I have to put up my hand and say that I was at all those events.  Of course,
as a consequence and because I also have a job, I spend most of my time 
suffering from nervous exhaustion!
But yes, it does seem a shame that either you don't have enough events to go to,
or you're too tired to report on them.  So, a few brief, and probably unsatisfying,
 reactions.
Johan and Alan read from their new books.  Alan's is his selected from Stride,
so he gave us a range of work, all of which was excellent (read the book).  His performance 
achieved more of its usual gusto in the second half, as he read the more recent stuff.
Johan still has my copy of his book, and I won't attempt to give you the title - only he
can pronounce it.  It was in the Johan de Wit style that we have come to know and love.
There was a good audience and plenty of wine.
(Oddly enough all these readings/talks are in the Council Room of Birkbeck and we get stared
down at by various eminent and not so eminent figures.  Fortunately we only notice them
in the intervals.)
Lucy Sheerman's talk focused on frailty - the frality of written words and the frailty
of meaning in poetry.  She is interested in failure and the corruption of signs.
She referred to the work of Grace Lake, with its trajectory of pain and loss, as well as
chance and freedom; and that of Jennifer Moxley, with its frustration of limits.
Rather more surprisingly she read Tennyson's Mariana for its endless deferral, and discussed 
the work of John Forbes.  Finally she talked a little about her own writing, and the 
relationship between stitching and writing. She passed around unravelling gloves, and a box
full of exquisite old gloves, and these too have their sense of loss and secret histories.
Miles Champion talked about the work of Alan Davies - we were all intrigued by the title
"Don't know Alan", and it seemed appropriate that it was only a day after the Alan H.
reading.  The "don't know" refers to Zen and Davies' Zen preoccupations, and particularly a 
disgust with excess confidence in language.  Davies is not a poet whose work I was 
familiar with, and Miles gave us a thorough introduction to the work, including reading
from a pile of small press publications he had brought with him.  He also referred to the
influences on Davies' work, such as Mallarme and Duchamp.  Miles' preference for Davies' 
earlier, more abstract work, as opposed to his more recent, more lyrical and simpler
writing also came across. He gave examples of Davies' important theoretical essays, 
in which the province of language is clearly language. 
      

-------------Forwarded Message-----------------

From:	"Nate and Jane Dorward", INTERNET:[log in to unmask]
To:	"British-Poets List", INTERNET:[log in to unmask]
	
Date:	21/10/100 01:57 

RE:	readings?

 
--by the way:

Any reports from those present at recent readings &c?  Haven't heard much
about, e.g., the De Wit/Halsey booklaunch.  & what about the Birkbeck series
of lectures?  I think there were talks by Lucy Sheerman & Miles Champion in
the past week or so?

I live in cloistered & dreary Toronto where there's almost nothing going on,
& the least folks can do is supply a little vicarious pleasure. -- all
best --N

Nate & Jane Dorward
[log in to unmask]
THE GIG magazine: http://www.geocities.com/ndorward/
109 Hounslow Ave., Willowdale, ON, M2N 2B1, Canada
ph: (416) 221 6865







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