The Poetry Project

Prismatic Publics: Nicole Brossard, Margaret Christakos & Catriona Strang

Wednesday

A reading to celebrate Prismatic Publics: Innovative Canadian Women’s Poetry and Poetics edited by Kate Eichhorn and Heather Milne, published by Coach House. The anthology provides an opportunity to trace the diverse networks, influences, dialogues, dialectics, and interventions that continue make the work of Canada’s innovative women writers a powerful force in avant-garde writing around the world.

Nicole Brossard has published more than thirty books, including Museum of Bone and Water, The Aerial Letter and Mauve Desert. Her contribution and influence to Quebec and francophone poetry is major. In 1965, she co-founded the literary periodical La barre du jour and, in 1976, the feminist journal Les têtes de pioche. In 2006, she won the Canada Council’s prestigious Molson Prize for lifetime achievement. Her collection Notebook of Roses and Civilization was shortlisted for the 2008 Griffin Poetry Prize. Her most recent book is the novel Fences in Breathing. Brossard will be introduced by Susan Holbrook.

Margaret Christakos’ work has shown consistent interest in feminist and recombinant poetics, process writing and seriality. She is the author of seven books of poetry and a novel. A new collection, Purple, is forthcoming in 2010. She runs ‘Influency: A Toronto Poetry Salon’ twice annually, through the University of Toronto’s School of Continuing Studies. Christakos will be introduced by Rachel Zolf.

Catriona Strang‘s latest book, co-written with the late Nancy Shaw, is  Light Sweet Crude. Other works include Cold Trip and Busted, both co-written with  Nancy Shaw. She is a founding member of the Institute for Domestic Research, and frequently collaborates with fellow institute member, composer Jacqueline Leggatt, and with clarinetist François Houle, with whom she recorded ‘The Clamourous Alphabet’ (Periplum). She is currently working on ‘Extrafine Imperial Twankay’, a long work based on the history of tea. Strang will be introduced by Kate Eichhorn.

This event is co-presented with Coach House Books and Délégation générale du Québec.

Posted Tuesday, August 25th, 2009 in Program Calendar, Readings

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Mel Nichols & Michael Nicoloff

Monday

Mel Nichols is the author of Catalytic Exteriorization Phenomenon (National Poetry Series finalist), Bicycle Day (Slack Buddha 2008), The Beginning of Beauty, Part 1: hottest new ringtones, mnichol6 (Edge 2007), and Day Poems (Edge 2005). Recent journal publications include New Ohio Review, The Brooklyn Rail, Abraham Lincoln, Van Gogh’s Ear, Westwind Review, and Poetry. She teaches at George Mason University.

Michael Nicoloff was born in Olympia, WA, and resides in Oakland, CA. He is the author of the chapbooks “Punks” and Bruised Dick (co-written with Alli Warren). Work has appeared in The Brooklyn Rail, Mirage #4/Period(ical), The Recluse, The Orgasm Zine, Traffic, and elsewhere. With Jennifer Manzano, he co-publishes olywa press. Until just recently, he was affiliated with the Artifact reading series, but come October 2009, he will co-curate (and possibly help to rename) the (New) Reading Series at 21 Grand in Oakland.

Posted Tuesday, August 25th, 2009 in Program Calendar, Readings

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Joshua Beckman & Jack Collom

Wednesday

Joshua Beckman was born in New Haven, Connecticut. He is the author of six books, including Take It (Wave Books, 2009), Shake and two collaborations with Matthew Rohrer : Nice Hat. Thanks. and Adventures While Preaching the Gospel of Beauty. He is an editor at Wave Books and has translated numerous works of poetry and prose, including Poker by Tomaz Salamun, which was a finalist for the PEN America Poetry in Translation Award. He lives in Seattle and New York. 

Jack Collom was born in Chicago in 1931. He grew up in Illinois and Colorado small towns, walking the woods a lot, loving nature, then studied Forestry at Colorado A&M. He spent four years in the U.S. Air Force as a clerk-typist, then worked in factories for twenty years while becoming a poet (first poems writ in Tripoli, Libya). Since then, 30+ years as freelance poetry teacher, including long-term adjunct work at Naropa U. in Boulder. 23 books and chapbooks of poetry, the latest being Situations, Sings (with Lyn Hejinian), Adventures in Poetry, 2008, and Exchanges of Earth & Sky, Fishdrum (NYC) 2006. Large selected volume, Red Car Goes By, Tuumba (Berkeley) 2001. Also author of three books on and of writings by children, including Poetry Everywhere, Teachers & Writers Collaborative (NYC) 1994. Assembly of nature essays coming up through ecopoetics. Huge collection of bizarrely varied nature poetry simmering. Father of four, married to writer Jennifer Heath.

Posted Tuesday, August 25th, 2009 in Program Calendar, Readings

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