A cool night down in the always cool museum of futures in surbiton. It was the third and final launch of my new book I will show you the life of the mind on prescription drugs and i read alongside my dostoyevsky wannabe bandmates. I gave everyone special pills and asked them to swallow them. They did. They did. We all survived. A lovely audience, some grand performances too https://www.writerscentrekingston.com/#/grandeur/ and such pics from madeleine rose
https://www.buzzsprout.com/834940/2837305
Really good to chat with Penteract Press editor Anthony Etherin, I like being on podcasts so far and this was another positive experience.
https://penteractpress.com/penteract-poetry-podcast
We chatted about why ill have no legacy, why i bother, my teaching, how i got into it etc…
https://partisanhotel.co.uk/The-Life-of-the-Mind
Generous of Hotel to share some pieces from my new book with Dostoyevsky Wannabe https://dostoyevskywannabe.com/originals/i_will_show_you_the_life_of_the_mind_on_prescription_drugs
Of course, I must now relate what is inevitable, and describe the object in question. The tiny object that is constantly amused by its matrons and patrons. By its very object it taunts you. Like an unnamed peril surrounding an open palm, about to dart into its centre, like an insect that might be venomous. The white circle ant. The wingless loop moth. A little dead wasp above you and upon you that comes to life just when you were not able to look away and just when you began to feel unwell. It’s a small item, a shape if nothing else, an entity that can affect so much because it is said to be more potent and quieting than the feeling that has brought it into play. It is alleviation and mitigation, you hope. A wee white quell. Am I (is it) being too ambiguous?
In January 2015 I took over a module on ‘modern’ poetry at Kingston University, when I began teaching there. Now, in February 2020, I’m working with my sixth set of students. The course is without doubt my biggest pedagogical achievement. It’s really honed and specialised, and I change it every year, allow huge room for improvisation. I base it around methods fundamentally. Ways of writing contemporary poetry, tools. I’ll teach constraint writing and do case studies on oulipo. Ideas around conscious / unconscious writing with surrealism. Sound, visual, concrete, performance, video, electronic, kinetic, sculptural poetry etc… Then I try to respond to those who are in the room, lucky as I am to be able to control the numbers and have a dozen or under people involved. I try to open spaces for them to find their own subjects, for the methods to just reveal what is most original and idiosyncratic about their interests and personalities. Then I’m very wary of theory, and talk concepts and ideas and philosophy only when it seems to support the methods / subjects people are naturally bringing. So every year of the six has been so different, but I am proper proud of some of the amazing poets who have come from the course. This picture here shows us doing asemic / pansemic writing techniques in lesson.
A good interview with Victoria and Richard of Dostoyevsky Wannabe where they mention me new book https://spamzine.co.uk/post/610924993792147456/feature-on-the-first-five-years-of-dostoyevsky
On Future Things
> We are experimenting with the idea of branching out into non-fiction books alongside fiction and poetry (we’re open for non-fiction books mostly on music and design and technology so if anyone has ideas for these then please check our site and send a proposal). The fiction and poetry side will perhaps slow down as a result, but that doesn’t mean that we are not more committed than ever to helping get work out by fiction and poetry writers whose books we like.
> As far as titles are concerned, first up in 2020, we’ve published an anthology in collaboration with Partisan Hotel, also we’ve had Lee Rourke’s Vantablack, SJ Fowler’s I will show you the life of the mind (on prescription drugs), Nadia de Vries’s Dostoyevsky Wannabe Cities Amsterdam anthology
Dostoyevsky Wannabe publisher celebration tour reading number 2! Launch of my new book launch 2 https://www.amazon.co.uk/Will-Show-Life-prescription-drugs/dp/B0849T1PRK! All the videos are here http://www.theenemiesproject.com/dostoyevskywannabe I read some poems, gravely, then Jessica Sequeira, the famed pianoist, came and played some ancient tunes to my reading. Was a nice quiet night of poets reading to poets in the hallowed shadow of the torriano
My series of new collaborations with European poets on the spanish webplatform Wazogate has a new one out with the brilliant Austrian visual poet, Anatol Knotek. This dates back nearly a decade ago in parts https://www.wazogate.com/alternative-oulipo-methods/
Part of the wonderfully ambitious Klang Farben Text program is a temporary exhibition of new kinetic poem / cinepoems / poetry films by all 12 of the participating brit and german poets. Mine is a little engagement with some corporate powtoon
https://www.britishcouncil.de/en/klang-farben-text-visual-poetry-21st-century / https://www.europeanpoetryfestival.com/klangfarbentext
Sometimes you have to use material to hand, and in performing, be careful to allow out the theatrical and histronic, but not necessarily disturbing. But sometimes in doing that, the balance is relative to the audience’s taste, shall we say. I spent the whole performance saying to myself you’re being too nice, keep it calmed. Not sure how it came out. I munched a lot of blue and whites. Read a bit. Sold a few copies of my book, a new book Im quietly happy with but realise again is quite miserable https://www.amazon.co.uk/Will-Show-Life-prescription-drugs/dp/B0849T1PRK
I read alongside 7 dostoyevsky wannabe listmates. All their very good readings are up at http://www.theenemiesproject.com/dostoyevskywannabe
https://www.britishcouncil.de/en/klang-farben-text-visual-poetry-21st-century
TICKETS FOR EACH EVENT WILL BE AVAILABLE ON THE DOOR.
Klang Farben Text is a three-day visual poetry festival taking place at the Lyrik Kabinett in Munich on 3–5 March 2020. There will then be a follow-on event on 8 April 2020 at the National Poetry Library in London, which forms part of the European Poetry Festival.
Inspired by the international concrete poetry movement of the 1950s and 60s the exhibition celebrates how that movement has impacted a new generation of poets and artists. The printed word is transformed into film and performance demonstrating how concrete poetry has transcended beyond the book and printing press into an experiential art form for the 21st Century.
Curated by SJ Fowler and Chris McCabe, both poets, performers and editors of visual poetry, this exhibition aims to create an innovative and dynamic dialogue between UK and German poets and artists. The exhibition builds on the celebrated anthology The New Concrete: Visual Poetry in the 21st Century which was published by the Hayward Gallery in 2015, which was co-edited by McCabe and includes work by Fowler. Klang Farben Text (sound-colour-text) will take the form in performative collaborations between UK visual poets and contemporary German poets and a screening of concrete poetry films produced between the 1960s to the present day.
The UK poets are: Chris McCabe, SJ Fowler, Kimberly Campanello, Barrie Tullett, Robert Montgomery, Victoria Bean.
The German poets are: Gerhild Ebel, FALKNER, Angelika Janz, Michael Lentz, Benedikt Kuhn, Jürgen O. Olbrich, with special guest Eugen Gomringer.
“The international concrete poetry movement of the 1950s and 60s didn't end, it exploded into the work of a new generation of contemporary poets and artists. Klang Farben Text brings this UK and German generation together for a three-day celebration of visual poetry in sound, film and live performance" – SJ Fowler, Chris McCabe, curators
Concrete Poetry Films:There will be a looped series of concrete poetry films throughout the programme. These films document the development of concrete poetry from the 1960s to the current day, demonstrating how the form has extended out from the page into moving image and sound. The aim is to show how the current visual poetry scene remains true to the international focus of the original Concrete poetry movement.
PROGRAMME:THE FORMAT FOR THE FESTIVAL WILL BE:
3 March 2020: evening public event with Eugen Gomringer as ‘keynote’/guest speaker followed by tasters of each of the 12 collaborating poets
4 March and 5 March 2020 evening public events with the collaborating poets (six poets i.e. three pairs per night) One of the public events will feature a whole group performance
One of the public events will feature a whole group performance
Days set aside for collaborative work between the pairs of poets and as a group; organising a performance of a shared text
Each individual performance will also include a very short presentation / reading of a classic UK/German concrete poem. This will help join up contemporary practice with the original concrete movement, as well as enriching the poets by learning of other works from the UK/German culture.
Poets' films to run through the three days on loop. See the Lyrik Kabinett website for more details.
I'm delighted to announce the European Poetry Festival will return for 2020, and will present our most ambitious program yet. www.europeanpoetryfestival.com/2020 11 events over 2 weeks, April 3rd to 18th 2020, in 5 cities and towns across the UK and Ireland. A pioneering showcase of live literature, celebrating collaboration and performance, bringing together over 100 poets from across Europe and the UK. All events are free to attend, please click on the links below to find out more about each event taking place this April
April Friday 3rd 2020 - European Poetry at Writers’ Centre Kingston / Rose Theatre New publications launched for the opening event of the fest.
April Saturday 4th 2020 - The European Camarade / Rich Mix, main space, London The grand event of the festival. 32 poets, 16 pairs, brand new collaborations made for the night.
April Sunday 5th 2020 - Sound Poetry & Performance / Iklectik Artlab, London Innovative, sonic and conceptual poetry, made for liveness
April Monday 6th 2020 - Swiss Poetry in Collaboration / Candid Arts, London Swiss poets collaborate with British-based counterparts.
April Weds 8th 2020 - KlangFarbenText - German concrete poetry / National Poetry Library, London German concrete poets collaborate with British-based counterparts.
April Thurs 9th 2020 - Austrian Poetry in Collaboration / Austrian Cultural Forum, London Austrian poets collaborate with British-based counterparts.
April Saturday 11th 2020 - Polish Poetry in Collaboration / Rich Mix, London Polish poets collaborate with British-based counterparts.
April Monday 13th 2020 - Latvian Poetry in Collaboration / The Poetry Society’s Cafe, London Latvian poets collaborate with British-based counterparts.
April Tuesday 14th 2020 - Hungarian Poetry in Collaboration / Hungarian Cultural Centre, London Hungarian poets collaborate with British-based counterparts (to be confirmed)
April Weds 15th 2020 - European Camarade at National Centre for Writing, Norwich / Dragon Hall Visiting European poets collaborate with poets local to Norwich
April Saturday 18th 2020 - European Camarade at Riverbank Arts Centre : Newbridge, Co Kildare, Ireland Visiting European poets collaborate with poets local to Kildare and Dublin.
This was good. https://www.writerscentrekingston.com/futures20 A night of small chaoses. 18 performances by exhibitors in this always ambitious, DIY exhibition we do down in surbiton, at the ex shop gallery community centre, the museum of futures. I did a weird thing last minute, never getting to myself, but i found a mat and got to slap the floor. I watched some lovely readings from the floor and then 5 or 6 really outstanding performances, of great poise and skill. It was alarming. Like the room, packed out and hot on a cold night.
Pictures by the brilliant Madeleine Rose.
One of the most intense teaching experiences of my life and I have been trying to teach intensely, in martial arts before literature, for 20 years. A small week of time with the students of Bard Torgersen’s Westerdals Kristiania school course, which is designed so beautifully that I filled with admiration for it, and very touched to be asked. Bard has built a course around everything that everyone else does not do with such creative practise writing programs and the 30 strong group turned up every day to spend time with me. We actually made a film. So I won’t write further on what happened, but it became a really personal, strange, enriching experience.
https://poetryschool.com/courses/the-language-art-modern-art-poetry/ Explore the intersections between the post-war traditions of modern art and avant-garde poetry.
Over this intensive weekend, you will discover poets and artists who make use of language, sound, space, printing, and writing, to see how these practises are fundamental to both artforms. We’ll also bring light to some great moments in modern art and poetry that have enriched the traditions of both writing and art-making.
This is a practical course for people interested in developing their skills in either art forms, alongside furthering their understanding of experimental poetry and contemporary art; the onus will be on how these great moments in modern art and poetry can enrich writing and art-making, rather than dense historical analysis. Over the weekend we will focus on:
Saturday 11 July & Sunday 12 July, 10.30am – 4.30pm.
All classes will be in our offices at 1 Dock Offices, Surrey Quays Road, Canada Water, SE16 2XU. The venue is a 2-minute walk from Canada Water Station. Take the ‘Lower Road’ exit from the station onto Surrey Quays Road, then walk straight ahead, crossing over Deal Porters Way, and the Dock Offices come up on the left. The door for the school is at the far end of the building.
More information about how all our face-to-face courses work can be found on the Face-to-Face courses page.
https://www.writerscentrekingston.com/futures I have had a great curatorial team to help with this staple of the Writers Centre Kingston program this year - Maria Omena, Gabriella Buckner, Aifric Kyne, Djahane Zair and Marcia Knight Latter - which made installing it easy peasy and made me rethink my thoughts of it maybe being the last time I do this, four years in. Some really great works came in too, new faces and old faves. The exhibition runs Feb 18th to March 17th
robert on the right, post camarade with jeff hilson
Curating collaborative events is a fundamental part of my work, as many people know me for this, and in October 2020 it’l be ten years since I put on the first Camarade style event. One of the incidental aims of the project, which I’ve written about a lot (it’s obliquity towards creating friendships and communities which means it does so almost always, it’s trojan horsing of experimentation because of the breakdown of the ‘singular’ poet voice in performance etc.) is to connect generations of poets. Because I found poetry in my mid twenties from nothing, I took from my previous profession that it was innate to seek out those who had been doing what you were aiming to do for many decades and ask them how they did it, why they did it, was it worth doing. This is why I sought connections and dialogues with poets like Iain Sinclair, Tom Raworth, Maggie O’Sullivan and many others very early on. I invited them, I corresponded with them. One of the most universally appreciated of these poets who had done the poetry for far longer than I was Robert Sheppard. Robert’s work stretches beyond his lifetime writing, and his unusually wide ranging and insightful use of poetics, into the many poets he’s influenced and taught. Me being one of them. He has recently been writing on collaboration and generously included a post about the enemies project https://robertsheppard.blogspot.com/2020/02/thoughts-on-collaboration-5-literary.html
It is in fact worth reading all of his threads on collaboration, and his blog in general https://robertsheppard.blogspot.com/2020/01/robert-sheppard-thughts-on.html
My new book is now available from Dostoyevsky Wannabe. They have done a grand job creating a beautiful book with an especially ambitious text. Please snag one at the link below, thanks. I will show you the life of the mind (on prescription drugs)
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Will-Show-Life-prescription-drugs/dp/B0849T1PRK
From the publisher, "From the mysterious recesses of the mind (or is that brain?) comes the urge to fix our sadness! Drugs are the answer, allied with literature. Legal, prescribed drugs, by hurried doctors, which reroute synapses in millions of human beings consciousnesses. What is the poetry of this ubiquitous but hidden malforming of the already overblown 21st human mental experience? In England, of all places? Who knows?! But SJ Fowler’s inventive espousing of fiction, poetry, illustration and found-text, as one singular literary undertaking, offers up the mess and hope of searching. A choose-your-own-adventure novel into the pits of your cognisance, this truly original book of confusion and consolation, as generously vulnerable as it is challenging, is by turns sad, funny, abstract and painfully clear. What emerges is YOU: the writer, the reader, the patient, the doctor, the doubt and decision, and how to newly express this, a life of the mind…on prescription drugs."
https://dostoyevskywannabe.com/originals/i_will_show_you_the_life_of_the_mind_on_prescription_drugs
The book will be launched on February 22nd, 23rd and 25th. http://www.theenemiesproject.com/dostoyevskywannabe
Poem Brut is entering a new phase, trying to extend beyond just the live events and 3am magazine publications, into something more liminal but concentrated on the possibilities of each poet choosing their own form and method, as well as content, connected somehow to the project’s two real focuses - the mind and neurodiversity, and the possibilities of aberrant method (in light of the normal poetic tradition). This day was this happening - 15 poets together at rich mix, exchanging ideas, what we’re up to, sharing resources and considerations. Open ended, generous, electic, reflecting the genuine originality and difference of the people involved. It was just me pinging out invites to people to see if they were up for it, and then they came, and we chatted and that was it. But it was like what a course of study should be, i think. www.poembrut.com
Pretty heartening to sell out the whitechapel gallery cinema for the first screening of the film Tereza Stehlikova and I have made about willesden junction and 1000 other things. It was a really good night to show the film, the audience was generous. Watching a film i was in and around and a lynch pin of, arguably, but not feeling like its creator or filmmaker or writer, was wonderful. I was able to enjoy it objectively, admire Tereza’s achievement. It is a meditative, hypnotic, allusive, symbolic film. It flows with jarring imagery like the place it celebrates. We chatted after the screening with David Spittle about the film a little bit
Thanks too to Gareth Evans, for hosting us, and Dave for the conversation
Really happy to have a new short fiction pamphlet out with the brilliant Sampson Low publishers. You can pick one up here for the steal of 2 quid 50 or so. https://sampsonlow.co/2020/01/29/the-car-giant-sj-fowler/ The story is part of my ongoing collaboration with Tereza Stehlikova, WORM WOOD, and will be launched at the Whitechapel Gallery for the premiere of our film of the same name. It’s another chapter in that project which has taken on a myriad of forms, from exhibitions to performances, booklets and the cinema. The story itself is a meta-narrative about Tereza and I walking down the canal, and Tereza going missing, and destroying corporate city planning and giant robot cars
