listen to some great Americana here:
Tony Tost's America
25 June 2009
23 June 2009
Beyond Good and Evil
"To recognize untruth as a condition of life: that, to be sure, means to resist customary value-sentiments in a dangerous fashion; and a philosophy which ventures to do so places itself, by that act alone, beyond good and evil."
-- Nietzsche
-- Nietzsche
22 June 2009
for the usefulness of literature
A terrific interview with Gabe Gudding. Really needed this fresh perspective!!!
Gabe Gudding interview
Gabe Gudding interview
innovative poetry outside of the academy
A very very well-thought essay here by Peter Philpott.
I share the same concerns. Innovative British poetry MUST diversify!! It is far too tied to the academic world.
POETIC SPECIATION AND DIVERSIFICATION
I share the same concerns. Innovative British poetry MUST diversify!! It is far too tied to the academic world.
POETIC SPECIATION AND DIVERSIFICATION
21 June 2009
From today's reading notebook
"There is a black box inside the sun. / The wreck of an earlier universe / is recorded there. There is a black / door at the center of the sun. / Seven steps lead up to it."
-- Joseph Donahue's Terra Lucida
"Hermes, whisper to us like the sun at night. / Hermes let the soul be wired for sound."
-- Joseph Donahue's Terra Lucida
"We hover between awareness of being and loss of being."
-- Gaston Bachelard's The Poetics of Space
"All values must remain vulnerable and those that do not are dead."
-- Gaston Bachelard's The Poetics of Space
"It is better to live in a state of impermanence than in one of finality."
-- Gaston Bachelard's The Poetics of Space
"A daydream of elsewhere should be left open at all times."
-- Gaston Bachelard's The Poetics of Space
"Millers, who are wind thieves, make good flour from storms."
-- Gaston Bachelard's The Poetics of Space
"Consciousness rejuvenates everything, giving a quality of beginning to the most everyday actions."
-- Gaston Bachelard's The Poetics of Space
"The Housewife awakens furniture that was asleep."
-- Gaston Bachelard's The Poetics of Space
"Every morning I must give a thought to saint Robinson Crusoe."
-- Gaston Bachelard's The Poetics of Space
"Asking a child to draw his house is asking him to reveal the deepest dream shelter he has found for his happiness. If he is happy, he will succeed in drawing a snug, protected house which is well built on deeply rooted foundations."
--Anne Balif
-- Joseph Donahue's Terra Lucida
"Hermes, whisper to us like the sun at night. / Hermes let the soul be wired for sound."
-- Joseph Donahue's Terra Lucida
"We hover between awareness of being and loss of being."
-- Gaston Bachelard's The Poetics of Space
"All values must remain vulnerable and those that do not are dead."
-- Gaston Bachelard's The Poetics of Space
"It is better to live in a state of impermanence than in one of finality."
-- Gaston Bachelard's The Poetics of Space
"A daydream of elsewhere should be left open at all times."
-- Gaston Bachelard's The Poetics of Space
"Millers, who are wind thieves, make good flour from storms."
-- Gaston Bachelard's The Poetics of Space
"Consciousness rejuvenates everything, giving a quality of beginning to the most everyday actions."
-- Gaston Bachelard's The Poetics of Space
"The Housewife awakens furniture that was asleep."
-- Gaston Bachelard's The Poetics of Space
"Every morning I must give a thought to saint Robinson Crusoe."
-- Gaston Bachelard's The Poetics of Space
"Asking a child to draw his house is asking him to reveal the deepest dream shelter he has found for his happiness. If he is happy, he will succeed in drawing a snug, protected house which is well built on deeply rooted foundations."
--Anne Balif
20 June 2009
Alien Memory Machine (South Korea Section)
MEMO BOOK JAN 2006
my address is 813
Dae Yang Nice
Gae Sang
Gye Yang
Incheon
Joe is a veteran of the gulf and cooks big plates of rice
Shane has a ponytail and refuses a Korean look
Tim meets us on the roof and runs through the numbers
Wonderland is a scam!!!
my ipod contains:
Jesus the Mexican Boy
Good for Good
Ocean Breathes Salty
King of Carrot Flowers
Promising the Light
Kissing the Lipless
Somebody that I used to Know
Junkyard
Bird Stealing Bread
Bridges and Balloons
Lion's Mane
Naked As We Came
He's Simple He's Dumb
I Don't Blame You
Float On!
Greenline to Shinlim Station
Exit 3
Bus 5529
Date with Beth 3:45PM at Gangnam Exit 1
Saturday 2PM Yeoksam 3
blind date from Korean Friend Finder
250 grams of meat
wed meet landlord
for hanging closet
Mike and Shane:
Go to Wal-Mart. Stand outside front doors. With Wonderland on the right, walk left. Building has huge number 201!!! There are 5 entrances. Ours is the last.
my address is 813
Dae Yang Nice
Gae Sang
Gye Yang
Incheon
Joe is a veteran of the gulf and cooks big plates of rice
Shane has a ponytail and refuses a Korean look
Tim meets us on the roof and runs through the numbers
Wonderland is a scam!!!
my ipod contains:
Jesus the Mexican Boy
Good for Good
Ocean Breathes Salty
King of Carrot Flowers
Promising the Light
Kissing the Lipless
Somebody that I used to Know
Junkyard
Bird Stealing Bread
Bridges and Balloons
Lion's Mane
Naked As We Came
He's Simple He's Dumb
I Don't Blame You
Float On!
Greenline to Shinlim Station
Exit 3
Bus 5529
Date with Beth 3:45PM at Gangnam Exit 1
Saturday 2PM Yeoksam 3
blind date from Korean Friend Finder
250 grams of meat
wed meet landlord
for hanging closet
Mike and Shane:
Go to Wal-Mart. Stand outside front doors. With Wonderland on the right, walk left. Building has huge number 201!!! There are 5 entrances. Ours is the last.
from Alien Memory Machine (South Korea Section)
Mu (dream) So(window)
I think I
utter butter
what exactly
this is just
what must be
spoken
I'm fed with
multi-spoons
what ghosts
my friend
in our battles
for the sun
I I I I I I I i
will not paint
dream brothers
dream lovers
I think I
utter butter
what exactly
this is just
what must be
spoken
I'm fed with
multi-spoons
what ghosts
my friend
in our battles
for the sun
I I I I I I I i
will not paint
dream brothers
dream lovers
from Alien Memory Machine (South Korea Section)
The dentist and I are eating our bulgogi and bean sprouts. Need visions. The small pickles and quick sushi. Korean bread baskets. When you come undone you come undone. You know you know jack shit. How far can we go? What sinks? Balloon based action reaching new heights. Are you aware of the costs? Look at this river. The children splash. The wet gaggles. Our atoms will implode. A never ending line. Welcome to the Korean summer. Keep it neon. Keep it light. Soft face fucked by soft thoughts. Just look at us. Hand in hand. They gave me prozac. We couldn't read the signs. You threw shit around the room. I bought a tiltable screen. I masturbated. No memories. Fade. Only. For. Today. Now I can look you in the eye.
17 June 2009
Godzenie now ready to order
I am going to buy copies for the Soundeye festival in Cork. So if you are at Soundeye, you can buy the books direct from me if you wish.
Link for ordering is to the right. Amazon.com is the easiest way right now.
But I just purchased some of my books and placed them with small press distribution. Small Press Distribution is a terrific organization. It keeps small presses alive. Very very important. My book will be available in the next few days from SPD. This is way to order for bookshops, libraries etc.
Very happy and grateful that i finally have a book in print. Very grateful to
Stacy for creating the artwork for the cover.
and of course Geoffrey at Blazevox.
I just hope some folks get something useful from it (pleasure for example).
Link for ordering is to the right. Amazon.com is the easiest way right now.
But I just purchased some of my books and placed them with small press distribution. Small Press Distribution is a terrific organization. It keeps small presses alive. Very very important. My book will be available in the next few days from SPD. This is way to order for bookshops, libraries etc.
Very happy and grateful that i finally have a book in print. Very grateful to
Stacy for creating the artwork for the cover.
and of course Geoffrey at Blazevox.
I just hope some folks get something useful from it (pleasure for example).
14 June 2009
13 June 2009
Alien Memory Machine (South Korea section)
When I first arrived in South Korea I went into downtown Seoul with one of the Korean teachers named Vicky. Actually, it was literally the day after I arrived in Korea. I had just moved into my flat. I didn't know my address. I just knew that I lived near a Wal-Mart and a Japanese restaurant. I lost Vicky in the crowds. I had no mobile phone. I knew I lived in Incheon. So I told the taxi driver to take me to the Incheon Wal-Mart. He took me to a different Wal-Mart next to a different Japanese restaurant. It was quite a distance. I paid $60 and got out because he didn't know the other Wal-Mart in Incheon. He said the other Wal-Mart in Incheon didn't exist. I wondered if he was right.
I walked for a few hours through all the neon lights and Friday party crowds. Finally I gave up. Got another taxi. I told him I needed the Incheon Wal-Mart. He took me to the same wrong Wal-Mart. Another $60. I got out and went into the Wal-Mart. I at least needed some snacks for the journey. It was about 4:30AM. I wanted to find some ham to snack on. Alas, no luck.
Eventually, I found a night stocker. He was cutting boxes with his box knife. He cut a wee piece of cardboard for me and wrote the address of the other Wal-Mart in Korean on the cardboard. I went outside. No taxis. Walked another two hours. Through the drunk Friday night crowds. Got a taxi. Gave him the cardboard. He drove me to the right Wal-Mart. That was only the beginning of crazy world adventures!!!
Here is what I wrote in my notebook the next day. From 2006:
Incheon Wall-Mart
The weather had kidnapped me. Buzzing around with taxi after taxi. Bridge after bridge. Looking for the familiar.
bloated on elephant wings
bloated on lost brides
bloated on nan
The most wrong love found in cellophane.
Eggshells broke. Live animals crawled thru the shops.
I searched for ham but only found spam.
from Alien Memory Machine (South Korea section)
I lived in a tiny tiny room called a Goshiwon for 2.5 months. Just a bed. Couldn't stretch my legs all the way. A bar above my head for clothes. A shower shared by 50 or so Koreans. Very very little contact with other English speakers.
It is still a first draft. Here it is from the notebook from 2006:
Gyesan Goshiwon
We walked in water, not on. We worked the washers with foreign signs. We reeked of kimchee. A turtle pillowed me. You must understand how the clothes hung above me. We didn't throw fevers at the moon. Crazy horizons. My street eyes on plastic toys. Dog-eared my inner ear. Florescent coins. We met in a tunnel while snow licked my lashes. Strike that. We met in a coffee shop. They followed me up and down a step ladder. I received my papers. You must answer me now. How did I end up so far from other foreigners?
It is still a first draft. Here it is from the notebook from 2006:
Gyesan Goshiwon
We walked in water, not on. We worked the washers with foreign signs. We reeked of kimchee. A turtle pillowed me. You must understand how the clothes hung above me. We didn't throw fevers at the moon. Crazy horizons. My street eyes on plastic toys. Dog-eared my inner ear. Florescent coins. We met in a tunnel while snow licked my lashes. Strike that. We met in a coffee shop. They followed me up and down a step ladder. I received my papers. You must answer me now. How did I end up so far from other foreigners?
12 June 2009
11 June 2009
10 June 2009
9 June 2009
four poems by Andrzej Bursa
Bursa is becoming one of my favourite modern poets. Check out "Night of the long Knives" below. Translations seem quite good (always tricky of course).
(1932-1957)
All his short life he lived in Cracow. He made his debut in the press in 1954, although he never wrote praises of socialism. Three years later he died because of problems with his heart. The first book of his poems appeared after his death.
Andrzej Bursa
(1932-1957)
All his short life he lived in Cracow. He made his debut in the press in 1954, although he never wrote praises of socialism. Three years later he died because of problems with his heart. The first book of his poems appeared after his death.
Andrzej Bursa
The Barbarian Poets (some now institutionalized)
Now that I am in London and Godzenie is about to be published I am on fire again. All is possible. There is so much to explore in Poland in terms of neglected interesting poetry. So many interesting poets in the big world!!!
The poet Grzegorz Wroblewski has opened my eyes to Polish poetry I couldn't find when I lived in Poland for two years. It's another word/world.
I just can't get enough!!!!
Grzegorz and I are planning to do joint readings in Warsaw, Copenhangen, London and maybe somewhere in the states (North Carolina).
Yeah!!!
Freedom that elusive word. That much abused word. That overly politisized word. We want it in our daily lives. Some seem to give up. Nothing is worth more! There is nothing to achieve!
The Barbarians
The poet Grzegorz Wroblewski has opened my eyes to Polish poetry I couldn't find when I lived in Poland for two years. It's another word/world.
I just can't get enough!!!!
Grzegorz and I are planning to do joint readings in Warsaw, Copenhangen, London and maybe somewhere in the states (North Carolina).
Yeah!!!
Freedom that elusive word. That much abused word. That overly politisized word. We want it in our daily lives. Some seem to give up. Nothing is worth more! There is nothing to achieve!
The Barbarians
8 June 2009
Terra Lucida
At last. It's arrived from America. Abandon all other reading projects!!!
TERRA LUCIDA, Joseph Donahue's ongoing magnum opus, is an astonishing work in which psychopompic dispatch and apocalyptic portent, by turns audacious and distraught, mix worldly exactitude with vatic unrest. Striking in its range and compression, its culling of contemporary grist and archaic light, its reportorial tone's melodic reach, it allies an unforced, unforeclosed spirituality with sifting intelligence of the severest kind. Long awaited, volume one is a beautiful, bracing, desert island book"--Nathaniel Mackey. Donahue's most recent book, INCIDENTAL ECLIPSE, is also from Talisman House and also available from SPD.
Author Hometown: USA
Terra Lucida Review
TERRA LUCIDA, Joseph Donahue's ongoing magnum opus, is an astonishing work in which psychopompic dispatch and apocalyptic portent, by turns audacious and distraught, mix worldly exactitude with vatic unrest. Striking in its range and compression, its culling of contemporary grist and archaic light, its reportorial tone's melodic reach, it allies an unforced, unforeclosed spirituality with sifting intelligence of the severest kind. Long awaited, volume one is a beautiful, bracing, desert island book"--Nathaniel Mackey. Donahue's most recent book, INCIDENTAL ECLIPSE, is also from Talisman House and also available from SPD.
Author Hometown: USA
Terra Lucida Review
7 June 2009
currently reading
1) The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg by Mark Twain
2) The Poetics of Space by Gaston Bachelard
3) Prop by Peter Jaeger
4) Proper Name and Other Stories by Bernadette Mayer
5) Quaquaversals by Geraldine Monk
6) The Land Between by Wendy Mulford
7) Banquet by Geraldine Monk
8) Rapid Eye Movement by Peter Jaeger
2) The Poetics of Space by Gaston Bachelard
3) Prop by Peter Jaeger
4) Proper Name and Other Stories by Bernadette Mayer
5) Quaquaversals by Geraldine Monk
6) The Land Between by Wendy Mulford
7) Banquet by Geraldine Monk
8) Rapid Eye Movement by Peter Jaeger
from When Romanticism is no Longer the National Avant-Garde by Piotr Parlej
The situation is made more paradoxical if one recalls that the other option, in Poland at least, has coexisted (precariously marginalized) with the emerging powerhouse of parnassian poetry. Miron Bialoszewski's "Pamietnik z powstania" ("A Memoir of the Uprising"), an account of the Warsaw Uprising, suggests an alternative perspective on the same national trauma, from the point of view of a truth that does not allow itself to be extrapolated, generalized, sloganized, and reproduced into aesthetic manifestoes. Sadly an exception in Polish poetry, Bialoszewski continued an avant-garde tradition of considerable merit within a national aesthetic climate that spurned such experimentation, which it considered simply inadequate to the task of uplifting and perfecting the national soul.
Another measure of the situation, although an indirect one, is the following regularity: when the avant-garde did make an impact, and earned a place in the tissue of national existence, it was not in verse but in drama. In poetry, the nation was prepared to recognize itself only in a conservative (classicist/romantic) mirror; playwrights were the ones who were tolerated, or accepted, in their avant-garde robes.
Another measure of the situation, although an indirect one, is the following regularity: when the avant-garde did make an impact, and earned a place in the tissue of national existence, it was not in verse but in drama. In poetry, the nation was prepared to recognize itself only in a conservative (classicist/romantic) mirror; playwrights were the ones who were tolerated, or accepted, in their avant-garde robes.
Projekt 1
Video from avant-garde album PROJEKT1 (SoulCraft Rec.)
Grzegorz Wroblewski-poems
Bobi Peru-Music and production.
Check it:
Between directed by M. Klinger
Grzegorz Wroblewski-poems
Bobi Peru-Music and production.
Check it:
Between directed by M. Klinger
6 June 2009
From Alien Memory Machine (South Korea section)
from 2006:
all you liked about trees
the light like slanted rain
the dark inside the body
we've walked along this road
the moon throws fevers
across florescent cement
pink rivers in your carpet
there is something special
in your membranes
a bench was a special possibility
I could smell the soap on your neck
I'm choked by my inner speed
you tossed simple objects into the air
you put your hands into your pocket
to test its hardness
you added new vowels to my alphabet
should I wait for you to stab me?
all you liked about trees
the light like slanted rain
the dark inside the body
we've walked along this road
the moon throws fevers
across florescent cement
pink rivers in your carpet
there is something special
in your membranes
a bench was a special possibility
I could smell the soap on your neck
I'm choked by my inner speed
you tossed simple objects into the air
you put your hands into your pocket
to test its hardness
you added new vowels to my alphabet
should I wait for you to stab me?
Paul Green's Dream Lab
FROM PAUL GREEN
For those of you interested in hybrids of poetry/audio drama/science fiction/surrealism...
I've just exhumed an early radio drama of mine and posted it on my podcast as follows:
"Paul A Green's "auditory assault for voices & media" was broadcast by CBC Radio Canada in 1972. It features Don Harron as Director of the Lab, probing and remixing the dreamlife of his subjects..."
The piece has obvious flaws but also has its moments, notably in the soundscape devised by composer Denis Laurin and producer Alan Yates. As for the text, imagery starts veering towards the surreal as the Lab gets to work. And the echoes of Ballard and Burroughs are now audible. Dr Nathan, I think, is lurking...
Don Harron was the father of Mary Harron, who directed "I shot Andy Warhol" while the narrator role was taken by Bud Knapp, who played the pilot in the TV version of "Quatermass and the Pit", a connection which gives me a certain obscure pleasure.
Apologies for the faint crackle. It's been transferred from vinyl LP. CBC broadcast it domestically and then sent vinyl copies to scores of radio stations for unlimited broadcast. Whether any of them did, I don't know. I was told a few years ago that bits had been sampled in a dance mix somewhere.
This curious work lives on at:
SURREAL DREAM LABS
For those of you interested in hybrids of poetry/audio drama/science fiction/surrealism...
I've just exhumed an early radio drama of mine and posted it on my podcast as follows:
"Paul A Green's "auditory assault for voices & media" was broadcast by CBC Radio Canada in 1972. It features Don Harron as Director of the Lab, probing and remixing the dreamlife of his subjects..."
The piece has obvious flaws but also has its moments, notably in the soundscape devised by composer Denis Laurin and producer Alan Yates. As for the text, imagery starts veering towards the surreal as the Lab gets to work. And the echoes of Ballard and Burroughs are now audible. Dr Nathan, I think, is lurking...
Don Harron was the father of Mary Harron, who directed "I shot Andy Warhol" while the narrator role was taken by Bud Knapp, who played the pilot in the TV version of "Quatermass and the Pit", a connection which gives me a certain obscure pleasure.
Apologies for the faint crackle. It's been transferred from vinyl LP. CBC broadcast it domestically and then sent vinyl copies to scores of radio stations for unlimited broadcast. Whether any of them did, I don't know. I was told a few years ago that bits had been sampled in a dance mix somewhere.
This curious work lives on at:
SURREAL DREAM LABS
5 June 2009
slim down!!!
A nice short article by one of my favourite poets Linh Dinh about living a more simple life. My life philosophy exactly!!! I couldn't agree more!
Check it out:
Slim DOWN
Check it out:
Slim DOWN
creative writing programs
Interesting article about the institution of creative writing in universities. It's spreading. Is it a good thing???
I am undecided, but for sure I have learned the most about writing and poetry outside of the university in artist and poetry communities (Lucifer Poetics in North Carolina, Openned and Crossing the Line reading series in London etc.)
Should Creative Writing be Taught?
I am undecided, but for sure I have learned the most about writing and poetry outside of the university in artist and poetry communities (Lucifer Poetics in North Carolina, Openned and Crossing the Line reading series in London etc.)
Should Creative Writing be Taught?
Silesia
This is the area I lived in for two years. I actually miss it sometimes. Although maybe better to visit for a month or so rather than live forever. I recommend visiting. It is not touristy. It has its own strange industrial charm at times.
Wojciech Wilczyk
Wojciech Wilczyk
crossing the line
great reading at Crossing the Line tonight in London. Near London Bridge. In the leather district. At "the leather exchange." Cris Cheek and Peter Jaeger. Love the presence and work of Peter Jaeger. Some pics from 1.2 mp phone. This is not Peter Jaeger.
4 June 2009
David Bromige 1933-2009
Sad to the see David Bromige has left us. An amazing poet. Generous and awe-inspiring!!
A nice send off from the poet and publisher Ken Edwards here:
David Bromige
A nice send off from the poet and publisher Ken Edwards here:
David Bromige
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