24 April 2013

Myung Mi Kim feature at Jacket2



A crucial Myung Mi Kim feature just went live at Jacket2 thanks to C.J. Martin. It features writing by Susan Gevirtz, Divya Victor, Julia Bloch, and others. Check it out here. I should mention, too, that a festschrift I co-edited with Andrew Rippeon on Myung's work, featuring TONS of great material, is also available online here. Finally, if you still haven't purchased the Nightboat reissue of Dura or Omindawn's Penury, please prioritize that now for your own good...

18 April 2013

Vital Forms Events



Thursday, April 18th:

Thom Donovan and Brent Cunningham
Woolsey Heights
doors 7pm/reading 8pm
1628 woolsey st apt c / berkeley


Friday, April 19th:
Eleni Stecopoulos
Beth Murray
Thom Donovan
Bhanu Kapil
7:00-9:30 pm talks & performances
general admission $10; low income $5
@ Subterranean Arthouse
2179 Bancroft Way, downtown Berkeley


Saturday, April 20th:

Constellation Work on Healing through/from/ in Crisis, facilitated by Beth Murray
Palmistry: A Short Workshop on the Healing Image, facilitated by Bhanu Kapil and Melissa Buzzeo
2:00-5:00 pm workshops integrating writing with movement/somatic work
general admission $10; low income $5
@ Subterranean Arthouse
2179 Bancroft Way, downtown Berkeley


Pavlos Stavropoulos
Margit Galanter
david wolach
Melissa Buzzeo
7:00-9:30 pm talks & performances
general admission $10; low income $5
@ Subterranean Arthouse
2179 Bancroft Way, downtown Berkeley

11 April 2013

The Leslie Scalapino Award for Innovative Women Playwrights



Find the original call at The Relationship

2013 CALL FOR ENTRIES:

In memory of Leslie Scalapino, her extraordinary body of work, and her commitment to the community of experimental writing and performance.

The Leslie Scalapino Award recognizes the importance of exploratory approaches and an innovative spirit in writing for performance. It wishes to encourage women writers who are taking risks with the playwriting form by offering the opportunity to gain wider exposure through readings and productions. The award will also seek to increase public awareness for this vibrant contemporary field.

We are looking for a full-length work for live performance by a woman writer with an inquiring approach to language and content.


THE PRIZE:


The winner will receive a $2,500 cash prize, print publication of winning play by Litmus Press, and a staged reading of the piece this October at the The New Ohio Theatre in New York, by Fiona Templeton's company The Relationship.

Judges: Caroline Bergvall, E. Tracy Grinnell, Fiona Templeton.

In subsequent years, the prize will also include the opportunity for a full production by The Relationship or another theatre company.

The Leslie Scalapino Award for Innovative Women Playwrights is funded in part by the Leslie Scalapino–O Books Fund and is administered by The Relationship. Publication of award-winning works will be in collaboration with Litmus Press. For more information about Leslie Scalapino, please visit her website: www.lesliescalapino.com.


SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:


Potential applicants will find a familiarity with the works of Leslie Scalapino a useful reference – we are not looking for imitators or conventional playwrighting, but writing that is challenging, poetic and innovative.

Initial applications should consist of a cover letter*, a 10-page excerpt, and a 150 word (maximum) summary of the full piece. We will request full scripts from a shortlist of selected candidates.

The Award for Innovative Women Playwrights intends to support new writing by female-identified people, inclusive of transwomen.

The prize is open to international submissions in English.

Only one performance text / script may be submitted. The work should not have been previously produced, as the intention is to support new works.

*The play must be accompanied by a letter containing the writer's name, address, email address, and a short biography (one paragraph).


TIMELINE:


SUBMISSION DEADLINE: MAY 30th 2013 11:59 pm

Shortlist announced: July 30th

Deadline for full scripts from shortlisted candidates: August 15th 11:59 pm

Announcement of winning work and reading details: September 30th, 2013

Reading and announcement of round 2: October 2013, details tbc

Ready to submit? Click Here

09 April 2013

The Heidelberg at work...



Stephen Novotny is currently printing CJ Martin's new chapbook, titled 2012, on the Heidelberg at Compline HQ for his new press, Supersuperette. Here's a little video loop of the press at work...

04 April 2013

Sarah Rosenthal's Next Big Thing


 


Sarah Rosenthal asked if I'd host her "Next Big Thing" contribution here, and, of course, I'm delighted to see (and share) it. A new book by Sarah Rosenthal, especially a book called Lizard (!), sounds awesome!

Here's Sarah:

What is the title of the book?


Lizard.


Where did the idea come from for the book?


I was teaching a class on the letter as literary form and in my reader I included an untitled poem by Sesshu Foster that begins with a gesture toward epistolarity and then veers into a captivating portrait of a (male) character named Lizard, which is at the same time an extravagant celebration of language. Half the students were enthralled with the poem and the other half railed against its slippery indeterminacy. The ruckus seemed vibrant, necessary. I wrote a response of sorts (a letter?) to Foster’s poem, about a female Lizard who, like Foster’s character, blends features of the human and the reptile. I continued to accrue poems featuring Lizard and after several months I realized it would be a book.


I don’t recall when in this process the notion of hybridity impacted my consciousness thanks to Bhanu Kapil, Donna Haraway, and others, but I’m glad for the impact.


I also strongly associate the germination of the project with the fact of my father’s sharp decline and death that same semester. It was a tumultuous time for me and out of that chaos Lizard was born.


 

What genre does your book fall under?


Poetry.


 

What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?


If Kathy Acker were alive and an actress, she might be a good candidate for Lizard.


 

What’s the one-sentence synopsis of your book?


Lizard transgresses the lines between imagination and documentation, between I and you and she, seeking moments of freedom from the repressive aspects of human consciousness and institutions.


 

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?


The work in Lizard blends aspects of femaleness with scientific information about lizards. It also reflects my ongoing interest in the artistic process, poetry, and language.


 

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?


It’s currently under consideration by a few publishers.


Thanks to Jennifer Firestone for tagging me in this Next Big Thing game. In turn I'd like to tag Justin Chin, Erin Wilson, Rodrigo Toscano, and Mary Ellen Hannibal.

02 April 2013

Nico Peck's "Imagination as Activist Tool"



Nico Peck finally posted her pretty brilliant and very funny contribution to the "Ecopoetics of the City" panel at her new online interface, "Queer City." Check it out here, and while you're at it, pick up Peck's The Pyrrhaiad, recently printed by Trafficker. Also, there's this awesome interview with Lauren Shufran for the Peck completest...