Monday, May 21, 2007

derek beaulieu demonstrates the gift economy

so, i pestered derek until he agreed to meet me for brunch (he had breakfast (a burger and fries) i had lunch (grilled cheese)) down at Take Ten here in Calgary... (Calgary? what the hell am i doin' in Calgary?) anyway, he brought along a pile of publications as a gift:

1) D.A. Levy - The Para-Concrete Manifesto (originally published in June 1966, this is a reprint by the "24th street irregular press" (Sacramento, CA) from December of 2001 (#99 in their "Poems-For-All" series: it's a nice little microbook: 2 inches or so by 2 inches or so (8 pages + cover) contact: poems(at)sacfreepress.com

2) first olive - elisabeth belliveau - typewritten poetry & colour copier collages - 4.25 x 5.5 in. (32 pages (8 colour)) looks to be "homemade" but with funding from The Alberta Foundation for the Arts

3) humm - elisabeth belliveau - similar to the above (copyright 2000)

4) kitten. - ditto

5) igloooo. - elisabeth belliveau - similar the the above, but this one in the "golden mean" format: 4.25 x 11 in.

6) Macromania - Carl Skelton - (Struts Gallery Inc., Sackville, N.B., 1991) "An Unsingable Liturgy with Pictures of Invisible Animals" a very nicely produced booklet to accompany an installation project that toured thru The New Gallery here and Latitude 53 up in Edmonton, etc. the text, in gray, red and black reads as a sort of visual poetry (that looks perfectly singable to me!) The "invisible animals" are some strange parasites: Giardia lamblia, Trypanosoma lewisi, etc.

7) The Sharp Corners - Daniel F. Bradley - The Expert Press, Toronto, MCMXCIX, edition of 100 numbered copies, 12 of which (this being one) are reserved hors-commerce and bound in boards (copy 92)

8) Hallelujah Anyway - Kenneth Patchen - New Directions, 1967 (fifth printing) (with a price of 42.95 pencilled on the inside!)

9) Pilot, A Journal of Contemporary Poetry (2006) contact: mjc6(at)buffalo.edu (170 pages + an audio interview with Michael Basinski (on cd)) - i have not really had a chance to read much but there is some wicked work by Kevin Thurston! also Ric Royer (mislabelled?), Jeff Derksen, Derek Beaulieu himself, Lisa Robertson, Chris Fritton, etc.

10) The Martian Press Review (Vol. 1) ed. Jonathan Ball http://www.jonathanball.com - poetry/literature zine with work by 10 writers

11) Air Pressure - David Fujino - Bookthug, Toronto, 2006 http://www.bookthug.ca (47 pages) Fujino "occupies the space between what we think of as 'visual poetry' and 'text-based poetry'" as it says on the back (actually it says "as of" but...) 15.00

12) DaDaBaBy 4 - edited by Jamie Reid - 1994 - with work by Adeena Karasick & Andy Graffiti & Jamie himself (8 page zine)

13) DaDaBaBy 6 - ed. Jamie Reid - 1995 - the first 12 chapters of a novel by Gerry Gilbert (The Milieu) (16 page - half-legal size 'zine)

14) Print Shop Chicanery - 6 page letterpress ephemera from the Gaspereau Press - $13.50!

15) Typographical Eras - Lesley Choyce - Gaspereau Press, N.S., MMIII, 28 pages - collage poetry where you can still see the little bits of paper that were used - letterpress cover - edition of 400 (this is number 191) - $6.75 (a bargain!)

16) The Ghost Plant - John R. Barlow - 11th edition - 1997(?) - it's only one page, but it seems to be an infinite page! nicely produced with a printshop cast-off cover and recycled paper, sweet!

17) WTFL Arts and Sciences School for the Quotidian Unremarkable - John R. Barlow - this is a free brochure type thing, done up for a reading series, i think! (2000?)

18) The John & Daniel's Late Show at the Idler... same as above but folded different which makes it a variant, eh?

19) Dirt (Issue #1, August 2005) ed. PR Primeau (18 page poetry 'zine) try:
http://dirt-zine.tripod.com

20) Cat City - 13 Cat Poems - Jamie Reid - DaDaBaBy Enterprises & Panarky Press - 16 pages - golden mean format - nice little zen-type poem/koans, excellent (no date)

21) Spire (Spire Poetry Poster) - Vol. 1 No. 2, Dec. 2003 - ed. K.L. McKay (Ottawa) - with poetry by bill bissett, Phil Mader & Nico Rogers

22) filling Station #38

23) fS #36

24) fS # 37 http://www.fillingstation.ca

Saturday, May 12, 2007



Volker Nix


Ruud Janssen


Reed Altemus & Fabio Sassi


Jamie Reid (ed.) Near Miracles


Tanya Bemis