allen's Last Three Days on Earth as a Spirit (1997)

'To mark the tenth anniversary of Allen Ginsberg's death (April 5, 1997), UbuWeb is featuring this remarkable video diary of Ginsberg in the days immediately before and after his death. Streaming and downloadable versions available.' Link Quite by coincidence, we launched Version 2 on April 5th. If you need reminding of his brilliance, here is Howl, Parts I & II.

Click to read more ...

Langoustine: April reading

Hosts: Sascha Akhtar and Anthony Joseph Time: 7:30 Venue: The Poetry Café, 22 Betterton St. Covent Garden, London WC2H 9BX Admission; 4.00 / 5.00 'Continuing in the Langoustine tradition of multi-medium, genre straddling work, this month we feature: Sophie Woolley – writer and performer who specialises in razored monologues Alex Walker – surrealist/Dadaist actor/poet/performance artist Adrian Owusu/Son Blues - primal 21st century London Delta blues Aime Hansen - Experimental performance poet from Estonia Josie Collins – abstract and experimental prose stylist'

Click to read more ...