Emily Brygger

Being away from Finland means I don’t always notice things when I should - Mikael Brygger’s excellent book, Emily, is not only out but FREE as a PDF on Nokturno. Check it: http://npc.nokturno.org/mikael-brygger/

Ida Börjel - Konsumentköplagen

Ida Börjel reads from Konsumentköplagen (Consumer Law) in Swedish, with Bryndís Björgvinsdóttir reading my Icelandic translation.

Iceland Report on the Observance of Standards and Codes

Iceland Report on the Observance of Standards and Codes read at the Nýhil International Poetry Festival, 23rd of August, 2008.

Sina Queyras at The Scream Literary Festival

Not a soundpoem

Christian Bök reads a poem. A poem. Not a soundpoem. Just your run-of-the-mill poetified meanings. I think I can even smell the scent of “message”! But then again, who knows, it might be methodical or apropriated, or maybe I’m not paying enough attention and he’s simply speaking in one vowel and two consonants, or something. In any case, I recommend it, the reading’s a hoot and the poem’s a blast.

Capitalism: A Poem

Poem of the day

Today’s poem is Eiríkur Örn Norðdahl

Unintentional Flarf

Celebration

When you kneel below me
and in both your hands
hold my manhood like a sceptre,

When you wrap your tongue
about the amber jewel
and urge my blessing,

I understand those Roman girls
who danced around a shaft of stone
and kissed it till the stone was warm.

Kneel, love, a thousand feet below me,
so far I can barely see your mouth and hands
perform the ceremony,

Kneel till I topple to your back
with a groan, like those gods on the roof
that Samson pulled down.

Leonard Cohen
(from an anthology of canadian love poetry)

The Scream and back again

Poetry. It’s what we all know and love. It’s what moves the earth and breaks our hearts, the ebb and flow of our spiritual lives - makes the world go round, makes the merry-go-round go round, feeds the wallets of artists and the bardic hunger of aficionados.

I just got back from the Scream Literary Festival in Toronto. I went to Niagara Falls, up the CN Tower, and poetried a duett with Paul Dutton. Ate persian food with a.rawlings and Derek Beaulieu, went to the movies with my beautiful wife, bought one million books and marvelled at a Jack Spicer impersonator. We had breakfasty dinner and watched different people read from Gwendolyn MacEwens A Breakfast for Barbarians, took a workshop on Naive Translation, saw apropriators agree on their profession being a good thing (and agreed with them, but missed copyright nazis from the panel), admired the dancing skills of computer-game characters of Machinima and watched the indie-rock band the Bicycles be too indie and not enough rock. Icelandic krútt-músic has nothing on Canadian cute-music.

Also: Fantastic Vocable workshop with Angela Rawlings and Ciara Adams; and loads of great readings, most memorable of which were Alixandra Bamford’s beautifully chaotic style (with Steve Venright), Mariko Tamaki’s reading of a comic book, Sonnet L’Abbé’s O’s, Sina Queras’ repetitions, Kenny G’s court transcripts, Rob Read’s bird-sounds and Beaulieu’s How-To’s.

Travelling home was a bitch, as such things tend to be. The plane was small and filled with people, whom at the time I felt deserved to get shot, but have since taken a more lenient, more humane stance.

Lexiconjury Scream

Lexiconjury reading was amazing - got to read with the legendary Paul Dutton, was called back for an encore, as well as being put on the spot the day after. Click here to see videos.

Still in Toronto - tonight: apropriation with Kenny G. All sorts of craziness on the way. Check out www.thescream.ca for more information.