Monday, 20 June 2011
OK, so what is happening with modernpoetry.org.uk then?
1. The Meeting
For he suddenly smote on the door, evenLouder, 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
Monday, 7 March 2011
What Is To Be Done with modernpoetry.org.uk
I have been assured by a number of people how very useful they find Great Works and modernpoetry.org.uk in their own exploration of Contemporary British Innovative Poetry, or in helping others explore the terrain. Well, good. That’s what I want. Now, I have lain Great Works into a quite quiet state for the present (however long that may be); but I would like if possible to further develop modernpoetry.org.uk (MP for short), and make it more useful. And I feel this will need to be a collective effort.
MP is a compendious resource for anyone wanting to understand Contemporary British Innovative Poetry (just poetry after this – you know what I mean and what I don’t). The site concentrates on online resources as these are universally accessible, and it is itself a website (duh!) It isn’t an academic resource (though if it is useful, excellent), so I underplay the academic contexts for much poetry. I have moreover some reservations about the recent increasing importance for supporting poetry of the academic world (on a level of principles and strategy, not the individuals concerned). I aim always at a model user of the site who isn’t in close contact with academic institutions and resources. That strikes me as important. It may well become more important as the current regime’s HE policy increasingly cuts in and the English Higher education system is lopped down to fit their nightmare visions.
Another important element in the site that I want to ensure is its broad church interpretation of poetry. I’m happy with any and all offspring (legitimate or not, adopted, or even just abducted) of the British Poetry Revival and its antecedent 1950s modernists. And their offspring etc etc. We are all sealed of the one tribe, so far as I am concerned. Anything between highly informed and cute as lace pants takes on the post-avant and a Writing Degree Zero basal modernism I’ll accept. Anything to avoid narrow and negative definitions that exclude what may have some promise, power or interest, and could possibly contribute to as varied as possible gene-pool for poetry. (Hybrid vigour beats specialised adaptation every time in my book of biological metaphors.)
Now to the nub. The site gets bigger and bigger. The volume of worthwhile poetry is ever-increasing at an even faster rate. (Hurray!) My time and energy are, though, unfortunately being taken up by other things in ways I hadn’t fully prepared for, apart from I’m just feeling fed up after ten years heavily devoted to doing websites. I think, more importantly, that if MP is to carry on effectively, it needs to be a more collective, less personal enterprise. Not just my take and presentation, but something better.
What, in my opinion, the site needs is a wider range of input for continuingly useful links and lists, a wider and more informed input on books etc, and indeed consideration of what other sorts of material could be included on MP, eg should there be more details on individual poets? more lists of publications?? I have I am well aware a total blind spot on online video material, and am not very interested in audio for that matter – pure text or pure performance are what engage me, not mediated versions – and am well aware that this limits what I draw attention to or can usefully comment on, in a way that excludes many internet users. The site would also benefit from a considered use of social networking and mobile phone technologies – would these be of any use in reaching its audience and how? And should there, could there, be reviews? Lists of books published? And is it all too London-centred? Is MP keeping up with what is really happening? Is it actually compelling and attractive enough (sufficiently “sticky” as a site, as it used to be said) for its target audience? I am undoubtedly way too old to do this as well, and there may well be too much now purely historical material. So, how then to include you, dear reader?
I propose to set up a Modernpoetry.org.uk Collective, for both users and those willing contribute material and ideas or help in production. I see this existing on several layers of contact and commitment:
Two technical points to end with. I have altered the copyright on most of the pages on the site (excepting the autobiographical material) to a Creative Commons License, meaning, to quote the Creative Common website (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ – altered punctuation etc), “You are free to Share – to copy, distribute and transmit the work – and to Remix –to adapt the work – under the following conditions: Attribution – You must attribute modernpoetry.org.uk to Peter Philpott (with link) –; Noncommercial – You may not use this work for commercial purposes –; Share Alike – If you alter, transform, or build upon this work, you may distribute the resulting work only under the same or similar license to this one.” So, really, feel free to go ahead and reuse and remake anything from it.
Second point is to note that MP has been produced by me coded in not totally kosher Transitional XHTML, with the aid of Dreamweaver. This is technology I am reasonably confident with. It is a rather dated and unprofessional approach nowadays. Suggestions and assistance to make things easier to add and update, and also to give less of an amateur hobbyist visual style would be also greatly appreciated. Personally, I find a lot of cute and cool design gets in the way of legibility and clarity. On the other hand MP’s style may repulse or bore its would-be audience. MP’s availability for a range of platforms also needs to be considered, as it looks as though smartphones, e-readers and tablet computers are all now entering the electronic data ecosystem, and may well need to be catered for if the site is not to become obsolete. Informed input on these issues would be appreciated.
Details of Open Planning Meeting at Café Oto, 3.00-5.30ish (no music there that night so might be able to stay a little later), Sunday April 3. (Yes, other meetings will need to be in the evening, in the week, I know.) Address is 18-22 Ashwin St, Dalston, London E8 3DL, tucked in behind at Dalston Junction (where the Balls Pond Road/Dalston Lane crosses the Kingsland Road, immediately on the North-East quadrant). Transport really is easy: regular buses from Liverpool St Station (242 & 149), the West End, Waterloo (76), London Bridge (149). Two Overland stations a step away: Dalston Junction interconnecting with Underground at Whitechapel and Highbury & Islington, Dalston Kingsland at Stratford and Highbury & Islington. Bicycle racks. Good food & drink. Nice place. But apart from enjoying the unrivalled amenities, just to get a sense of what anyone that enthused to attend feels about the site and what is to be done. I really am serious about problems carrying on with sole responsibility for something that ought to be not personal, but collective.
MP is a compendious resource for anyone wanting to understand Contemporary British Innovative Poetry (just poetry after this – you know what I mean and what I don’t). The site concentrates on online resources as these are universally accessible, and it is itself a website (duh!) It isn’t an academic resource (though if it is useful, excellent), so I underplay the academic contexts for much poetry. I have moreover some reservations about the recent increasing importance for supporting poetry of the academic world (on a level of principles and strategy, not the individuals concerned). I aim always at a model user of the site who isn’t in close contact with academic institutions and resources. That strikes me as important. It may well become more important as the current regime’s HE policy increasingly cuts in and the English Higher education system is lopped down to fit their nightmare visions.
Another important element in the site that I want to ensure is its broad church interpretation of poetry. I’m happy with any and all offspring (legitimate or not, adopted, or even just abducted) of the British Poetry Revival and its antecedent 1950s modernists. And their offspring etc etc. We are all sealed of the one tribe, so far as I am concerned. Anything between highly informed and cute as lace pants takes on the post-avant and a Writing Degree Zero basal modernism I’ll accept. Anything to avoid narrow and negative definitions that exclude what may have some promise, power or interest, and could possibly contribute to as varied as possible gene-pool for poetry. (Hybrid vigour beats specialised adaptation every time in my book of biological metaphors.)
Now to the nub. The site gets bigger and bigger. The volume of worthwhile poetry is ever-increasing at an even faster rate. (Hurray!) My time and energy are, though, unfortunately being taken up by other things in ways I hadn’t fully prepared for, apart from I’m just feeling fed up after ten years heavily devoted to doing websites. I think, more importantly, that if MP is to carry on effectively, it needs to be a more collective, less personal enterprise. Not just my take and presentation, but something better.
What, in my opinion, the site needs is a wider range of input for continuingly useful links and lists, a wider and more informed input on books etc, and indeed consideration of what other sorts of material could be included on MP, eg should there be more details on individual poets? more lists of publications?? I have I am well aware a total blind spot on online video material, and am not very interested in audio for that matter – pure text or pure performance are what engage me, not mediated versions – and am well aware that this limits what I draw attention to or can usefully comment on, in a way that excludes many internet users. The site would also benefit from a considered use of social networking and mobile phone technologies – would these be of any use in reaching its audience and how? And should there, could there, be reviews? Lists of books published? And is it all too London-centred? Is MP keeping up with what is really happening? Is it actually compelling and attractive enough (sufficiently “sticky” as a site, as it used to be said) for its target audience? I am undoubtedly way too old to do this as well, and there may well be too much now purely historical material. So, how then to include you, dear reader?
I propose to set up a Modernpoetry.org.uk Collective, for both users and those willing contribute material and ideas or help in production. I see this existing on several layers of contact and commitment:
- Actual face-to-face contact – meeting every two months, say, (initially, inevitably, in London). Turn up and contribute. We’ll vary the times and locales; but let’s start with my beloved Café Oto in Dalston (April 3 – details at end). Anywhere else with space, good ambience and wifi would be equally suitable, but let’s start here.
- The inevitable Facebook Group. It is a nice open format, so let’s use it. Already set up as Modernpoetry.org.uk Collective.
- But not everyone loves the time- & privacy-consuming monster. There is also now a modernpoetry.org.uk blog, at http://modernpoetryorguk.blogspot.com. If you want to post rather than comment, email me on peter@greatworks.org.uk or Facebook, and I’ll formalise the permission. Comment is open, and I will put up if requested email or postal contributions, and will endeavour to coordinate material with that on the Facebook Group page. Please use either of these for suggestions, contributions, comments etc
Two technical points to end with. I have altered the copyright on most of the pages on the site (excepting the autobiographical material) to a Creative Commons License, meaning, to quote the Creative Common website (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ – altered punctuation etc), “You are free to Share – to copy, distribute and transmit the work – and to Remix –to adapt the work – under the following conditions: Attribution – You must attribute modernpoetry.org.uk to Peter Philpott (with link) –; Noncommercial – You may not use this work for commercial purposes –; Share Alike – If you alter, transform, or build upon this work, you may distribute the resulting work only under the same or similar license to this one.” So, really, feel free to go ahead and reuse and remake anything from it.
Second point is to note that MP has been produced by me coded in not totally kosher Transitional XHTML, with the aid of Dreamweaver. This is technology I am reasonably confident with. It is a rather dated and unprofessional approach nowadays. Suggestions and assistance to make things easier to add and update, and also to give less of an amateur hobbyist visual style would be also greatly appreciated. Personally, I find a lot of cute and cool design gets in the way of legibility and clarity. On the other hand MP’s style may repulse or bore its would-be audience. MP’s availability for a range of platforms also needs to be considered, as it looks as though smartphones, e-readers and tablet computers are all now entering the electronic data ecosystem, and may well need to be catered for if the site is not to become obsolete. Informed input on these issues would be appreciated.
Details of Open Planning Meeting at Café Oto, 3.00-5.30ish (no music there that night so might be able to stay a little later), Sunday April 3. (Yes, other meetings will need to be in the evening, in the week, I know.) Address is 18-22 Ashwin St, Dalston, London E8 3DL, tucked in behind at Dalston Junction (where the Balls Pond Road/Dalston Lane crosses the Kingsland Road, immediately on the North-East quadrant). Transport really is easy: regular buses from Liverpool St Station (242 & 149), the West End, Waterloo (76), London Bridge (149). Two Overland stations a step away: Dalston Junction interconnecting with Underground at Whitechapel and Highbury & Islington, Dalston Kingsland at Stratford and Highbury & Islington. Bicycle racks. Good food & drink. Nice place. But apart from enjoying the unrivalled amenities, just to get a sense of what anyone that enthused to attend feels about the site and what is to be done. I really am serious about problems carrying on with sole responsibility for something that ought to be not personal, but collective.
Labels: Cafe Oto, Modernpoetry.org.uk, Modernpoetry.org.uk Collective, plans, poetry websites, public domain, website proposal, www.modernbritish.poetry.org.uk
Wednesday, 29 December 2010
New Great Works
To announce the final (certainly for a while and in this omnium gatherum form) Great Works, containing
Paul Holman, THE MEMORY OF THE DRIFT: Book Six: A WALKING AGE
Ralph Hawkins, The Poems of Abakan Tartar
Maximilian Hildebrand, Kylix Poems + four poems
Daniele Pantano, Translation from the German of Seventy Eight Early Notes for a Biography of an Unknown Swiss Poet
Julie Sampson, four poems
David Bircumshaw, eight poems
Rupert Loydell, four poems
Adam Fieled, from Equations
Miffy Ryan, Dwelling + Death Rattles
Jennifer Cooke, five poems
Catherine Daly, Surplice
Stephanie Jane Robinson, Ballad of the Reading Jail
Mark Smith, five poems
sean burn, from honeysuckled
Angela Gardner, five poems
Susan Adams, five poems
Mark Dickinson, from Shadows of the Sea
Matt Bryden, four poems
Sam Howell, five poems
Chris Hardy, Short of Luck on Short Street
James Price, four poems and a drawing
Martin Stannard, five poems
Gareth Farmer, Rise to Order
Bobby Larsson, Limerick Swing —
S J Fowler, nine poems
Gerard Greenway, three poems
Austin McCarron, seven poems
Sophie Mayer, three poems
Stephen Emmerson, Power Pollution + THUD
Anthony Mellors, from Bent our of Shape
Sarah Ahmad, seven poems
Reeti Roy, five poems
Robert Atherton, six poems
Glenn R Frantz, Bridge / Lawn / Solarium
Arthur Coleman, five poems
Nicholas R Scott, The Prison Series + the Pie Series
Harry Godwin, poem for P. Philpott, read at Xmasing the Line, 3/12/09
Enjoy it all!
I will post more on plans, especially for modernpoetry.org.uk and the availability of material in ebook reader format in the new year.
Paul Holman, THE MEMORY OF THE DRIFT: Book Six: A WALKING AGE
Ralph Hawkins, The Poems of Abakan Tartar
Maximilian Hildebrand, Kylix Poems + four poems
Daniele Pantano, Translation from the German of Seventy Eight Early Notes for a Biography of an Unknown Swiss Poet
Julie Sampson, four poems
David Bircumshaw, eight poems
Rupert Loydell, four poems
Adam Fieled, from Equations
Miffy Ryan, Dwelling + Death Rattles
Jennifer Cooke, five poems
Catherine Daly, Surplice
Stephanie Jane Robinson, Ballad of the Reading Jail
Mark Smith, five poems
sean burn, from honeysuckled
Angela Gardner, five poems
Susan Adams, five poems
Mark Dickinson, from Shadows of the Sea
Matt Bryden, four poems
Sam Howell, five poems
Chris Hardy, Short of Luck on Short Street
James Price, four poems and a drawing
Martin Stannard, five poems
Gareth Farmer, Rise to Order
Bobby Larsson, Limerick Swing —
S J Fowler, nine poems
Gerard Greenway, three poems
Austin McCarron, seven poems
Sophie Mayer, three poems
Stephen Emmerson, Power Pollution + THUD
Anthony Mellors, from Bent our of Shape
Sarah Ahmad, seven poems
Reeti Roy, five poems
Robert Atherton, six poems
Glenn R Frantz, Bridge / Lawn / Solarium
Arthur Coleman, five poems
Nicholas R Scott, The Prison Series + the Pie Series
Harry Godwin, poem for P. Philpott, read at Xmasing the Line, 3/12/09
Enjoy it all!
I will post more on plans, especially for modernpoetry.org.uk and the availability of material in ebook reader format in the new year.
Labels: contemporary British poetry, Great Works, Modernpoetry.org.uk, plans, updates
Wednesday, 28 April 2010
Great Works through the Year
As the year goes on, my plans slowly begin to clot. The recoding of some pages of Great Works has been completed, removing some very old layouts that no longer worked, and recasting as well all the business end of the site (links etc) in superior code, with some features for greater ease of use and to counter accessibility issues. www.modernpoetry.org.uk has suffered the same fate. Very little difference will be noticed: still all embarrassingly clumsy in appearance and concept.
I have begun updating the links (for both sites). "I may be gone some time." I will upload the pages as I amend them weekly, to counter the inevitable obsolescence of such an activity.
Later this year will follow a final "edition" of Great Works in its present form, and a revision of the modernpoetry site.
I won't carry on with either, certainly not in their present form, after the end of this year. Ten years of Great Works have ended up by wearying and nauseating me; and contemporary avant-gardish poetry as a social/cultural institution has evolved into something that is best dealt with by younger, hipper, cooler etc etc persons and coteries (eg Openned), especially with access to academic networks and status. A 1990s hobbyist accumulation of homepages will probably put people off rather than involve them.
Both sites are archived by the British Library. I will keep them online through next year at least to allow their cycle of downloading a copy of the site to record their final glories. Great Works may carry on in a different form; or might not.
I have begun updating the links (for both sites). "I may be gone some time." I will upload the pages as I amend them weekly, to counter the inevitable obsolescence of such an activity.
Later this year will follow a final "edition" of Great Works in its present form, and a revision of the modernpoetry site.
I won't carry on with either, certainly not in their present form, after the end of this year. Ten years of Great Works have ended up by wearying and nauseating me; and contemporary avant-gardish poetry as a social/cultural institution has evolved into something that is best dealt with by younger, hipper, cooler etc etc persons and coteries (eg Openned), especially with access to academic networks and status. A 1990s hobbyist accumulation of homepages will probably put people off rather than involve them.
Both sites are archived by the British Library. I will keep them online through next year at least to allow their cycle of downloading a copy of the site to record their final glories. Great Works may carry on in a different form; or might not.
Labels: accessability, contemporary British poetry, Great Works, Modernpoetry.org.uk, plans, www.modernbritish.poetry.org.uk
Saturday, 30 January 2010
Present Plans, Great Wordwise & Diversely Deedful
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.
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
Wednesday, 13 May 2009
What Next for Sundays at the Oto?
when it’s no longer Sunday
Sundays at the Oto is coming to a close, to fit in with Cafe Oto's requirement to be a cafe in the daytime, a venue only in the evening. I would like to continue something like Sundays at the Oto, but therefore on a slightly different basis, and welcome suggestions how to do this successfully. The following are my present thoughts (1-4 are non-negotiable, and represent both my & Café Oto’s requirements; the rest are up for consultation & amendment):
- to carry on at Café Oto, as I think it is an excellent venue, welcoming and flexible with a very good atmosphere and a high profile
- therefore to be an evening event, but not necessarily the same day of the month each time, as this cannot be guaranteed by Café Oto. Varying the day can also give the event more flexibility to fit with availability of poets
- to continue with poetry and music - especially as this mix helps with two goals I have for the events:
- a) people attending who are not already part of the Crazy World of Avant-Garde Poetry or whatever we might want to call ourselves (I suspect many other reading series may be a little off-putting to those not already of Our Persuasion)
- b) a challenge, which can be accepted, or quite happily not, for poets to go beyond reading, and present their work as performance or utterance. Unlike some other series of music & poetry events, though, the emphasis is on the poetry
- admission to rise to, say, £6, to allow greater expenditure on publicity (at present sole cost for publicity is for fliers, which I’m paying for), to allow payment of travel for performers outside London (I’ve personally paid this on occasion), and to pay for a sound engineer if the technical requirements demand it (a Café Oto requirement; and one event was a little disrupted by technical problems with multimedia). This will mean bank account etc!
- evening timing to be doors open at 7.30, event starts at 8.00, ends by 10.00, giving time for both socialising afterwards & for out-of-towners (like me) to make their way to wherever. Strict timing, especially on start, to ensure this!
- to give out more information on the poets (to encourage and support more newcomers to the avant-garde poetry scene) in the form of an A4 sheet on the poets (like the info at arts cinemas). This could also be available online beforehand, eg on www.modernpoetry.org.uk
- to extend the publicity. At present this is done through:
- a) email list – taken from my initial guess at who might be interested from my address book, names added at events & performers
- b) announcements on BritPo and UK Poetry ListServs
- c) notifications on a range of websites that publish details of poetry events. Are there any I don’t deal with that I ought to?
- d) dropping fliers at a number of locations (cafes, bookshops etc) on the route from Stoke Newington Church Street down Kingsland High Road to Café Oto, and I’ve now started on the little nest of shops & cafes in Hackney on Victoria Park Road. This could be extended – more locations in Hackney? Hoxton/Shoreditch? anywhere in Central London? (And some fliers are posted to Poetry Library). Some obviously left at Café Oto
- e) dedicated MySpace page (main web presence) and Facebook group. I’m never sure these are active, cool or sticky enough
All of these can be built on; but I would like to consider, apart from extending the fliering, more notifications (possibly even adverts), and a small-scale carefully targeted PR campaign (ie press releases & invites to major launch event in autumn) - to act as a channel for a wide range of contemporary poets (of Our Persuasion, whatever that may be). I sometimes felt a little confined by my slogan invoking “the post-avant crowd”; but really, that should cover a wide & heterogeneous spectrum. (I hope you can visualise this!)
- music too can be widened – I took on initially suggestions from Café Oto which were very wise ones, and there are close and fertile links between some poets and some improv musicians. All this can be built on. But I’d also like to widen the sound repertoire beyond what may be almost too automatic a link. Eg industrial/post-industrial music, often with a very limited and narrowly subcultural exposure in this country (bit like us, then)
- branding will need to be altered. I’d like to keep existing weird mad dolls/puppets image & reuse. Name will have to change . Options seem to me:
- a) separate name, probably not referring to Café Oto this time
- b) use of one of my existing brands, either Great Works, or modernpoetry.org.uk. (Could even use both one of these & a separate name, as in “modernpoetry.org.uk presents ‘The Poetry Club of Dalston’”, or whatever)
- to screw my courage to the sticking place, and apply for Arts Council (or whoever) money. (Could link with modernpoetry.org.uk here)
I am open to suggestions and comments as to programming, arrangements etc.
I would also welcome any persons who might want to get involved with the project. In my many bad moments I fear I may be getting too old for this game - it would be good if there were people involved for whom this is all fresh & expanding, and who can more readily network amongst the numerous emerging young poets. Probably useful, as well, if there were some contact with HE - this looks like the game plan for Alternative British Poetry's survival and indeed growth. If anyone can accept my basic vision of what I would like, and Café Oto’s requirements, (see 1-4 above), everything else is genuinely up for discussion & collective decision-making. There may well be a need for help with door arrangements – at present done by my daughter & her husband, but weekday evenings may not be as easy for them.
So - put comments here or on Facebook or MySpace, email me (peter@greatworks.org.uk), or best of all talk to me at Sunday’s event.
Labels: plans, Sundays at the Oto
Wednesday, 1 October 2008
Links Updated
I've just uploaded the newly revised Links pages - all checked, functioning and uptodate (bar a couple that kept timing out, which may be ominous ...)
The equivalent pages on www.modernpoetry,org.uk have been updated also, and a couple of new references added to the Websites Useful for Understanding Avant-Garde British Poetry pages. I'll look at all the pages on that site shortly.
Now to await the imminent arrival of the next Len from Richard Makin, do the publicity for the next Sundays at the Oto, and get to grips with Facebook (ugh!)
The equivalent pages on www.modernpoetry,org.uk have been updated also, and a couple of new references added to the Websites Useful for Understanding Avant-Garde British Poetry pages. I'll look at all the pages on that site shortly.
Now to await the imminent arrival of the next Len from Richard Makin, do the publicity for the next Sundays at the Oto, and get to grips with Facebook (ugh!)
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]
