Ekphrastic iv went super well! The artwork and poetry was all excellent, and we got such a positive response from everyone who came. It's hard to describe the particular feeling of amazement we have when the artwork and the poetry finally come together: to hear the poets talking about the experience of seeing their work reflected in the art of others, and to see the artists hear the poems they've spent thorough time with from the mouths of their authors never ceases to make us feel that our project is truly a worthwhile one. A few folks came to review our event, so check out the Omnidawn blog and Litseen in the coming weeks to see those.
Now that it's over, though, we're in full swing of planning our TOUR! Literally, we've been sitting around this table for the last seven hours planning the tour...Do you want to know about the tour?
Here is the idea. We're driving across the country with the aim of crafting a document about poetry and arts communities across the United States via interviews and live events. We have two sorts of events planned: readings (to be held in bookstores, galleries, and wherever else will have us) and "reading stations." Small Press Distribution generously donated a number of books of poetry to us, and we intend to harangue people until they sit down and read them with us. At a station. Which is really a table with a banner in a public place. Also, maybe not exactly harangue; that's not really in our nature. But we like the word.
At both of these events, we're going to be handing out postcards -- which we have letter pressed ourselves -- which read: "1. Read a poem by a living poet / 2. Make a creative response (here)/ 3. Drop this postcard in the mail" and include a lot of blank space.
The hope is that we're going to receive a number of these back, evidencing that folks of all sorts can creatively engage in contemporary poetry. We hope to display these, alongside the interview series, here in Oakland upon our return. And on the blog.
Here is a list of the poets who we're scheduled to work with so far:
Ara Shirinyan
Ariana Reines
Arielle Greenberg
Christopher DeWeese
Cole Swenson
Dan Hoy
Fred Moten
Ish Klein
Jen Tynes
Jena Osman
Nick Demske
Rachel Zucker
Rob Fitterman
Susan Holbrook
Vanessa Place
We're also going to be chatting with various presses and other literary organizations/ gangs on the topic of poetic communities. Let us know if you're interested in chatting, maybe we're coming to your town!*
The first event is scheduled for July 10 at Beyond Baroque in Los Angeles, with poets Vanessa Place and Ara Shirinyan. The rest of the events will be posted as they approach.
If you're interested in funding this project, look at our kickstarter: here. You get "rewards" for helping us out, and boy are they fun.
Alright, well this is the longest post in the history of the 'Lectric Co, so I think I need to get back to furiously emailing. And haranguing. Hurrah!
love,
Surrah!
*If your town happens to be Los Angeles, Salt Lake City, Denver, Boulder, Lincoln, Iowa City, Chicago, Detroit, Ann Arbor, Amherst, Boston, New York, Durham, DC, Oxford, New Orleans, Austin Albuququerque, or Oakland, then, watch out! We ARE coming!
