These are always good. I owe a lot of the festival’s beginning to the austrian cultural forum, who ‘vouched’ for the unique nature of my events to many cultural agencies, and the austrian scene is so rooted in performance and complex poetry, it’s hard not have a good event. This was a lift for me, a packed room, no space at all, and six great performances. Hannah Bründl and Han Smith, Max Höfler and David Spittle, and myself and Fabian Faltin as the centrepiece. Loads of friends came too. Such a good atmosphere. Loads of pics and videos here https://www.europeanpoetryfestival.com/austria22
Fabian and I have a rare collaborative relationship. He’s one of the very best I’ve worked with, so so sharp, never a moment lost in doing improvised performance, and remarkable with concepts too. Our work together in 2019 is one of my favourite collaborations, and this was a sequel. Video coming soon. It involved a microwave, which you can see below from Alban Low’s remarkable drawing from the event (he did a whole set viewable here http://artofjazz.blogspot.com/2022/06/austrian-poetry-celebration-european.html)
We also launched a new anthology on the night. A pamphlet from Sampson Low Ltd that chronicles a selection of the collaborations from previous ACF EPF collaborative events too. It came out beautifully. It can be bought here https://sampsonlow.co/2022/06/24/an-anthology-of-poetic-collaborations-from-across-europe/ “From its inception the European Poetry Festival has worked in partnership with the Austrian Cultural Forum London to present remarkable events that celebrate live literature, innovation in poetry and collaboration. Since 2018 poets from across Austria have visited the UK annually, to present new works made in pairs with local, British-based counterparts. These live poems, made for these nights, find themselves in print, for the first time, for this special, limited edition anthology. From the multi-lingual to the visual, from the the theatrical to the conceptual, these poems are as dynamic on the page, newly fashioned for that purpose, as they were when shared live, in the remarkable venue of the ACF London. An anthology of poetic collaborations from across Europe : Hannah Bründl and Han Smith, Fabian Faltin and SJ Fowler, Cornelia Hülmbauer and Ollie Evans, Max Höfler and Iris Colomb, Sophie-Carolin Wagner and Vilde Bjerke Torset, Robert Prosser and SJ Fowler, Daniela Chana and Phoebe Power, Verena Dürr and Magdalena McLean”