House of Mouse: performances & publication
A series of collaborative poetry performances and a collaborative poetry collection, House of Mouse is an ongoing project by Prudence Chamberlain and I, using the films of a mouse-led corporation as a poetic plaything.
Available to buy: https://www.knivesforksandspoonspress.co.uk/product-page/house-of-mouse-by-prudence-chamberlain-s-j-fowler-97-pages
Performances have taken place at York University, St Johns on Bethnal Green, Rich Mix, St Margaret’s Chapel and Apiary Studios
Capital Letters One Year Anniversary performance - August 10th 2016
St Margaret's Chapel: Bethnal Green, London.
A conceptual performance whereby Prue and I painted each others faces as we read, plastering on horror / cosmetic makeup to vaguely resemble cartoonish figures, as we each took turns, sat, passive, reading from our book, House of Mouse. It was particularly fun to do this in the church environs, to an intimate audience, and for me to lace Prue's arm with blood, which splattered on the pages of the book. Once we had finished we had to rush out as it became apparent the makeup wasn't as washable as we might've hoped and had to interrupt a local council meeting and fight over a tiny sink in cold east london. A memorable evening.
Poetry School Camarade performance - July 17 2016
Rich Mix Arts Centre, Brick Lane, London. So lovely to release a new collaborative book into the world, written alongside the brilliant Prue Chamberlain. We performed at The Poetry School Camarade, an event I curated at Rich Mix alongside 8 other pairs of poets, in what was a fine night all told, by alternatively reading, blindfolding, spinning and sticking noses on an olaf the snowman poster.
House of Mouse published by Knives Forks and Spoons Press - July 2016
Available to buy: https://www.knivesforksandspoonspress.co.uk/product-page/house-of-mouse-by-prudence-chamberlain-s-j-fowler-97-pages
I'm always interested in collaborating as a form of learning, growing as a poet and a person through the intelligence and idiosyncrasies of my collaborator. This book, and my ongoing collaborative work with Prudence Chamberlain, is a great example of that. These poems are unique for me, drawing me into new ways of writing, and this is such a beautiful book, dotted with new artworks by a variety of visual artists. Hopefully the humour, the intensity and the style will show through to readers too.
From the publisher:
"Discursive, playful, obscene and satirical, The House of Mouse is a collection of ten poetic collaborations written by British poets SJ Fowler and Prudence Chamberlain - each responding to a famed cartoon, each uncovering the bizarre overt and covert symbols and signs of these pervasive animations.
Dotted with original illustrations by contemporary artists like Lizzy Stewart and Duncan Marchbank, this unique collaborative collection aims to show that maybe the only thing stranger than corporate cartoon animals is avant-garde poetry."
Published: Bambi in Country Music: March 9 2016
Really pleased that one of Prudence Chamberlain and I's disney-themed collaborative texts has been published by the online poetry journal Country Music, edited by Scott Abels. Issue 8 of the magazine, themed on collaboration, has some really interesting work alongside Prudence and I, and our work is one sequence of nine that will hopefully published as a book this year.
http://countrymusicpoetry.org/index.php?pr=chamberlain-fowler
Capital Letters #1 performance - August 13 2015
St Margaret's Chapel, Bethnal Green, London.
Thanks to Jonathan Mann, and the first ever edition of his new Capital Letters reading series, Prue and I had the chance to present our first performance of our ongoing collaborative poems called House of Mouse, this time interrogating the unique space and the nature of the reading as perceived by audience / lens.