Reading for Estepa Editions at Red Wheelbarrow on 29 Jan 2023

 

Upcoming Events: where to find Jennifer K Dick and many other, exciting authors!

 I am in busy mode as we settle into 2023. Here are a few places you can find me:

STRASBOURG 28 January 2023:

SWAS: Strasbourg Write A Story: Fiction Writing Workshop "MYSTERY" with Jennifer K Dick on 28th January 2023 14-16h. http://sxb-write-a-story.org/workshops-2022-23-new/

Course Description: The Mysteries that Surround Us — This generative writing workshop with Jennifer K Dick will be based around “mystery”. Not the genre, but instead the mysteries that surround us every day and which provide a million opportunities for us to encounter and make stories. As such, this workshop will focus on where to find a story, questions of what plot is and why it might or might not matter to story writing (for you) and how to use questions to find characters and their motivations. Finally, our afternoon together will close with some tips on how to hone and polish your story. The goal is to encounter a little of the unknown together, to write something into being, and to leave perhaps not with more knowns, but rather with more mysteries to explore on our own as we continue to uncover, craft and polish our own fiction. Please come with the necessary materials to write in situ and an openness to discover and encounter the mysteries of your own inner universes.YOU CAN ALSO SUBMIT YOUR STORIES TO THE 2023 SWAS CONTEST, NOW OPEN.

PARIS 29th, 30th and 31st January 2023: 

RED WHEELBARROW EVENT at 16 for Estepa Editions with Lisa Pasold, Barbara Beck, Jennifer K Dick and Michelle Noteboom along with Kate Van Houten, publisher, author and visual artist who founded and publishes Estepa Editions artbooks. This will be a wonderful reading to support an amazing art book publisher. You can also pick up copies of books by the authors published by other publishers and get those signed. A great way to keep a local bookstore thriving!

SPOKEN WORD PARIS Guest Feature Jennifer K Dick MONDAY 30 January 2023. This is an open mic scene, so come and sign up at 8pm. Spoken Word is at a new venue again for the 30th and this is the CAVE CAFE which is up on Marcadet. It has amazing beers and the reading will be downstairs. Best arrival options: Lamarck and walk down some stairs, Marcadet and a bit of a longer stroll over or Jule Joffrin and a short jaunt uphill. Wonderful authentic cave, great little stage and mic. I have provided a theme for the night should you decide to compose a poem specifically for the event--see the Spokenword Paris facebook group or website for more. 20h is a good time to arrive, or a bit earlier for more beer.

IVY WRITERS PARIS mcing for the soirée bilingue with Marielle Anselmo, Jason Stoneking and William Strangmeyer who will be reading Tuesday the 31st of January at 19h30! Full information for that will be up soon at: https://ivywritersparis.blogspot.com/ This event starts at 19h30 but come along a little bit early and get a beer or a cocktail on happy hour and chat with the writers in the gorgeous setting of Delaville Café.

NO TITLE by Jennifer K Dick from Estepa Editions

Kate Van Houten's eternally surprising artbook press, Estepa Editions, has put out a limited edition of 40 numbered art chapbooks of my poem "No Title", for last week's PAGES artbook fair. Copies may now be ordered directly from the press (and you can also pay by paypal) for 10 euros (email estepa [dot] editions [at] gmail [dot] com) to purchase. 

On rare Italian paper, the inside poem is printed on is a lovely soft

beige page which contrasts with the cover which is a heavier grey tone folded over a slate blue carton. The nuances between these muted grey-beige and the black and white of the printing reflect the poem itself, in what is written over, named, erased, lost. The i.d. photos referenced in the poem are also echoed in the formatting on the cover of  the title and author name--they are embedded in a block of black, the "No Title" almost being lost there. Once opened, the poem inside the book folds out xylaphone style to be read all at once but tucks back into the cover for easy storage. 

I am thrilled with this new object including this highly personal poem I wrote after the mer méditerranée show and the piece "Noiseless" by Rabih Mroué in Mulhouse, France on 13 nov 2015. This is the third art book Kate and I have put out. The first Retina/Rétine (2007) is sold out, but copies of the second Conversions (2014) a book of folio images and poems in a handmade box holder is also still available, 50euros. And I am working on a set of poems based on some of Kate Van Houten's new art (her sculptures and paintings) so perhaps watch for news of another collaboration in 2016!

 

Recent publications.... and pics, plus an event announcement!

Travels and travails. The spring is alive with movement, with the awakening despite, today, a return to a fallish greyness here in Paris. But to combat the grey cloudy mood one needs so little, so little of something--perhaps just a bit of joy? Or shiny souvenirs of fabulous encounters and travels and new publications to make one feel loved and to also lead one to discover new authors one is published alongside. SO--here below are a few pics of recent events and announcements for new publications. This mini list ends with info on my forthcoming June 7th reading in Amsterdam! 

I) PRAGUE POETRY MICROFESTIVAL READING: JENNIFER K DICK with OLGA PEKOVA, happened on May 12th:

As these photos show (reading pics by Prague-based photographer Robert Carrithers republished here with his permission, the final pic is by me, as it has the great nightmood of central Prague--taken near Celetna 20), I travelled to Prague for their annual Prague Poetry Microfestival where I met for the second time the wonderful, talented young translator and writer Olga Pekova who brought some of my CERN poems into the Czech language. We gave a reading on one of the 4 nights of the festival, but I was especially excited to discover so many other authors--in particular the novelist who wrote DWELLING (Reality Street books, 2011--click title to order), Richard Mankin--who read on the extra-conference Fiction prequel night to the Microfestival. And what a delight it was to see old friends and new in-person friends after long cyber-contact: Michael Farrell and Vanessa Place. Here is a great picture of them contemplating the wall in the Prague Czech Repulic Senate garden!:

II) NEW POEMS FROM THE CERN PROJECT ONLINE in THE GORGEOUS ISSUE TWO OF MOLLY BLOOM Modern Poetry

MOLLY BLOOM issue two, available free and online HERE, includes work by Rachel Lerhman, Rob Stanton, rob mcclennan, Mark Russell, Sarah Crewe, Frances Presley, Jennifer K Dick, Osip Mandelstam translated by Alistair Noon, Vahni Capildeo, DS Marriott, Clive Semmens, and Geraldine Monk. It is edited by Aiden Simmons. 

III) CRITICAL ARTICLE discusses CERN poems, article BY AMY CATANZANO on JACKET 2 

author and critic AMY CATANZANO for Jacket 2: https://jacket2.org/commentary/ufolanguage

https://jacket2.org/commentary/ufolanguage
--What do you think? Am I part of U+F+O+L+A+N+G+U+A+G+E poetry? Read what Amy says HERE and let me know! See her article to check out a GREAT image by Maria Damon whose work and many others is discussed by Amy in her article.

IV) TEARS IN THE FENCE ISSUE 59--including my 10th column in the series entitled "OF TRADITION AND EXPERIMENT" 

See TITF's website for more info or to order a copy at:http://tearsinthefence.com/
Or join their FB group at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2307588990/

My article is Of Tradition and Experiment X: a roundup of 5 excellent small press publications : Afton Wilky's Clarity Speaks of a Crystal Sea (Flim Forum, 2014), The First 4 Books of Sampson Starkweather (Birds LLC, 2013), Matvei Yankelevich's Alpha Donut (United Artists Books, 2012), Laurie Price's Radio at Night (Lunar Chandelier Press, 2013) and Jackqueline Frost's You Have the Eyes of a Martyr (O'Clock Press chapbook). 

Additional mini-reviews included at the closure of my column mention Lily Robert-Foley's M (Corrupt, 2013), Michelle Noteboom's Roadkill (Corrupt, 2013), Frances Richard's ANARCH. (FuturePoem, 2012), Matthew Cooperman and Marius Lehene's IMAGO for the fallen world (Jaded Ibis, 2013), as well as Shira Dentz's door of thin skins (CavenKerry, 2013)

V) CELEBRATORY READING for CONVERSION in the midst of the gorgeous art show for bookmaker, sculptor, painter and engraver KATE VAN HOUTEN of ESTEPA EDITIONS at ELIANE FIEVET's home gallery space.

This was a beautiful evening of sharing poems in a space filled with the most amazing sculpture. If you are interested in ordering a copy of CONVERSION, the limited edition book in handmade boxes, numbered 1-50, can be ordered through Kate Plus Books and via email directly at estepa [dot] editions [at] gmail [dot] com They are 50euros. See an image in the announcement below of the book.

VI) UPCOMING EVENTS--AMSTERDAM READING for CONVERSIONS at BOEKIE WOEKIE collectables and art bookstore! SEE YOU THERE? 

INFO for event: 5PM on Sat 7 June at Boekie Woekie bookstore, Berenstraat 16, 1016 GH Amsterdam in The Netherlands.
 

BIOS/ ARTIST INFO: Kate Van Houten, founder, editor and creator of Estepa éditions, is a visual artist, bookmaker and book-binder based in Paris, France. Her collaborative and individual books include publications of one-off exclusive art books to a more affordable range of small editions of up to 100--see a few samples at http://kateplusbooks.wordpress.com/2011/02/19/books/. She has worked with Jennifer K Dick on two occasions--first for a bilingual edition RETINA/RETINE in 2007 with art and binding by Kate, poem in 8 sections by Jennifer K Dick and a translation by Rémi Bouthonnier (available at Boekie Woekie). Now Jennifer and Kate will be coming to Amsterdam to celebrate their most recent collaboration "CONVERSION"--a set of 7 folio pages in an edition of 50, text printed in a deep blue ink with watercolor and ink images by Kate Van Houten traversing the pages and some of the texts. This is "bound" in a bordeaux colored handmade box in which the folio pages and their cover page slip in and out delicately. Jennifer composed these poems in Greece and Paris and they have the island feel of summer. Jennifer works for the Amsterdam-based literary magazine, VERSAL, and is the author of various other books and chapbooks. 

photo courtesy of http://gycouture.blogspot.fr/

Boekie Woekie's home site is at: http://boewoe.home.xs4all.nl/

Estepa Editions and Conversion... the making of an art-poetry book!

Kate Noakes looks on as Kate Van Houten explains her layout

Yesterday in Paris a lovely brunch at le Charbon with visiting writers from Barcelona and New York as well as local ex-pat Kate Noakes before a stroll over to rue de Charonne and Kate Van Houten's art studio to see the process of making and finalizing the touches on our collaborative book, CONVERSION. 

CONVERSION by Jennifer K Dick with artwork by Kate Van Houten: will be a collection of 7 folio-pages on a gorgeous off-white, slightly yellow paper, with the words printed in blue, the images by Kate floating above and through my 7 prose poems, all of this encased in a hand-made box which will be enrobed with an eggplant-colored paper will soon be out from Estepa Editions (check out her blog at Kateplusbooks which she is hoping to have updated soon). 

Kate Van Houten showing the maquette for Conversions

Kate Van Houten proposes the cover box color

To be the first to see this (even before I will see the final product!) you can find Estepa Editions either at: 
 

The Small Publishers Fair 2013: LONDON 
the 15-16 November, 11am-7pm daily
Conway Hall, Red Lion Square, London WC1R 4RL
See list of participants at: http://smallpublishersfair.co.uk/participants/ and for more news on the event, see: http://smallpublishersfair.co.uk/ and readings listed at: http://smallpublishersfair.co.uk/saturday-readings/

OR 
Salon PAGES 16: PARIS
the 22nd Nov from 14h-22h,  the 23rd Nov from 11h-20h and the 24th of November from 10h-19h

Pages 16, Espace Charenton, 327 rue de Charonton, 75012 Paris
See their website for a list of the 90 éditeurs who will present and more at: http://www.pages-livresdartiste.info/ and http://www.pages-livresdartiste.info/les-exposants/