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
A note on : Leinster paper article on upcoming EPF Ireland event
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 : Euronews article on European poetry
https://www.euronews.com/culture/2024/03/08/poetry-is-back-baby-europes-poetry-scene-is-thriving-but-it-never-left-in-the-first-place Really nice to speak to Anca Ulea for this article on euro news about European poetry in general, and my festival specifically
National Gallery II in 2024 - March 22nd
https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/events/friday-lates-tour-and-poetry-readings-sj-fowler-and-guests-22-03-2024 This will be special, with Iain Sinclair and two of my students Jessica Pritchard and Oscar Rodriguez, leading a walking tour reading around Gallery B, C, D in the National Gallery on March 22nd at 7pm. All free to attend. This is the second commission like this this year, and the fifth overall.
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/
A note on : Action Vispo at Writers Kingston
The 72nd event I’ve had the pleasure to run for Writers Kingston, for Kingston University, this time celebrating something distinct but ambiguous - how do we perform visual poetry? This leads us into the territory of the score, but also, as was the case in this event, the sculptural and gestural. There were some really fun performances. Balloons with text. Eggs thrown on paper. Massive scrabble. Books taped to feet. The sense of playful weird but sincere experiment is what I seek in my work, and was what this event was about.
All videos here and worth watching https://www.writerskingston.com/actionvispo/
A note on : Printing, live, with Ane Thon Knutsen at ROM gallery, Oslo
“A unique live letterpress printing event by Ane Thon Knutsen and SJ Fowler at ROM Gallery, Oslo, Norway, on February 17th 2024.
With no text pre-written, Knutsen and Fowler created the poem in situ, using first a generator which displayed Norwegian words which are understandable phonetically in English (with both participants and audience choosing the words by chance) and then writing poems live, turning phrases from English into Norwegian, with special attention to composite words and what is found lost in immediate translation. As each phrase or line was decided upon it was then printed by Knutsen on strips of paper using a typeface designed by Stefan Ellmer.
These strips of poems were then hammered into the gallery wall in an order of sorts by Fowler. Over two hours the poem took shape, in Norwegian, mostly understandable out loud in English.” My first poem in Norwegian! I’m quite proud.
Thanks to Helena Bjørnevik Ottesen and Gjertrud Steinsvåg at ROM for their hospitality and support.
A note on : Oslo Camarade 2024
https://www.europeanpoetryfestival.com/oslo
Oslo Camarade : Feb 15th 2024 at Høyskolen Kristiania 12 new collaborations from over 30 performers made for this unique night of performance by groups of student poet-artist-writers from Kristiania School and pairs of those local to Oslo. Over 500 Camarade events have pioneered live literature made in collaboration since 2011, and this extraordinary event was the first of it’s kind in Oslo.
Super proud of many of the students at this event whom I worked with on their pieces in the days before.
Brilliant to share the stage with so many friends, old and new, from the Oslo poetry and music scene
And such a pleasure again to work with Dario Fariello, one of the best improvisers I have ever worked with.
A note on : Teaching at Hoyskolen Kristiania in Oslo
Teaching alongside Bard Torgersen for a week at Oslo’s Hoyskolen Kristiania, for the third time, following programs in 2022 and 2020. Both times before, as with this week, the experience changes my approach to teaching in general. The nature of the course is unique and dynamic, thanks to Bard, who is a remarkable lecturer with a roving, wide ranging and complex vision for what information to share and how to share it. The course synthesises so much about what it is to be a poet and writer, and stretches the perceptions of the students. It’s really brilliantly intense. In addition, the sessions last all day, they are vocational in a sense. We worked with the students 10am to 4pm, and beyond. So it’s very different, as an approach, as an experience, tiring and inspiring.
This group of students were exceptional. Mature, funny, down to earth and serious about pushing themselves to create proper pieces of innovative live literature and accompanying visual poetry scores. We ran a Camarade event where they all performed new works in groups. Really high pressure stuff as they had one day to hear about the live traditions we were exploring, then one day to create, and then one day to rehearse and then it was the event, a full room, with friends and family, and other poets performance who were much older, professionals, and some really experimental stuff. Really remarkable what they achieved, in such time, and a real bond was formed. Huge respect to Bard and all his students I met.