A note on : Writers Kingston Sampson Low celebration

Sampson Low, edited by Alban Low, founded in 1792!, have published 5 of my works, and have allowed me to edit two series of the publications - the kingston university student poetry pamphlets and the poem brut debut pamphlets. They are remarkably good to work with, so generous, so supportive. We held an event in the beautiful town house at Kingston Uni to celebrate them, and though a bit shrunk in scale due to the omicron, we still had a blast. In fact it was maybe more of a blast, because it was friends and friends. https://www.writerskingston.com/#/sampsonlow21/

All the videos are at that link, and my own performance here

A note on : Kolkata's Chair poetry festival - a digital reading of Jacob's Ladder

I wish I could’ve gone to Kolkata for the chair poetry evenings this year, but a digital participation is quite the thing all the same. A great lineup and really lovely hosts to work with.

I gave a digital reading of a special sequence of poems, to me. Jacob’s Ladder is a series of 9 texts, partially made of Meister Eckhart’s writing, a love poem really, that I then published in two parts across my books I will show you the life of the mind and Come and see the songs of strange days. I had never read it before as one.

Published : Trickhouse annual 2021

Publishing sticker poems with dan power’s trickhouse press was a highlight of my year. I am thus pleased to be in good company having an interview with dan, and some works, in the new, inaugural trickhouse annual https://www.trickhousepress.com/product/2022-annual/8?cs=true&cst=custom Some great people in there too

“The Trickhouse Press annual is a wide-ranging and forward-thinking compendium of work, showcasing the most exciting visual poetry in the UK and beyond. It's a collection of collections, each given A4 space and the full range of colour needed to create the desired effect. Every work is self-contained and full of character. This book is packed with innovation and play and surprise - I'm so pleased with how it's come together, and I can't wait for you to read it!

A note on : Robert Sheppard's brilliant essay on collaboration

Robert Sheppard, whom I interviewed in great depth here https://www.3ammagazine.com/3am/maintenant-107-robert-sheppard/, has consolidated some of his brilliant blog writings on collaborations for an essay in the Yearbook of contemporary British and Irish poetry. It spends generous amount time offering analysis of my enemies project and my selected collaborations Nemeses, offering insights into my article in that book and my work with Prudence Chamberlain Bussey and Camilla Nelson amongst others. It’s a rare thing, to have a poet of Robert’s ability and insight, offer such attention to my collaborative endeavours.

It’s edited by Samuel Rogers and on jstor here https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5699/yearenglstud.51.issue-2021?refreqid=fastly-default%3A30d35ada6a2552d95c7b3f42da6afa5a

Published : asemic poem in Buzdokuz

Brilliant to have an asemic work in the new issue of http://www.buzdokuz.com edited by Hasan Bozdas, Hayriye Ünal, Hakan Şarkdemir, Murat Üstübal, Atakan Yavuz, Hasan Bozdaş, Zeynep Arkan, Serkan Işın, Burak Ş. Çelikout out of Turkey.

It collects together a huge amount of material, and this issue is an exploration of asemic work, so good to included alongside friends and many new to me, especially those doing avant garde poetry in Turkey right now. I’ve had links with Turkish poets for a decade but the discovery of buzdokuz has been revelatory. My work in there is a constellation asemic taken from my selected scribbling and scrawling, with zimzalla https://zimzalla.co.uk/051-sj-fowler-scribbling-and-scrawling-2nd-edition/ which is in its second or third print run now

A note on : EPF Austria performance - Asemic suit and the Magnificent Butcher

Originally planned as a collaboration with the Austrian visual poet and graphic designer, Stefan Ellmer, who couldn’t come to London at the last minute due to the Omicron, this was a homage laden performance, and one i had a lot of fun doing.

It was a layered thing, with some leading intro, then audio, then a boiler suit, some asemic writing, some collaborative help… inspired by Stefan and leaving me, as a final reveal, to show the clothes under the suit as also asemic’d, written through and permanently marked.

A note on : EPF Austria, the festival ends

The festival for 2021 wrapped up with what was perhaps the most complete, or cohesive event. It was finalised by two remarkable collaborations between Magdalena Mclean and Verena Durr, and Cornelia Hulmbauer and Ollie Evans. Their work was clever, wry, playful, literary. Hard to do for 10 minutes and keep everyone with you, and they did. The evening was opened by a half dozen solo readings too, all of them exceptional. Well worth looking through the videos here https://www.europeanpoetryfestival.com/austria

The evening went on long past the final reading, a really genial, generous atmosphere and lovely for me to say goodbye to the fest with so many friends, and the lovely people at the austrian cultural forum, who have been so supportive over the years. Photos below, and at the link, by Madeleine Rose Elliott

A note on : EPF 2021, collaborating (wrestling) with Krišjānis Zeļģis

Krisjanis had a grand idea for our work together, our second live collaboration. Poems built on daily notes of gratefulness, with an inevitable twist, when spliced together, interspersed with wrestling. He knew wrestling had been a big part of my life, remains so, since I was young, and Krisjanis being a rock climber, that the physicality should produce a layered and strange and challenging performance. It did, I think. I thought it turned out playful, intimate, symbolic. The audience seemed a bit shellacked by it, but who can tell with one’s own work? I do know I really respect Krisjanis so much, as a person, a poet and now, as a sparring partner. Lovely pics by Madeleine Rose Elliott.

A note on : EPF Latvia at Goethe Institut

This was an intense and brilliant event. I thought well of my pairings for the visiting Latvian poets, for Krišjānis Zeļģis, Lote Vilma Vītiņa, Inga Pizāne, Jelena Glazova worked so well with their counterparts. We were in the darkened cinema space of the generous Goethe centre, on Exhibition Road, just off Hyde Park. https://www.europeanpoetryfestival.com/latvia

There was a sense of physicality running throughout, a touch of menace with the playfulness, though the meditative live visual poetry of Bettina Fung and Lote Vitina was a particular highlight. Worth watching the videos at the link above. Some great photos by Madeleine Rose Elliott too.

A note on : EPF Slovenia, pictures by Alexander Kell

Alexander Kell, who has photographed so many of my events over the last decade, produced another amazing group of snaps from Saturday night’s European Poetry Festival event at Iklectik Artlab celebrating Slovenian poetry. Loads more here https://www.europeanpoetryfestival.com/slovenia

A note on : EPF 2021, collaborating with Bob T Bright

Bob is a friend, and part of the Popogrou collective which has grown up around my online workshops, and we decided to contribute a piece to the EPF Slovenia proceedings. Bob and Babs, the gongboys, presenting some poems, jokes, hair and sound poetry. A bit of a quiet audience, though the venue is so superlative, so though I didn’t plan to introduce my cockney cat Babs I did, on the fly, and Bob just rolled with it. I think we touched people’s haaarts.

A note on : EPF Sweden at Writers Kingston

A really great night at Kingston University, at the RIBA award winning Town House building, a packed out crowd witnessed Swedish poets collaborating with Brits, alongside other locals, who also presented new tandem works made for the night. Really such a playful, affable, succinct, interesting night of work. Great to meld this EPF event with the Writers Kingston program too.

All the performances are now on youtube, to be watched here too https://www.europeanpoetryfestival.com/sweden

Some amazing photos by Madeleine Rose Elliott alongside those videos. Big thanks to the Swedish Embassy for supporting the endeavour

A note on : EPF Hungary at The Liszt Institute

The second of a trio of European Poetry Festival events marking this week in London, this time celebrating Hungarian poetry, through the visit of Annas Vados and Anna Kata Ferentz, at the The Liszt Institute, the Hungarian Cultural Centre in the UK, who also supported the event. Their venue is really beautiful, right in the heart of Covent Garden, and the event had multiple solo readings before collaborations to finish. It was completely sold out, and really hot, so over the hour or so, it felt curiously intense, and memorable.

All ten performances are available to watch on youtube and are also up on the website link here https://www.europeanpoetryfestival.com/hungary

Some beautiful photos to go with the videos too, by Alexander Kell

A note on : EPF Norway at Open Ealing

A really fun, intimate event out in west London, enjoying the great hospitality of Open Ealing arts centre and welcoming both UK based and visiting Norwegian poets for the 2nd event of the winter 2021 European Poetry Festival.

All videos and some piccies at this link https://www.europeanpoetryfestival.com/norway

There was a real range of collaborations on display, from meditative, conceptual, literary, playful, to all out experimental intensity. Great to see old friends Bjorn Vatne and Jon Stale Ritland, to see Harry Man launch his spender prize winning book and to support again by the folk at the Norwegian embassy and NORLA too.

A note on : Writers Kingston #45 : Poem Brut and book launches

The second Writers Kingston event of the year took place on November 9th in the award winning Town House building in Kingston upon Thames with some super intense, memorable Poem Brut performances - https://www.writerskingston.com/writingcultures/

Great to see some old friends there, and nice to have had a hand in the three books that were launched on this night, all from Hesterglock Press, by Patrick Cosgrove, Martin Wakefield and Chris Kerr. All videos and more at the link above

A note on : EPF 2021, collaborating with Clea Chopard

An extraordinary poet and performer Clea Chopard is. I was lucky to work with her and I’m happy with how our collaboration turned out. Clea is brilliant with concepts and a really adapt improviser, so we worked up a couple of ideas and let it happen on the night, having met a few hours before for the first time. There was a levity in it, an ease, that is a credit to her skill and confidence. From translation to art poetry to talking performance to a kind of dance, and then being a poem burrito, human gift wrap, live walking poem board…

A note on : Swiss brilliance at the Rich Mix, European Poetry Festival winter 2021 opens

A really great night, a remarkable opening event to the winter 2021 European Poetry Festival in London, celebrating contemporary Swiss poetry with performance and collaboration. We had a pretty much full capacity audience witnessed the new works made for the night by eight pairs of poets. The audience were really generous and by the end everyone seemed proper happy. All the videos and photos are online here www.europeanpoetryfestival.com/swiss