Japan 2024 #5 - The Osaka JUPE event

Our first time in Osaka for the Japanese UK Poetry Exchange, and the city has a reputation for experimentation, in music certainly, so we partnered up with the brilliant venue Environment 0g. This event was always designed to be more of a salon than a camarade, with a much smaller number of poets, and a kind of playful exchange of performance and ideas. Our host, Junja, shared with us his collection of Seiichi Nikuni’s concrete poetry before we began, and played us Nikuni’s sound poetry too (which I didn’t know existed and have been teaching Nikuni for years) before playing his unique DJ set using vinyl’s of poet’s readings, especially Anne Waldman and John Giorno. Then we had readings from Rina Kikuchi and John Newton Webb before Colin Herd and I did a collaborative one hour conversation poem, as an experiment. It was all heightened by the venue, underground, near the busy strip of Osaka, but hidden away, with just a small group. It was really productive and intimate and we talked for long after, precisely because it was so different to the size and energy of the Kyoto and Tokyo events. https://www.theenemiesproject.com/osaka

Japan 2024 #4 - The Kyoto Camarade

So good to be back in Kyoto. On the first day I tried to do everything, and it was boiling. Up in the middle of the night with the reverse body clock, drinking holy temple water and into the red gate hills, up the top of Mount Inari, sweating through my legs and then the Golden Temple, which isn’t golden but covered in gold leaf, and then I found a charity shop, which was amazing.

The Kyoto Camarade itself, on a friday night in the Uradera Gokurakuji Buddhist temple, right in the middle of the centre of the city, in the Nishiki market, was atmospheric to the max. Disco music in a low lit temple, people giggling and eating, and hosted by the father on Monk dynamic duo of Uzai and Yoshiki Ikumi. Such good laughs. Amazing people. And lovely to be around Fukudapero and Kyoko Yoshida too, who co curated the last Japanese tour Colin and I did and are proper friends now.

The event was proper memorable - shouting, potatos, card games and kimonos, improv music, sword fights, live webcams. Not typical temple fare, but very good camarade style. The highlight was Pero’s academic paper as performance, and the huge finish by the lead monk Ukai Izumi with Decalco Marie. They fought and painted and smashed screens and it was a piece of theatre.

More on the event https://www.theenemiesproject.com/kyoto

For my own part I worked with the amazing double bassist Naoki Nakajima, who is out of a novel. Absolutely chill, up for anything, throwing his double bass around. I wore a mask I found in a bin and made some talking.

Japan 2024 #2 - Noh Theatre and Noboru Sano

A profound experience, thanks to remarkable generosity of Miya, she kindly invited me to attend a private Noh Theatre lesson she had recently begun taking at the national Noh Theatre in Tokyo. She was undertaking this lessons under the venerable Noboru Sano, to learn the chanting, singing elements of Noh.

The environment was everything one would expect from a theatre associated with such tradition. We entered a private room, adorned in the Noh style, and waited while other students finished what appeared to be stoic, strict instruction. I had the privilege of watching Miya’s lesson and the atmosphere felt reverent, but hypnotic and completely memorable. My expectation conjured a picture of Noboru Sano as a great sensei, and someone austere in that, which was perhaps reflected in the environs. However, with me dressed all in pink, and Miya telling him about my work, his humility, hospitality and humour were remarkable. We joked, he gave me gifts, and then adapted the lesson to tell me all about Noh, show me dances, songs, movements, and we shared so much in common in terms of approach to our work, which was surprising and not, given the sense of play he seemed to feel came from the rigour and discipline of his 50 years acting and performing. In time he suggested we even collaborate in the future, melding a talking performance with a Noh dance / movement performance, even playing with improvisation. What an amazing man, and in our conversations, translated through Miya, I learned a great deal, about paradox, instinct, intention, repetition, discipline, immediacy, presence.

An article on him https://timelesstokyo.com/experttips/noh.html

Japan 2024 #1 - The Tokyo Camarade

A return to Japan after a tour in early 2023, and returning to collaborate and explore, and learn, to be with old friends and make new ones. Colin Herd and I, supported by the Sasakawa Foundation, have the chance to put events on, and perform, in Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka, and do more than that, connecting with new people to build future things. A big travel, full of potential, but intense too, always, to go across the world. After a few days in Tokyo, and with the weather going rainstorm to boiling heat, we put on our first event at the Hazuki Hall house in Suginami, west Tokyo, co-curating with Sawaka Osaki and Corey Wakeling.

The venue is right on a park, and it was a hot sunday, full of people, in cherry blossom season, and this defined the aesthetic - the event was playful but charming, relaxed and communal. The audience were seated at two ends of this piano bar basement and we performed in the middle. Some brilliant new collaborative works, and the final three pairs were especially brilliant, Corey and Satomi Tanaka, Colin Herd and the co-originator of this whole project, Kyoko Yoshida, and then a sextet of poets musicians dancers.

The whole event can be seen here https://www.theenemiesproject.com/tokyo
And a blog by the venue on it’s happening. https://hazukihh.exblog.jp/30886834/

For my own part I got to work a pure improv trio with Miya and Yoshi Hogyaku, whom I’d worked with on my last trip, thanks to our mutual friend Benedict Taylor. Miya is a Flautist and Yoshi a poet. We fused these easily. I left via a window into the park, we named the animals in the room, I went under a piano and stole a coat, and in both languages, in the corners of the space, we made something I was privileged to be a part of, viewable below.

A note on : Poetry Foundation : Guest Editing, Spring 2024

Happy to have edited Poetry Foundation's poem for the day program for the next month with the brilliant artist Rebecca Kamen. Our selections are on science poems, or neuropoetics specifically, the subject of our collaborations. Our guest editor discussion is here www.poetryfoundation.org/harriet-books/2024/03/correspondence-guest-editors-discussion-spring-2024

Our collaboration, Silent Spread www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/162206/silent-spread

And you can sign up the Poetry Foundation's poem for the day here www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/poem-of-the-day with the first of our selections up, I felt a Funeral, in my Brain, (340) by Emily Dickinson

Published : The Parts of the Body that Stink from Hesterglock Press

My 11th poetry collection, now available in a special limited edition hardback run of 50, to celebrate it's launch and available to buy here 

stevenjfowler.bigcartel.com/product/theparts

“The thing that stinks the most … is you! Or this book. Who cares? That’s not what this is about at all. You stink, I stink, everything worthwhile stinks. Smell it while you can. This is an eccentric poetry book by most standards, divided into five chapters, each a long poem. Nose, pits, feet, anas, genitae. All about how we smell and what that might worry in us. For example, let’s not get obsessed with what we’ll smell of in the grave! After all, you smell right now. Let’s just read, and for one day, not give ourselves a scrubbing.”

More on the book stevenjfowler.com/stink

A note on : London launch of The Parts of the Body that Stink

Such a nice evening. Such good people. Such talents in performance. A healthy crowd popped over to the Rich Mix on a saturday night to see about 10 performances mostly about the theme of my book, my 11th poetry collection, which was being launched - stink, smell, scent, aroma. Tereza Stehlikova shared sulfur. Laura Davis was a minotaur. Julia Rose Lewis imported a horsecoat from America. There was lots. https://www.theenemiesproject.com/londonstink/

For my actual launch launch I asked four friends peers to collaborate with me. We met that afternoon and made a thing from scratch, whereby we were perfumiers, reading from my book, and making a special perfume live. It was really good I think

A note on : Kingston launch of The Parts of the Body that Stink

An entertaining, and weird even for me, night of performances down in Kingston as part of Writers Kingston. Some new student collaborations and lots of hesterglock authors performing too. Someone pretended to be a horse. Someone measured paper. Someone put cake down a glove. It was quite rangey and a bit light headed.

I launched my 11th poetry collection to friends and many of my students, and used a fan to blow camembert air into the audience. Good to read from the final of the 5 long poems that make up the book.

All the event stuff here https://www.writerskingston.com/theparts/

A note on : National Gallery performance and event II - March 22nd

Another brilliant event as part of my commission series for National Gallery, this time joined by Iain Sinclair, Jessica Pritchard and Oscar Rodriguez. A healthy crowd followed us through Galleries B, C and D, some of the older paintings in the galleries collection.

The footage of the entire event here shows the nature of it as a tour, moving and stopping, with the context being given by art educator Jo Conybeare. Just as I was honoured to have Iain accept the invitation to be a part of it, with him being someone I’ve always admired, and who has always been remarkably generous, so I was really proud of my students Jessica and Oscar, who were really charismatic. My poems were on The Baptism of Christ by Piero della Francesca and The Fight between the Lapiths and the Centaurs by Piero di Cosimo, and can be watched in full below

A note on : A third collaboration with Zuzana Husarova

I met Zuzana Husarova at a festival in Slovakia in 2013. In 2014 we performed our first duet together in France and that performance, a kind of sound poetry wrestling dance, seemed to have something unique about it. Last year in 2023, we finally worked together again, grappling across Iklectik Artlab. This was the trilogy piece, far less kinetic, perhaps more intimate, weird, messy, proximate, funny. She is a really special performer, one of the most dynamic, game, distinct poets I’ve ever worked with. We had so much fun in the Poetry Cafe, a basement venue, real close to the audience. https://www.europeanpoetryfestival.com/versopolis24

A note on : Versopolis at Poetry Society

The first European Poetry Festival event of the year and a great pleasure to curate an event again for Versopolis, whom I’ve worked with for years, sharing their work in the UK. They have done more than anyone as an organisation to connect poets and festivals across Europe. This event involved Versopolis poets making new collaborations with British based poets, and was the first event at The Poetry Society’s cafe in the evening, since the pandemic. It was a really playful, weird, high energy night of performances, all of which are here https://www.europeanpoetryfestival.com/versopolis24

A note on : The Parts ... Book launch at Rich Mix : March 23rd

The Parts of the Body that Stink : London Launch - March Saturday 23rd at Rich Mix Arts Centre with 7pm doors : 7.30pm start - Free Entry
theenemiesproject.com/londonstink
richmix.org.uk/events/book-launch-sj-fowler


My 11th poetry collection will be launched in a limited edition hardback at Rich Mix in Brick Lane, London. The Parts of the Body that Stink, comprised of five long poems exploring scent and stink and smells. For the launch over a dozen poets, writers and artists will join me to celebrate the theme, or their works with brilliant Bristol-based press, Hesterglock. From readings to art performances, perfume to anti-perfume, text to textiles, visual poetry to sound poetry, this event will be a launch as eccentric as the book it throws into the world, come along!

Book will be available herehesterglock.net/SJ-Fowler-Stinkand more infostevenjfowler.com/stink.

An excerpt recently published at Shuddhashar magazine shuddhashar.com/the-parts-of-the-body-that-stink/

A note on : Chicago Review, two poems on Peter Greenaway's films

https://www.chicagoreview.org/poems-from-the-greenaway-suite/

Two poems just published on the films of Peter Greenaway on the Chicago Review, whose editors kindly commissioned them after seeing some of my other poems on Greenaway’s films specifically. They featured heavily in my 2021 collection Come and See the Songs of Strange Days : poems on films

I first watched Greenaway's films 25 years ago and I began writing poetry 15 years ago and I began writing about Greenaway’s films 5 years ago, in 2019, when I rediscovered them, through a Zed and Two Noughts, and then watching most of his films. He’s definitely a big influence on me. These poems are on The Falls (1980) and Goltzius and the Pelican Company (2012).

A note on : Writers Kingston event #73

https://www.writerskingston.com/townhousecafe/

13 performances on the 5th floor of kingston uni’s town house building, mostly of current student, but also some alumnis and visiting poets for the night. a lot of fun, a real range, and definitely i feel lucky to work with so many young writers who are a lot more down to earth and comfortable with weird poetry and performance than i wouldve been when that age.

A note on : Versopolis at the Poetry Cafe, March 13th 2024

Versopolis in London
The Poetry Society Cafe
March Wednesday 13th 2024 : 7pm : Free
www.europeanpoetryfestival.com/versopolis24

A special standalone Camarade event, where Versopolis poets visiting from multiple nations present new works made with UK-based poet pairs - a series of premiere performances of literary and experimental poetry, all at the brilliant Poetry Society Cafe in the heart of the Covent Garden. A rare chance to see some of Europe's most interesting poets performing in London, in one of the first events The Poetry Cafe has hosted since the pandemic.
Featuring Helen Ivory and Agnieszka Studzinka / Tomica Bajsic and Antoine Cassar / Peter Zavada and David Spittle / Harry Man and Katerina Koulouri / Zuzana Husarova and SJ Fowler / Beverly Frydman, Kayona Daley and more, at 22 Betterton St, London WC2H 9BX poetrysociety.org.uk/event/versopolis

A note on : launching Crocodile Tear Waterfalls

A slightly flippant, though I hope fun, performance to launch my new publication - Crocodile Tear Waterfalls : Selected Uncollected Visual Poems 2011 - 2023, from Penteract press, the last of that brilliant press’ Enneract editions, a passport sized colourful traipse through over a decade of my various visual linguistic experiments.

https://penteractpress.com/store/crocodile-tear-waterfalls-sj-fowler

A note on : Student debut publications, Jessica Pritchard and Oscar Rodriguez

A highlight of my year when working at Kingston Uni are the annual Sampson Low Student Publications, and this year sees the 20th and 21st editions https://www.writerskingston.com/sampsonlow

They are a chance for me to support two student writers in their debut publication, and a publication that is a serious piece of work, that has to feel original, and considerable.

The poets this year - Oscar Rodriguez and Jessica Pritchard - have been exceptional to work with, superbly talented and kind and professional. I was proud to see them launch these booklets surrounded by their friends and family too. https://www.writerskingston.com/actionvispo/

https://sampsonlow.co/2024/02/20/mold-oscar-rodriguez/

https://sampsonlow.co/2024/02/20/bees-jessica-pritchard/