May 31 Living Room 7P Poetry of Cascadia

Map by David McCloskey

Who are the quintessential poets of Cascadia; that area (according to one scholar) from Cape Mendocino in northern California east to Yellowstone Lake, up the Continental Divide to (& including) the Alaska panhandle, most of British Columbia, all of Washington, Oregon, Idaho and some of Montana?

Theodore Roethke, Gary Snyder, Sam Hamill, Heather McHugh, Robin Blaser, George Bowering, Tess Gallagher, Lissa Wolsak, Robert Bringhurst, Fred Wah, Charles Potts, Philip Whalen, bill bissett, Michael McClure, Lew Welch, Richard Hugo, who else?

What are the qualities in the best poetry from this region? Who best demonstrates a sense of place?

Bring your thoughts, your poems of Cascadia, your honest opinions and hear about plans for a Cascadia Poetry Conference March 23-26 at Doe Bay on Orcas Island. Paul Nelson facilitates. There will be critique of your writing, if you desire, after the Cascadia discussion. Suggested donation $5 to keep SPLAB open. SPLAB is at 3651 S. Edmunds in the former Columbia School, just three blocks from the Columbia City Link Light Rail stop. Parking is available on site. There are only five more Living Room sessions until our summer break at the end of June. If you can’t make it May 31, please feel free to comment below and stay tunes to SPLAB.org for info on the March 2012 conference.

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The Music of Poetry of Music (Tuesday May 24 Living Room)

As poets, are we always conscious of the musicality with which we write? Infused with rhythm, meter, resonance (or intentionally rejecting these things), a poem is a song unto itself.  Not surprisingly, poets have a long-standing tradition of being inspired by, and writing about music itself – music as muse.  From poems that revolve around waltzes to those that spring from Buddhist chanting; from ancient Arabic ghazals to the griots of West Africa; from the jazz/blues poetry of the Harlem Renaissance to Oulipian bird songs, the world has a rich history of music-generated poetry. We will discuss this natural coupling of forms and hear examples.  Participants are invited to bring original music-inspired verse and/or the works of others.  The more musical traditions represented, the merrier the mix will be.  We may even write a few words on the spot… Alex Bleecker is your Living Room Host.

Writers of all ages and skill levels gather Tuesdays at 7P to read new work, the work of someone else or to just be in the engaging company of other writers. Your donation of $5 helps SPLAB put on special events and continue programming. Please bring 8 copies of the work you plan to read. If you do not bring copies, they are available for 10c.

Living Room happens in the new SPLAB in the Cultural Corner of the old Columbia School, between Rainier AV S and 36th AV S, on Edmunds. We’re 2 blocks from the Columbia City Link Light Rail Station. Parking is available on the school grounds.)

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Poets talk about Allen Ginsberg Jupiter 88

C.A. Conrad got several poets to speak on camera about Allen Ginsberg. Your wily SPLABman was one of them. Nice work, C.A. Thank you Allen. http://jupiter88ginsberg.blogspot.com/

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Gif Poetics: A Workshop with Joe Milutis 7P Wednesday, June 1

In this workshop you will be introduced to basic and some more advanced techniques in animated gif (Graphics Interchange Format) creation.  We will think about how this popular new media format can be used for experimental literary forms. Animated gifs are like the neon of the web: flashing, simple, short attention-getters that are some times cheap and tacky—like dancing insurance ads—but also have been taken up as a distinctly 21st century, democratic art form (e.g. http://bit.ly/kahHi5).

The workshop will include some discussion/introduction to animated gifs and its potential relation to poetic creation, tutorials on how to create simple animated gifs (although more advanced users are welcome to extend the conversation), and some workshop time to create.  This workshop will hopefully be very open-ended with no strict preconceptions of how we will make alliances between poetry and new media.  Participants will be encouraged not only to make gif-poetry, but also to think about how poetry could be gif-esque, or how to “write through” a gif, or utilize one for performance, etc.

All participants will be required to bring their own laptop. This workshop will be taught from a Mac. Bringing a PC is Ok, just be aware that there will inevitably be differences that may or may not be easily addressed.  Laptops with Photoshop are a plus, but we will starting with free, open source software.  (Other useful tools in Gif creation include a webcam, Snapz Pro X, YouTube downloader, QuickTime Pro, AfterEffects.)

Because of the nature of some of the websites we will be exploring participants should be aware that they may encounter some “inappropriate content” in the course of the workshop.

7P
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
SPLAB
Suggested Donation: Pay What You Can

Joe Milutis is a media artist and writer whose  interdisciplinary work includes experimental sound and radio; video works; new  media; experimental narrative; theoretical writings; and various media and  literature hybrids. He is the author of the book Ether: The Nothing That Connects Everything, and is Assistant Professor of Interdisciplinary Arts at UW-Bothell, where he
teaches courses in experimental writing, media, and cultural studies.

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