tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-40380132009-07-06T01:47:02.607-07:00poetry & poetics & book arts: thinking out loud / by charles alexandercharleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02186181900863150845noreply@blogger.comBlogger116125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4038013.post-15604200783457625452009-05-18T20:12:00.001-07:002009-05-18T20:13:58.889-07:00

Dear Friend: We hope you can help us at this time. Please read the attached note, and consider what we do, and what you can do! Thank you -- CharlesWe at Chax Press believe that the present tumultuous time, like all times, requires a strength of vision, which is our strength. This is not a time to do less, but to continue to do all that we can.In almost 25 years, Chax Press has become one of the

charleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02186181900863150845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4038013.post-91816138405870047462009-05-15T15:34:00.002-07:002009-05-15T15:56:46.058-07:00

Zukofsky says, in A Test of Poetry, that about the only thing in Keats he values is the four-syllable sequence "hedge crickets sing" from Ode to Autumn. My friend Tenney Nathanson thinks that's not quite fair, for, while also applauding that mini-sequence, Nathanson believes you can take almost any string of four syllables in that Keats ode and have a memorably sounded orchestra of consonants and

charleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02186181900863150845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4038013.post-19565117972585896952009-04-30T14:07:00.006-07:002009-05-01T10:16:52.888-07:00

(third in a series of brief "appreciations" of less than 200 words on various figures, with, sometimes, a sample of work) Karl Young, Alfred Jarry: Unfinished WoodCan I possibly honor KARL YOUNG in 200 words? (That question & this parenthetical remark do not count.)He does not mince words, or, he does mince, twist, hone, shine, shape, and more. When experimental poetry was vast and exciting

charleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02186181900863150845noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4038013.post-61088314439547364182009-04-30T14:02:00.002-07:002009-04-30T14:05:40.096-07:00

MAPPEMUNDE is always a blog worth attending. I am honored that Tim Peterson chose to write a report about my talk in the THREADS series at Granary Books and place it on his Mappemunde blog. Here is his take on PRESSING BETWEEN . . .

charleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02186181900863150845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4038013.post-44184387126295683772009-04-28T10:13:00.004-07:002009-04-28T18:34:26.317-07:00

(second in a series of brief "appreciations" of less than 200 words on various figures, with, sometimes, a sample of work)The Invitation, by Cynthia Miller (photo by Tim Fuller)Paris, an apartment with open window, bird and world flying in, a view of the Eiffel Tower. Kinetic energy, indoor/outdoor disturbance of picture plane, color as waves of light, questioning and ecstatic.First shown in a

charleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02186181900863150845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4038013.post-21036073820329883102009-04-27T21:59:00.005-07:002009-04-28T12:11:47.752-07:00

(first in a series of brief "appreciations" of under 200 words, with, sometimes, a sample of work)Marxism Is the most Lucid and Lively Philosophy, 1974, woodblock portrait of Lu Xun by Li YitaiLu Hsün, or Lu Xun — my edition of his complete works is getting a little dusty with age — is one of the great modernist writers, and one of the world’s greatest short fiction writers, yet a writer no one

charleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02186181900863150845noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4038013.post-15803205289509769322009-04-25T15:46:00.003-07:002009-04-25T15:58:29.352-07:00

. . . and then there are VISITORS.One more brief note from Buffalo, this one from the Karpeles Manuscript Library, where some of Sigmund Freud's papers were on display during the time of POET-PUBLISHER [a small press symposium].from the Karpeles Manuscript Library (photo by Jay MillAr)Evidence that, as Jay MillAr put it, "other species are interested in diverse subjects like the unconscious and

charleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02186181900863150845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4038013.post-15678051321125692472009-04-23T09:53:00.010-07:002009-05-03T21:36:47.950-07:00

Me at NY coffeeshop (photo by Tim Peterson)My 2-week trip away from Tucson was not just about poet-publishers in Buffalo, but began April 8 in Olympia, Washington. Claire Sammons picked me up at the Seattle-Tacoma Airport, and I gave a reading, answered questions and engaged students and community in conversation, and met students individually for advice and critique, over the next few days at

charleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02186181900863150845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4038013.post-22071473731062841592009-04-22T10:24:00.011-07:002009-04-25T12:44:17.186-07:00

Charles Alexander & Kyle Schlesinger (photo by Brenda Iijima)Poet-Publishers [a small press symposium] was held in Buffalo at the State Univ. of New York, and at the Karpeles Manuscript Library, April 19 and 20, 2009. And a fine time was had by all, actually an exciting, dynamic, sharing, questioning, rollicking time. Heady days, as Brenda Iijima and I have said to each other.Myung Mi Kim &

charleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02186181900863150845noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4038013.post-44019821834432003632009-03-15T11:55:00.005-07:002009-03-15T12:08:48.072-07:00

We are having an Open Studio! Lots of people were here yesterday, looking at books & paintings. Even printers stopped by — one from Baltimore, one from Boulder! Four framed broadsides are out on our main table, along with unframed broadsides, copies of fine press books, and copies of recent paperback books. Chax Press looks great yesterday & today! Joni Mitchell (SHINE) is on the stereo right now

charleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02186181900863150845noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4038013.post-28394263992056526192009-03-15T11:55:00.001-07:002009-03-15T11:55:31.371-07:00

charleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02186181900863150845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4038013.post-64960335133178146712009-03-01T18:18:00.005-07:002009-03-01T18:33:19.612-07:00

I had been thinking, for a couple of days, that I just wanted to hang out with poets and talk. And then Peter Gizzi was in Tucson, so I picked him up Saturday morning, took him to Frank's for a great breakfast (eggs & chorizo for him, huevos rancheros for me), then back to Chax where we looked at printed works, read some of Olson aloud, and talked for what must have been, counting the breakfast

charleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02186181900863150845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4038013.post-21757162792706190152009-02-20T19:58:00.002-07:002009-02-20T20:07:53.205-07:00

Here's my poem that is included in the catalog of the Nancy Tokar Miller exhibition, IN RETROSPECT. The poem is a part of Pushing Water 50. The term "anoethau" refers to relics saved, "the difficult things of wonder," possibly even for sacramental purposes. Anoeth bid bet y Arthur is from the Welsh "Black Book of Camarthen," and it has several possible translations, though here I have a sense of

charleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02186181900863150845noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4038013.post-89142366207382255402009-02-20T12:13:00.004-07:002009-02-20T12:31:06.882-07:00

Nancy Tokar Miller's "In Retrospect" exhibition opened yesterday afternoon, when she did a walk-through talk about her work, after which the opening reception was held from 5pm - 7pm. Quite a crowd! But the real attractions are the paintings. This is probably the most beautiful exhibition of paintings I've ever seen at the Univ of Arizona Museum of Art. Please, for yourselves, if you care about

charleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02186181900863150845noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4038013.post-27412717765360922212009-02-18T21:56:00.001-07:002009-02-18T21:56:32.854-07:00

charleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02186181900863150845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4038013.post-66853637109764333142009-02-18T13:43:00.003-07:002009-02-18T13:58:07.402-07:00

I hope you choose to make a donation to Chax Press.This is a year to begin significant growth for Chax Press, growth that will make our output of books, our presentation programs, our youth/educational programs, and our promotional efforts, more regular and less sporadic. We are working on fundraising efforts to achieve our goals, but we also really need to increase our support from individuals

charleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02186181900863150845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4038013.post-50785085456425493172009-02-18T09:21:00.004-07:002009-02-18T10:45:10.145-07:00

I neglected in my last post to mention that POG was a co-sponsor of the January 24 LETTERS & NUMBERS benefit event, and valiant POG directors were there in force. Of course, if ever two nonprofit organizations were entwined, Chax Press & POG are so married. 6 of Chax Press's 13 board members are also board members of POG, and 6 of POG's 9 (I think that's the right number) are also board members

charleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02186181900863150845noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4038013.post-68007386172348779192009-02-17T10:49:00.005-07:002009-02-17T21:39:53.039-07:00

It's been far too long since the last blog. So there's a new commitment here, to blog on a weekly basis. Posts may sometimes be short & sweet, but there will be a consistency that has been lacking for awhile. I will go back and forth on these blog entries, sometimes updating on Chax Press activities, sometimes writing about books or art or poetry in one way or another.This time, a few updates.1.

charleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02186181900863150845noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4038013.post-79826143691056445362008-10-26T00:41:00.002-07:002008-10-26T00:44:57.753-07:00

Great to be here in London! Just finished two days at the Small Publishers Fair, at a table next to Kyle Schlesinger & Cuneiform Press, selling lots of Chax Press books, meeting Ken Edwards, Simon Cutts, Alec Findlay, Geraldine Monk, Alan Halsey, and many others.I've got lots to blog, but too little time while here. So I'll attempt, after return Nov. 7 (so, realistically, by mid-November) to post

charleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02186181900863150845noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4038013.post-84518163812012748862008-09-28T08:20:00.002-07:002008-09-28T08:27:03.088-07:00

The Olson conference, CHARLES OLSON: LANGUAGE AS PHYSICAL FACT, is now only two weeks away. I'm having great success & great fun at the Vandercook Press at Chax, printing a suite of broadsides of some of the most visual pages from The Maximus Poems, with permission granted by the University of California Press. The UA Poetry Center is being terrific in their role as conference venue/cosponsor.

charleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02186181900863150845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4038013.post-11677376011640416082008-08-31T20:36:00.003-07:002008-08-31T20:59:45.788-07:00

This week I designed pages for printing broadsides of visual poems from Charles Olson's Maximus. Not original design in any sense, except for the setting, i.e. the imagination of page size and material. The poems themselves, trying simply to render them as Olson did, with reference to how they are laid out in the published versions of The Maximus Poems. Type in one poem, beginning a section "What

charleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02186181900863150845noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4038013.post-86675489027357666022008-06-14T08:37:00.002-07:002008-06-14T08:42:38.129-07:00

I'm in Portland where it's getting colder today, although I see the sun peeking out. My daughter is settling in here, ready for college life in this city of the present, city of the future. Today is farmer's market time, curtain hanging time, early morning coffee time.The site for the UA Poetry Center's "Conceptual Poetry and Its Others" is now online, almost completely available in video files,

charleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02186181900863150845noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4038013.post-53590002381962893642008-06-09T09:44:00.003-07:002008-06-09T10:05:36.698-07:00

I have written about Carol Watts earlier, in another post. Now my attention is called to new work by Watts in the how2journal. More stunningly sounded and worked sections, seven in the sequence titled ZETA LANDSCAPE, each 19 or 20 lines, moving in small groups of words in and through the lines, always with a sense of "beyond" — indeed the movement is both toward infinity and strongly toward "this

charleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02186181900863150845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4038013.post-89497858474678364882008-06-07T13:19:00.003-07:002008-06-07T13:21:37.574-07:00

The physical location of Chax Press has moved 8 blocks. Change your address books online & rolodex & otherwise. The correct address is nowChax Press (& Charles Alexander & Cynthia Miller)411 N 7th Ave BTucson, AZ 85705-8332USA

charleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02186181900863150845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4038013.post-22102861991394232352008-06-07T11:13:00.002-07:002008-06-07T11:20:46.912-07:00

Would a conceptual artist's book be an "altered book"? Or a "found book"? Or perhaps a book taken from one's shelf, with only the title page altered or replaced in favor of one that credits the artist who is committing the act of appropriation? What about taking an existing book, cutting out all of the pages, printing something else on the pages over the existing print & possibly images, then

charleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02186181900863150845noreply@blogger.com4