Charles Olson, Centenary Conference

Saturday 13th – Sunday 14th November, 2010

2010 marks the centenary of the birth of the American poet Charles Olson. As poet, critic and theorist, Olson extended the possibilities of modern writing. From Call Me Ishmael to The Maximus Poems he probed the relation between language, space and community, providing radical resources for the re-imagining of place and politics. Aiming, in Robert Creeley’s terms, to hear all that Olson still provokes at the beginning of the Twenty-First Century, this conference seeks to re-assess the scope of his legacy. It will provide an opportunity to consider Olson’s value through and across a range of disciplines, with particular attention to be given to his influence on British and European writing.

Proposals for papers (title with 300-word abstract) should be sent to David Herd at d.herd@kent.ac.uk by Friday 19th March, 2010.

Centre for Modern Poetry, University of Kent

at the old place

Check out Michael Zand's poem at the old place.  

past simple 7

Now online, featuring:

• Michael Barber
• Chella Courington
• Kenneth Drennen
• Dave Gardner
• Loren Goodman
• Carol Lynn Grellas
• Sommer Browning
• Kendra Grant Malone
• K Silem Mohammad
• Lee Stern

The Other Room Interviews Ron Padgett

The first in a series of Other Room Interviews starts with Ron Padgett. All interviews will be available as free PDFs. You can find the first one here.

Catherine Wagner - My New Job

£13.95, Fence Books, 2009

In this third collection, Catherine Wagner assumes a mantle of responsibility. Her slangy, spoken, and singing world of representation slides from syntactic unit to unit, making room for a galaxy of metonymy. "Things mean," she writes, "and I can’t tell them not to." In each of the four series that make up this book we find a female body watching itself and marking that watching with a severe wit, charmed visuals, and the analytic prowess of a born human.

Available via the Bookshelf.

Veer Launch & Writers Forum Celebration

Wednesday 16th December, 7.30pm

• Adrian Clarke
• Jennifer Cobbing
• Maggie O'Sullivan
• Lawrence Upton
• Johan de Wit

The event will feature the launch of Maggie O'Sullivan's 'ALTO', Johan de Wit's 'No Hand Signals', Lawrence Upton's 'a song and a film', and a new book of visual poems from Jenny Cobbing, all from Veer.

Birkbeck, University of London, Malet Street, Bloomsbury, London WC1E 7HX

Admission £5 / £3 (conc.)

Diverse Deeds

Wednesday 16th December, 7.30pm (8pm start) 

• Angela Gardner
• Harry Godwin 
• Mendoza
• Nat Raha
• Rebecca Rosier

Café Oto, 18-22 Ashwin Street, Dalston, London E8 3DL

Admission £6 / £4 (conc.)

Facebook group

Desperate for Love

Tuesday 8th December, 8pm

• Ken Edwards
• Tom Raworth

A free gift for the first 50 through the door.

Komedia, 44-47 Gardner Street, Brighton BN1 1UN

Admission £3.50

Thanks - We're Not Going Anywhere

Thanks to all of you who attended the final Openned reading at the Foundry. As many of you already know, Openned is taking a break from staging events for the time being. We will be back at some point in the future, though when this will be is currently difficult to say.

However, we will now be expending our energies and focussing on a number of online and print projects developing over the next year, so keep visiting the site for further news regarding these projects and possible requests for involvement in them. We will continue to keep the blog updated with news of the latest calls for work, publications, events and websites that catch our eye too.

One further note about our venue, the Foundry, which is being forced to close due to new developments in London. Please check the sidebar for links to register your objection to the local council and to join the Save the Foundry Facebook group. Drawing attention to the Foundry as a social and cultural hub of east London is making a difference, and every voice counts. Thanks.

Steve & Alex

wurmfest

Friday 4th - Sunday 6th September

Friday 4th

• 6.30pm Gearóid Mac Lochlainn, Maurice Scully

Saturday 5th

• 11am Giles Goodland, Erica van Horn, Trevor Joyce
• 2pm aNa B, Simon Cutts, Kevin Nolan
• 4.30pm Tom Chivers, Astrid Lampe, Stephen Rodefer

Sunday 6th

• 11am Discussion

The Complex, Block C Units 18-21, Smithfield Square, Dublin

Admission is free.