about
Author: Marcus Silcock
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One week from today gonna take an airplane . . . I’m a going (to my second) home. From Greensboro to Boston to Dublin for a few days. Tour the Guinness factory. Walk around St. Stephen’s Green and think of Joyce. Then a train to Portadown to see my family. Maybe look up my biological…
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Ruth Dickey, a friend and fellow poet, moved to Seattle recently to help run this program called New Futures. Good things happening. Check it out : New Futures
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&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& the bell is known in all cultures – but not known when invented mission bells sing from strange halls during the recession of 1890 mission halls overflowed with harmonic convergence bargain bells buy now easy cheap & quick bells at rock bottom big bells now one click away the woman would use her only…
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I used to feel compelled to start and finish one book before starting another. Now I feel compelled to juggle many books (and ideas and languages) at once. Still, there is the residual guilt. Finish what you start. Finish every last morsel on your plate. You can’t leave the table till you finish. Even if…
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Head over to Aaron McCollough’s blog and listen to his songs. I love Via Positivia and Fire’s on the Phone. I also like Big Star Cover. Song for Puckheads is my favourite so far. Two great voices. ALL THE SONGS ARE GREAT. Fab lyrics. After waking up with a little angst (a hole in my…
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There’s a hot spanking new mag out of Greensboro called Backwards City Review. Comics, poetry, fiction, non-fiction. The first issue should be available soon. I’ve had a sneak peak (in pdf form). It’s very very good! Check out the table of contents for the first issue: EDITOR’S NOTE COMICS Tom Chalkley Heat Wave Verso…
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poets in demand
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Just ordered maurice Scully’s Livelihood from Wild Honey and Rosmarie Waldrop’s Blindsight from New Directions. I am really excited to read some more Maurice Scully. check out some of his poems: here and here I am excited to be in Ireland in a few weeks. Also going to England for a few days. Hope to…
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Broken glass everywhere People pissing on the stairs, you know they just don’t care I can’t take the smell, I can’t take the noise Got no money to move out, I guess I got no choice Rats in the front room, roaches in the back Junkie’s in the alley with a baseball bat I tried…
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Just finished Turbulence by Pierre Joris and I am charged. Fully charged. I search and search for the right book at the right time and this is it. The movement (architectonics) of the book is dead-on. First, clouds and the weather, a little groundwork Second, Canto Diurno # 1 (my fav is Noon re:Sobin’s work)…
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FIGURES 1 A figure of feeling is not a single tree a set of lines an occasion of words. A figure of feeling is a system of roots, a bloodline, re-invented events. And we know now the clay as first begotten the irrational how(l) of language. And now in-knowing needs be more musical. Less naming.…
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The interconnections of blogs. I was just surfing a little and found Josh and Jordan are both talking about audience (as well as Silliman). Josh and Jordan are both very articulate. Their responses full of passion. I especially found Josh’s argument for friends and lovers convincing. And Elvis. Yes, I don’t want to be Elvis.…
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Silliman’s post about audience today was very interesting. I’ve noticed the same thing. A lot more people laughed when I read to a mix of poets and non-poets at a coffee shop than when I’ve read to a room full of MFA poets. The funeral audience versus the party audience. Education as the sometimes enemy…
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do you know the difference between a camel and a child? A lion and a camel? CLICK HERE FOR ANSWER
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I’ve been trying to figure out how one could make a contemporary argument for art as an end in itself (not a cultural production). As in Kant’s notion of personhood. Perhaps the doing of art as an end in itself?
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Finally got around to reading Carl Martin’s _Genii Over Saltzburg_. Terrific book. I was really taken back by the elegant surrealism. I felt like I was reading some strange combination of Charles Simic and John Ashberry. I also had to stop a few times to look up words I’d never encountered. This looking up of…
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If you haven’t already seen this, take a look. Horrific. Falluja
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GOEST, by Cole Swensen, Alice James Books, 63 pp., $13.95 “Cole Swensen leads readers through history as she explores the subject of light, both natural and man-made. The poems in “Goest” travel back and forth through time – from the present-day United States to the streets of Paris in the 1500s and Rome in 50…
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Been reading coductors of Chaos for a while (an anthology of outsider/experimental poetry from the U.K.). I am really digging Chris Cheek. His poem “Stranger” got the engine roaring tonight. It’s not reproducable in parts. it’s the total effect of its music. Also finished Leonard Schwartz’s The Tower of Diverse Shores. Amazing book. Especially the…
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For the last couple of weeks our cat iris is been in and out of the vet/hospital. Earlier this week she underwent exploratory surgery and they diagnosed her with a severe case of Irritable Bowel Disease. The vet wants to start her on chemo and steriods on Monday. In the meantime we’ve got to watch…
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check out the new poem from Joe Donahue over at the verse blog <a href="http://versemag.blogspot.com/2004/08/new-joseph-donahue-poem.html" >Joseph Donahue Poem
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Good time reading at Solaris last night. Angie Decola took the photos below. A guy videotaped the reading and is sending the readers a free DVD of the night (he is a local fella that lives off taping and selling readings and other events on DVD). best part of the night: Ezra’s interactive lecture on…
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From: Judith Barrington Date: 2004/11/10 Wed PM 08:35:38 CST To: WOM-PO@LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU Subject: POL: THIS SEEMS VERY IMPORTANT: Will Kerry Un-conceed? Please forward to all who have specifics on vote fraud. The send-to address below is John Kerry’s brother at his law firm. Kerry will unconcede if there is solid evidence of fraud. We need first…
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I stumbled on a book of Beverly Dahlen’s _A Reading 1-7_. So far, I am really enjoying it. I just finished reading Leslie Scalapino’s: 1) Way 2) How Phenomena Appear to Unfold 3) New Time. I’ve also listened to the Kenning cd of Scalapino reading Way quite a few times. For some reason I hear…
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If anyone is free and lives near Greensboro, I am reading with two excellent poets (Don Ezra Cruz and Rhett) at Solaris (a restaurant/night club in downtown Greensboro) at 9PM Wed Nov. 10th. I guess a band is going to play after our reading. Don’t how late I’ll stay though. Also, one of students turned…
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“And cast down me wretched / sinner unto thee I am / slightly different from / a corpse at a funeral / in that I am less made up / but made up worse.” “The spaces between the aura / and the jolt are shorter / like some epileptic thunderstorm / waiting for the eye.”…
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It’s hard to even begin today. My friend Gerry helped me to feel a little better if only to express my own shock, disbelief, horror, and fear: LONG ROAD
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had to get my mind off the big countdown. Worked for a few hours on Campanology. Refound my pace. I’ve felt for about a month (after trying it out on an audience) something was amiss. More than amiss. Way off for my satisfaction. I realized it was very abstract. I mean I am all for…
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Many of you’all may have already read this over at Possum Pouch, but in case you haven’t: Freedom is on the March by Eliot Weinberger Among the things the second term of the Bush junta will bring is the New Freedom Initiative. This is a proposal, barely reported in the press, to give all Americans-…
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Just finished Angelus Bell by Edward Foster and it reminded me in some ways of Daniel Zimmerman’s Post-Avant with its formal density. I was really drawn into Angelus Bell by the reflexive gestures and overarching themes and links from poem to poem (aloneness, sound, eyes, and dry landscapes). It makes me realize how new formalism…
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Just watched a new release DVD called How to Draw a Bunny. It’s a documentary on the pop artist Ray Jonhson. Really fascinating and eerie. for some reason I can’t get the visual of two Ray Johnson performance piecesout of my head: 1) running around a room in various ways with a chalkboard on wheels…
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Another great reading on Saturday. Ken Rumble really brings the heat to town. Tony Tost read some great prose poems. Dense in the sense of including various lives (reading life, dreaming life, love life etc.). Maximalist. funny. Profound. I especially loved the Complex Sleep series (in the tradition of Duncan’s Strucure of Rime series). Tony…
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Feeling the Draft By PAUL KRUGMAN Published: October 19, 2004 Columnist Page: Paul Krugman Forum: Discuss This Column E-mail: krugman@nytimes.com TIMES NEWS TRACKER Topics Alerts United States Armament and Defense Military Personnel Those who are worrying about a revived draft are in the same position as those who worried about a return to budget deficits…
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I am not sure why there is sometimes so much build up before writing. It’s usually when I am revising/restructuring. The intial writing phases are no pressure/no problem. But getting the structure! There’s some anxiety. And the perrenial questions. Mostly: why do/make this thing called poetry? Is this making doing anyone or anything any “good?”…
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check it out: Ezra Pound
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I am amazed, blown away. Peter O’Leary’s _Watchfulness_ has changed my landscape. Really fired me up to keep moving with my book length poem Campanology. king Midas Gold, man of light (gnostic light), transfigured light A few of many lines: “is it always a few who reach the edge of the world, where its mirror-…
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Been reading a lot of Nathaniel Mackey and Leslie Scalapino lately. In _How Phenomena Appear to Unfold_ Scalapino writes, “The writing is a mode, not a system.” So mode versus system. When I think system, I think systematic reasoning (and the postmodern critique of such). When I think mode, I think frame. But I am…
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After an amazing first festival, the city of Carrboro has decided NOT to allow another festival next year. Where did the funds go? Another national/international festival? Patrick Heron received this reply: Patrick: I wanted to answer your recent question to Sean Sunkel, Special Events Supervisor about having another Poetry Festival sometime in May 2005. Unfortunately…
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Draft is a really interesting word. As in: rough. As in: cold wind down the hallway. I think Evie is right. A draft might wake more people up.
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I handed out this information to my students in class yesterday. Most of them were surprised. Especially the female students. Not sure if Kerry is all for this or not. POSSIBLE MANDATORY DRAFT for boys and girls (ages 18-26) starting June 15, 2005 There is pending legislation in the house and senate (companion bills: S89…
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I am wondering whether or not to buy the new Interpol? Am also wondering about jobs for next year. Contract runs out. Jobs jobs jobs. Agh. Gotta watch some Godard. Also gotta figure out how to pronounce French words. Took German in high school and college. Wish I knew four or five languages fluently. I…
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I am going to teach a film class in the spring. It’s exciting putting together the syllabus. Going to use Monaco’s How to Read a Film and a selection of articles from Film Quarterly. Still thinking through film selections. It’s interesting to think about the words film, cinema, and movie. Film: art cinema: stage/world movie:…
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In constructing my disruptive narrative of influences, I’ve come full circle. I really came to poetry after leaving the comfortable world of a fundamentlist religion. After the leaving, I studied a lot of world mythology, philosophy of religion, and eastern mysticism. I also got really excited about Joyce and thought I would go to graduate…
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finished Burger’s Theory of the Avant-Garde last night. I’ve been pondering the non-organic versus organic (language as artifact). Burger says, “The organic work intends the impression of wholeness. To the extent its individual elements have significance only as they relate to the whole . . . in the avant-gardiste work, on the other hand, the…
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I just ordered the complete Basil Bunting. I’ve only read/heard a little of Briggflatts. I am excited to sit down with him. Also ordered Watchfulness by Peter O’Leary and John Taggart’s Pastorelles. It’s nice to get this perk with teaching. Books from large publishers (norton, penguin etc.) which I can trade for store credit. I…
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The a Desert City Readng Series kicked off again this past Saturday. James Brasfield and Joe Donahue read. Joe read some hot new poems. Lots and lots of voices. My spine always reacts to Joe’s poems. Mystery, awe etc. Everything moves (mind as body etc.) Real energy transference. His new chapbook, In This Paradise, from…
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Strange connections. The conversation over at Tony’s blog really picked up with the issue of responsibility. Over at Smartish Place (http://www.smartishpace.com/home/poetsqa/graham_answers.html) I asked Jorie Graham a question about influence and responsibility (after reading Tost’s piece in Typo about the mongrols). Here’s the question and the answer: marcus slease, N. Ireland: How do you feel about…
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If you haven’t checked it out already, click on over to Tony Tost’s blog. A very interesting, provocative conversation happening. Process and product, canons, cult of the author, art that aspires for the eternal . . . So far, 26 comments. Movin on up to Silliman scale responses. I am still thinking through a lot…
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The memory of last Saturday feels foggy, eerie. Did it really happen? Lots of glazed donuts (one dollar each). The Krispy Creme poetry tent was a wierd revival type setting. Galway Kinnell read next tent to Maya Angelou (the official poet of Krispy Creme)? I was most excited to see his new G4 titanium powerbook.…
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all sorts of stuff is leaking into my long poem. Such as Mormon doctrine and early mysticism (the mysticism was quickly abandoned for corporation/institutional reasons). But Joseph Smith’s spectacles amaze me. I am still working on this part of the long poem. It’s just “factual info.” The lines will be off with blogger, but here…
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A little while back a few Lucipo folks (Tony and Ken perhaps?) mentioned how quite a few younger poets are attempting long poems. I’ve been dipping and out of Olson’s The Maximus Poems and the sheer maximalist quality (energy transference) makes me dizzy. I am working on a long poem called Campanology ( which is…
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We started discussing poetry section in my intro to literature class. I am using individual collections for all the genres, but for poetry I am using an anthology (Allen’s New American Poetry) and we will read Lisa jarnot’s Ring of Fire in a few weeks. Class participation was really quite good today. The students responded…
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Just traded in a collected Milosz and a collected Wright (I like them both but don’t love ’em) for: 1) The geography of the imagination (essays by Guy Davenport) 2) Theater of the Avant-Garde (1890-1950. Has essays and plays arranged by movements. Expressionism, surrealism etc.) Right now, I am finally reading _The Descent of Alette_.…
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sometimes a little alcohol (or little a lot) helps moisten my mind. Had a good time at a part last night at one of the editors of the new journal Backwards City (see links to the right). In particular, Gerry Canavanand I talked about death, existentialism, consciousness, time. It was a good talk. Helped clear…
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I’ve decided to 5 contemporary books of poetry in my intro to poetry class in the spring. I think I am going to create a blog for the class to allow for informal discussion and supplemental readings. I’m still trying to decide on the 5 books. Four of the five possible books: 1) Jeff Clark,…
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Finally got the ariel. My head is all squirm. It feels good to rework some of the abstractions (i.e. my head banging against a padded cell) in the second MS. I realized after the reading yesterday my antiabsorption killed off my absorption. Now they are on speaking terms. The transmissions return.
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Good times last night at the open eye reading ( a series run by Mr. Tony Tost). A real mix. Chris Vitiello read from Nouns Swarm a Verb and Evie Shockley read a powerful poem (“A Thousand Words”) about torture. The repitition of torture and the mix of humor were powerful. Both were perfect timing…
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I have some recent poems in the latest issue of Diagram. The second poem “Multitide and Miracle” is actually in my current MS Diagram
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Just got a poem accepted by Forklift, Ohio. It’s strange. My last three acceptances have been for poem I cut from my MS (Columbia Poetry Review, Conduit, and now Forklift, Ohio). I’ve decided to reinsert the poems accepted by those journals. Perhaps I get too carried away with new projects and think the old projects…
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I am teaching two sections of intro to poetry in the spring. I’ve taught with a lot of the Norton/Vendler/Gioia anthologies (etc.) in the past and I am very tired of them. I was thinking of just using five books of contemporary poetry. It is a general education class. They don’t need to know the…
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So there is American surrealism of the deep image and pastoral variety (perhaps Matthew Rohrer is a good example of this tendency although he sometimes moves away from deep image and the pastoral to some kind cyber erotics.) There is also the surrealism of Eastern Europe with its folklorish qualities (Simic etc.) And French surrealism…
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I am teaching Jesus’ Son in my intro to lit class and the students often want to know if such and such really happened. The narrator is not reliable, but he is very aware. Oftentimes lucid via drugs. Other times he thinks he is lucid and is just fucked up. The surrealist moments of the…
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I am in awe. I just sat down and read Combo Winter/Spring 2004 from start to finish and I honestly loved every god damn poem (and interview and letter). I have never enjoyed reading a literary journal so much. The feel of the magazine (simple, exact, crisp). The quality of the poetry, HOLY SHIT! There’s…
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some poems I wrote about two years ago are in the current issue of Spork. Spork Mag
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Inspired by the comments of Ken Rumble, I just re-read My Life and read Chris Vitiello’s Nouns Swarm A Verb. It was a very interesting experience to read those two books back to back. I found Nouns Swarm A Verb much more “self-contained” than My Life. What I mean is the gestures (language) are often…
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Yes U2 currently sucks. In the past they might not have sucked. I think there is a difference between sucks and sucked. It’s sad when something that didn’t suck now sucks. If something sucked and still sucks it is neither sad nor tragic. Brittany Spears sucks and still sucks so to say Brittany Spears sucks…
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So many strange dreams. An orgy last night. I was ordered to do certain things. I was also ordered to try the new and improved Mormon filter (for Camels only). The filter left a strong minty residue. Then I had to run through the snow barefoot in Bountiful Utah in search of a secret house…
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a collective blog featuring some of the folks of Lucipo poetics is linked to the right. I’ve been reading about Bean News in the Chicago Review. Sounded like an interesting project. A newspaper run mostly by poets. A group blog could certainly function in a similar fashion to Bean News. Hodge podge (I need to…
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I am still concerned about the conversion narrative (from school of quietude to avant garde). The problem is the narrative is too simplistic. But knowing where you’re coming from doesn’t have to be a bad thing does it? I am really enjoying the latest Chicago Review. The letters between Dorn and Jones (Baraka) are really…
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Chicago Review has some interesting letters between Ed Dorn and Tom Raworth and Dorn and Olson in 1961. So far they are really interesting. Raworth is really funny. I did not realize he had such a complex family background. He says his mother was Irish “from a Dublin family of anti-British bomb throwers” and his…
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Just got the latest issue of Chicago Review from my mailbox. It’s a special issue on Ed Dorn. I am really excited to read it. I love Chicago Review Chicago Review
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The reading took place at Todd and Laura Sandvik’s home. They are amazing hosts. Always great food, liquid, sound, art. I borrowed Chao Manhattan from Todd. Looking forward to watching it later today. Passed around a little notebook and asked some fellow Lucipo poets to create a quick list of artists to check out. The…
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Read an essay by Marjorie Perloff last night called “After language Poetry: Innovation and its Theoretical Discontents.” It’s a really interesting essay. She begins by talking about the semantic history of innovation. Innovation as sedition and treason esp. in 14th and 15th century. She then gives a short but good background on the innovations and…
Never Mind the Beasts 