You Must Write As If Your Life Depended On It

I have returned the poems of mine previously on the site, with improved coding where necessary. I have also added a page explaining and linking to the complete set of texts that compose "In the Dirt of the Post-Lyric: A Collaborative Cycle by Robert Blake, Connie Beauchamp, Gerri Dixon, Simon Gregory, Mark Hall, Erwin Hass, Tina Hyett, Emma Liukunas, Mikaela Moriarty, Peter Philpott, Bradley Tabor & Spencer Termott", a curious piece of work I think you may find.

Labels: Great Works, In the Dirt, Peter Philpott, update

1. The Meeting

For he suddenly smote on the door, even
Louder, and lifted his head:—
'Tell them I came, and no one answer'd,
'That I kept my word,' he said.
I suspected it might come to that: leaving me curiously light-hearted, after a quiet and nostalgic afternoon in Cafe Oto. I can do as I wish as it were. So, when not looking after Ianthe, recovering from looking after Ianthe, assisting in looking after Ianthe, and other things on occasion too, a small step into the 21st Century (not the Century of the Internet, but more likely of the Mobile or the Handheld Device (sounds like a dildo, but there we are, that's progress for you), plus some further plans

2. Poetry Readings in London Now Mobile

I've just created a mobile-friendly version of the Readings in London webpage, with the next month's readings, with details stripped down, but all links and crucial stuff like time, place, cost, names still there. It should be readable on any phone able to access the internet. Try it at www.modernpoetry.org.uk/mobilepoetry.html. I've altered the title of the page to Poetry Readings in London: nothing else entitled that, so we'll claim it.

I would really like as much feedback as possible from anyone who uses the page on a mobile or PDA. I'd also be interested in anyone accessing the more web-oriented Poetry Readings in London webpage, which I think ought to be quite usable on many tablet devices, maybe larger PDAs. Both versions have a link for phone numbers, tho' obviously that ain't going to work on anything without a SIM.

I've thought of trying to turn the page into a self-contained App - that seems beyond me at present I'm afraid, and might well need more complicated updating than the present webpages. We'll see. I need to buy the Golden Wonder Book of Easy Web Applications and carefully read it.

But please do respond if you use the pages on anything smaller than a laptop, especially a phone. I fantasise it could even be useful to check locations etc, and to have access to What's On whenever & wherever.

3. And Beyond?

After I've replaced my  work on Great Works, with a complete text of In the Dirt, using a different host for the pages than previous - get some lists. I'll ask, initially those who have expressed interest in the MPorgUKCollective , to send in a list of bestest books etc in last so many years, and publish 'em.  Await news!

Then, late summer redo & update links. I shall request suggestions & corrections.

Labels: Cafe Oto, contemporary British poetry, Great Works, links, Modernpoetry.org.uk, Modernpoetry.org.uk Collective, Peter Philpott, plans, update

Just to announce some entry of my own writing into this cold world:

The New Openned Poetry Reading Series, Wednesday October 27th

7.30, at Corsica Studios, 5 Elephant Road, London SE17 3LG (nr Elephant & Castle tube). Free admission.

Readings from Tim Atkins, Allen Fisher, Sarah Kelly, Jonny Liron & Nat Raha

+ a simultaneous reading from RHUL Poetic Practice students + Jennifer Cooke + Jow Lindsay + Peter Philpott + Posie Rider + Carol Watts + Tessa Whitehouse

Book Launch: Chris Gutkind, Peter Philpott, Harry Ross, Thursday November 4th

7.30, upstairs at The Camden Eye, 2 Kentish Town Road, London NW1 9NX (nr Camden Town tube). Free admission. A The Knives Forks and Spoons Press Book launch.

Chris Gutkind + Peter Philpott + Harry Ross

New Pamphlet from The Knives Forks And Spoons Press:

To The Union — short sequence written between the two Shearsman titles (Textual Possessions and Are we Not Drawn ...); £5

E-book on Issuu.com, published by The Red Ceilings Press

kaddish, by Emily Howard, Mark Cobley and Simon Howard, guest contributors Richard Barrett, Peter Philpott and Tom Watts, edited by Simon Howard, originally published as Part 2 of Plus-que-Parfait.

Labels: Chris Gutkind, kaddish, Knives Forks and Spoons Press, Openned, Peter Philpott, reading, To the Union

For Great Works - I am doing a lot of refitting and updating at a technical level. The vessel is in dry dock, as it were. Having installed a search ability, I realise that some of the pages are unreadable by the search engine, as I put in when I first started no-robots statements, for no really good reason I can think of now. These early pages that still remain are also in a rather bad HTML that doesn't always display as I thought it would. So I'm redoing all of these in good XHTML, with consistent use of CSS and full accessibility (as much as the demands of matching poets' layouts allows this!). There is also a major blunder I made on the bulk of my existing XHTML pages that needs urgent correction, out of embarrassment rather than necessity I think, but it could impair access. For all this I am planning to use Dreamweaver, which I need therefore to get to grips with. This should basically partially industrialise actually making some of these corrections, but will require care also as it can give rise to pretty crap code too. So this will all take a while ...

Then to redo The Links (which should be a simpler, more batch process though via Dreamweaver). Modernpoetry.org.uk can at this point be restructured and redesigned.

Finally, to work on the next issue. My anxiety over the "all-male" issue seems to have been unwarranted - not a problem. I'm not sure therefore about the mooted all-female issue I promised to make amends, if amends aren't necessary - but I would love more contributions from female poets.

Amos Weisz's writing will figure in the next issue in any case, and I am also drawing up a volume which Great Works will publish (yes, on paper, print-on-demand) of a selection of his poems and prose. His mother is negotiating publication of his translations, including his Celan translations (which have Celan's son's approval), through a New York small press recommended by Suhrkamp Verlag.

I was expressing interest in various collaborative projects at the end of last year - I think I will have very little time for quite a while on these. I also have increased family responsibilities, which will be ongoing.

I will though write something on my considered response to, yes, the academicisation of poetry and The Journal. Also on micro-publishing - ie stuff turned out in tragically small editions, a trend I also don't feel happy with.

Diverse Deeds will almost certainly rest, possibly permanently. The formula, of an welcoming and inclusive event, combining innovative poetry with a little innovative music to encourage a sense of performance, in a relaxing and flexible venue, trying to build up an audience of both those already plugged into the innovative poetry networks and as many as possible who just thought it looked interesting (and by golly it is!), is a good one, which will prove a sure fire winner at some time. Cafe Oto, having given me crap scheduling, is no longer interested. My doubts about restarting elsewhere relate to, firstly my own sense of relief at not carrying on (and regret too!), and secondly the feeling that it really needs some bunch of cool young dudes/dudettes to get it going, certainly not a redundant granddad from Bishops Stortford.

Labels: Amos Weisz, Cafe Oto, Diverse Deeds, Great Works, Modernpoetry.org.uk, Peter Philpott, plans, update

Peter Philpott & Trevor Joyce reading at Crossing the Line at The Leather Exchange, 15 Leathermarket Street, London Bridge, SE1 3HN
on Thursday January 7
at 7.30 (or maybe a little after)
£5 or £3

I will read from the recent Shearsman Book, Are We Not Drawn ..., and have copies for sale indeed, and from (if I produce a readable copy in time) a work in progress, Speculations.

Labels: Crossing the Line, Peter Philpott, reading