Images: Paris, Amsterdam, Bordeaux...

It is just after posting the letter to my father where I write "it is so sunny here in Paris, I hope it will stay that way all summer" that the rain starts.

And then I think how pleasant is the sound of rain on the rooftops here, and farther birdsong and there is a peaceful calm to Paris this Saturday, perhaps because for many this is another long weekend and they are away basking in beachness and greenery.

Me, I am letting the past few weeks settle a little, the running to conferences & readings & classes. Prepping now for the PhD defense (the 4th of June at 14h at la maison de la recherche de Paris III, 4 rue des irlandais, RER Luxembourg + 10min walk for anyone interested in coming--it is a public event here), preparing for a totally different kind of speechifying. What to say after 6 years of writing in French on so many poems? How to close the door on that, open another on the next place we (the poems & I, in relation with/to them) are going? On verra.

Anyway, here are a few pictures from the weeks just lived, the fun, crazy readings in such different venues, the moments in Bordeaux! The world as seen through the objective of this little pocket digital phone's lens, often blurry because even with technology there are some things I have never gotten good at!!! Enjoy. Images in reverse chronological order!!!

Ondulations booklaunch reading in PARIS at Pixie Galerie/Marie Poliakoff, 95 rue de Seine, 75006 on the 20th of May 2009:

Kate Van Houten (artist) & Jacques de Longeville in front of Marie Poliakoff's galerie, bookmarks from the event litter the sidewalk to help lead people inside Mme's "art boudoir"!

Jacques de Longeville and I (Jennifer K Dick) read from En Clos/Enclosure between French & English, sometimes with our voices overlapping.

Jacques de Longeville & I finishing our co-reading of Enclosure

Susana Sulic "Performs" her words/symbols. In the Spanish, we watch the language, then her daughter reads a translation in French.The crowd: So "6ième arrondissement" says one of my friends. We see the back of Giorgio's head as he talks to his nephew, then the curtains keeping us all tucked inside this cozy, warm galerie.

Group picture after the reading: in background Marie Poliakoff, in foreground (left to right) Sulic, Jacques de Longeville, Susana Sulic, me (Jennifer K Dick), Giogio Fidone & Kate Van Houten.

Kate Van Houten examines a set of Giorgio Fidone's acrylics before the reading.Book Signing for ONDULATIONS at Giorgio Fidone's, 18 May 2009. All 50 books are numbered & signed as collectors items. Each contains 4 original paintings by Fidone. Above, Jacques de Longeville & I sign & admire the work. Below, Susana Sulic & Giorgio Fidone sign.Now it is off to AMSTERDAM, or rather, that is where I was BEFORE. 15-16th May 2009

Before the reading, Rufo Quintavalle & I tourist. We head to the reconverted pathology-into-artspace to check out the works. Here are pics of the building, then Rufo in the "reading/smoking" space, then me at our spacious café table where we had a drink and waited (in vain) for the downpour to stop.

Versal Reading Crowd, gathered amid the big screens, the light show, there is music, cabaret, poetry & prose. Strangely, Amsterdam makes this work in a way I feel Paris has never done. Everything high quality and everyone attentive & engaged in the entire night's program here at The Sugar Factory!!!The band "Zorita" starts of the night: see their MySpace for samples of tunes at : http://www.myspace.com/zoritamusicI then read after Prue's intro, from a series of collaborations in progress being written with Amanda Deutch, as well as the 3 translations of Albana Gelle's work which appear in Versal 7: get a copy at http://www.wordsinhere.com/ also check out their "Here" blog project.The night of varied Versal entertainment would not have been complete without the Cabaret stylings of German Fergus Rougier. This dude was a RIOT!!! Megan Garr, who keeps both Versal & the Words in Here writing workshops in Amsterdam afloat and united, gives her thank-you spiel about all these 7 years have brought to her. Fabulous sense of what it means to seek out, create and develop a community of writers in a foreign country. Her work is exemplary and commendable, and the audience's fondness for her, as well as staff, writers, & all others who have worked with her permeated the air. People were there as much to celebrate her achievements as the reviews, & she was there to celebrate all the staff & community's achievements that have enriched her life. It was great.Above: Rufo Quintavalle reading & wowing the audience. We wanted MORE!!!!

Below: The books table run by The English Bookshop of Amsterdam. At first, no one even noticed that wall!!! I did.

BORDEAUX: The SAES Convention, 8-10 May 2009:

A return to the academic side of things!

Bordeaux: My final afternoon, I took a walk, smelled the flowers as it were, along the riverbank (& tram lines)

Who said University architects weren't creative? Here is a building at University de Bordeaux III-Michel de Montaigne. This, however, was not one of the buildings we were in. The ones we were in were very pleasant. There wer tons of ateliers & I wanted to be able to be many places all at once. Alas, that was impossible!!!"Banquet", or rather some drinks and a few snacks were had at the Café de l'Opéra in the center of town on Sat eve. Above, jazz musicians meander about the room serenading professors (Ah, good ol' Shakespeare would've liked that), enticing them to dance (& many did later in the eve) Below: the giant cheese platter, along with the man keeping the whole evening running smoothly and on some prearranged schedule (meaning, by the time I realized there was fois gras to taste, the table was being cleared, & then after finding there was some sushi, that was cleared away too, and then this massive cheese plate was divvyed out with the delicateness of knowing he was feeding a hoard with a small sampling for each person. It did work out, but still, I think the "banquet" word was misapplied, especially for those not really interested in drinking).Above: Mohammed, of the poet's panel, & Caen Univ, & I chummed around. We are new on the scene, so we didn't know many other folks, so we circled and said a few hellos & otherwise just observed. As he noted, "One day we will be them, know everyone here, this will be our annual meet-up with some". I am certain he is right!

Below: Me, taken by Mohammed. It was a lovely venue to be in, & I enjoyed a few glasses of champagne before heading back to the hotel for some well-deserved sleep after a day of conference & meeting/greeting. A first in perhaps many SAES conferences to come, & I felt really excited about that, about the people I met, the thinking taking place throughout France, & now moving out of the PhD stage onto the next one, becoming over time more engaged in this new stop.