Thought some of you folk might be interested in these recordings . . .
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Jefferson Davis <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Tue, May 19, 2009 at 10:46 PM
Subject: [Lucipo] Wordplay celebrates Robin Blaser
To: Lucifer Poetics Group <[log in to unmask]>
As most here will know, on May 7th Robin Blaser, one of the last major
figures among those who came to public notice via Don Allen's New
American Poetry, passed away in Vancouver, just shy of 84.
I never successfully recorded Robin myself; both times I tried, my
usually trusty Uher balked. Thankfully, the great Penn Sound audio
archive has hours of readings and lectures in his voice, so I put
together this week's Wordplay from three of its recordings. The first
finds him reading in Vancouver in 1965; the second, discussing his
work, and that of his fellows, in a BBC interview with Iain Sinclair
in 1994; the third, reading at the Woodland Pattern Bookstore in
Milwaukee in 2004.
In Vancouver he read "The Moth Poem", an early exploration of serial
form; it's a great poem, but the recording, given that it was made on
analogue tape over forty years ago (probably by Fred Wah, though he's
not credited), had some hiss that I removed for better audibility. In
Milwaukee, Blaser began his reading with the introductory section of
his extended poem on Dante, then switched to shorter poems, and then
returned to the "Great Companions" piece on Dante, saying he hadn't
"prepared anything else". I brought the two pieces together for the
show. It's a powerful reading.
The program note has more information, and a link to the audio, here:
http://naturespoetry.blogspot.com/2009/05/celebrating-robin-blaser.html
Enjoy,
Jeff
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