some author activity: mclennan, Niespodziany, Witte, O'Reilly + Boyle,

rob mclennan has a newish poem up at buffalopluseight; Benjamin Niespodziany has some new work and a statement up at Mercurious; Valerie Witte has some new work up at Birdcoat Quarterly; Nathanael O'Reilly and Frances Boyle have new work up at The Madrigal; and Boyle also has three poems in Red Alder Review, and two poems, here and here, in White Wall Review.

some author activity: Burgoyne, Solomon, mclennan, Norris, Gold, Bowering, Siklosi + Witte,

Sarah Burgoyne collaborates on some poems with Misha Solomon, via Solomon's substack; rob mclennan responds to the "Six Questions" interview via Chaudiere Books; Ken Norris, Artie Gold, George Bowering + Kate Siklosi, etcetera have new work in mouse eggs; and Valerie Witte is interviewed over at Touch the Donkey.

new from above/ground press: Listening Through the Body: An Exercise in Sustained Coordination, by Valerie Witte

Listening Through the Body: An Exercise in Sustained Coordination
Valerie Witte
$5

Ko
 
Simone Forti’s Huddle (1961): A group of people stand facing each other, huddled. Together a cluster of limbs, torsos, heads, “a sculpture made of bodies.” Take turns climbing—one at a time up this “single structural entity,” feet, hands, knees finding surfaces—thighs, shoulders—to support their weight as they maneuver up and over, spontaneously, opportunistically. Move across, down the other side, before “rejoining the mass.” No planned sequence of who will climb. Yet knowing when someone has decided to be next. Operating in silence, intuiting when one is preparing to ascend, each member adjusting position, balance accordingly.


Author’s Note

This essay is from the collection One Thing Follows Another: Engaging the Art of Simone Forti and Yvonne Rainer, a collaboration with Sarah Rosenthal. In this project, we explore the work of dancer-choreographers Yvonne Rainer and Simone Forti—both at various inflection points throughout their careers and in this particular moment. Through a combination of chance operations and intentional artistic choices that push us to unexpected places, and via innovative forms and techniques—including collage, erasure, and our own inventions—we deconstruct the essay form to examine what we as poets, each with our own highly charged relationships to dance, can contribute to the conversation about these pivotal figures in postmodern art. 

published in Ottawa by above/ground press
August 2021
a/g subscribers receive a complimentary copy

image credit: Valerie Witte

Valerie Witte is the author of a game of correspondence (Black Radish, 2015) and The Grass Is Greener When the Sun Is Yellow (Operating System, 2019), co-written with Sarah Rosenthal. Chapbooks include The history of mining (g.e. collective/Poetry Flash, 2013) and It’s been a long time since I’ve dreamt of someone (Dancing Girl Press, 2018). Her work has appeared in literary journals such as VOLT, Diagram, Dusie, Alice Blue, Interim, and elsewhere. More at valeriewitte.com

A further above/ground press title is forthcoming.

To order, send cheques (add $1 for postage; in US, add $2; outside North America, add $5) to: rob mclennan, 2423 Alta Vista Drive, Ottawa ON K1H 7M9. E-transfer or PayPal at rob_mclennan (at) hotmail.com or the PayPal button at www.robmclennan.blogspot.com

some author activity: Rosenthal, Koss, Thomas, Robinson + Ross,

Sarah Rosenthal and Valerie Witte have a two-part piece up at many gendered mothers, on Yvonne Rainer and Simone Forti; Zane Koss has four poems in The Temz Review; Hugh Thomas has a new cento posted as part of the Proper Tales Press 40th anniversary essays series; Elizabeth Robinson has a new essay at my (small press) writing day; and Stuart Ross has work in SurVision magazine.

some author activity: Ladouceur, beaulieu, Schapira, Reid + Hunter,

Ben Ladouceur was interviewed over at Nineteen Questions; "Derek Beaulieu Wrote a Poem for the Emerald Awards and You Have To Read It"; Kate Schapira and Valerie Witte interview each other over at Queen Mob's Teahouse; Monty Reid writes in the "Five Things Literary" series over at Open Book: Ontario; and Carrie Hunter has a new poem up in the "Tuesday poem" series over at the dusie blog.