K. Reed

Foreclosure Quilts, by Kathryn Clark. She writes: Quilts act...

Wed, 22 May 2013 19:30:42 -0400

Foreclosure Quilts, by Kathryn Clark. She writes:

Quilts act as a functional memory, an historical record of difficult times. It is during times of hardship that people have traditionally made quilts, often resorting to scraps of cloth when so poor they could not afford to waste a single thread of fabric.

The neighborhoods shown are not an anomaly; they are a recurring pattern seen from coast to coast, urban to suburban neighborhoods across the US. The problem has not been solved, it is still occurring, just changing shape, affecting more of us.

Clark worked as an urban planner before she began to work as an artist. She also has a fantastic textiles project in which she renders idioms in embroidered linen and felted wool.

You can find her online here.

Winesburg Ohio by Sherwood Anderson, full text online

Mon, 20 May 2013 19:30:40 -0400

Winesburg Ohio by Sherwood Anderson, full text online:

The University of Virginia has put the full text of Winesburg Ohio online for your reading pleasure.

My mother lives very close to the town that provided a model for Anderson’s novel. My partner group up just a few miles from Anderson’s hometown; they attended the same college. Anderson occupies a place of reverence in our household.

I recently sent my mother a copy of The Onion’s article, “Walmart Opens in Winesburg, Ohio,” which is the sort of text that is made humorous and sad and sweet by proximity. She wrote back that she loved it, but that she was certain Clyde is too small for a Walmart. I checked, and she is correct.

Great Plains ICWA Summit Hoping to Address Native Foster Care Concerns

Wed, 15 May 2013 09:34:21 -0400

Great Plains ICWA Summit Hoping to Address Native Foster Care Concerns:

From the Lakota Peoples’ Law Project:

The summit starts tomorrow, and the agenda has been successfully broadened to include the author of the Indian Child Welfare Act, as well as the new Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs Kevin Washburn. If you can’t attend the summit, be sure to catch the LIVE STREAM here: http://bit.ly/19q7xdh . We can take it from here!

I’m just getting to a place where I can catch up on grading, much less on this blog. For the...

Tue, 07 May 2013 13:59:00 -0400

I’m just getting to a place where I can catch up on grading, much less on this blog. For the time being, I want to point you to a project that is happening in Richmond.

Mark Strandquist has spearheaded a few projects at Richmond City Jail that will be exhibited this summer. In one instance he and a few artists met invited inmates to write about what, if they could choose anything, they would choose to look at out of their cell window. Collecting the writings, Strand and a few photographers have gone out and photographed these views, and ferried the photos back to the inmates to hang in their cells. You can read more about that project here.

Outside the jail, Strandquist has brought together a few book makers on a project he calls The People’s Library:

The Richmond Public Library helped collect discarded books that Strandquist and his collaborators recycle into new paper. Since March, they have been holding bi-weekly paper-making workshops at the Main Branch of the library as well as at other places in the community to produce the pages (Dahlberg & Puffenberger).

Once the group has created 1000 books they will bind them and the blank books will be added to Richmond Public Library’s permanent collection. Library patrons will be able to check out the books and add their personal histories. These collective journals will remain at RPL for future generations to add to or to read.

You can follow Mark on Tumblr here.

You can read more about Mark’s project at his website. Listen to him comment on the project in the interview below.

——

Dahlberg, Jessica and Caitlin Puffenberger. “People’s Library recycles its own books.” CBS6. 9 Apr., 2013.

Poetry reading tomorrow night at OAR! 5:30-7:30. Open mic,...

Thu, 02 May 2013 23:16:26 -0400

Poetry reading tomorrow night at OAR!

5:30-7:30.

Open mic, snacks, general tomfoolery, and the first issue of our workshop’s zine.

For the Love of God Richmond. No. Just...no.

Thu, 02 May 2013 22:17:46 -0400

For the Love of God Richmond. No. Just...no.:

This won’t go down easy: Sally Bell’s Kitchen, the bakery and sandwich shop on West Grace Street, of the famous potato salad and upside-down cupcakes, just might be gobbled up by Virginia Commonwealth University.

On the compass? We’re about to have an impromptu reading.

Thu, 02 May 2013 18:18:00 -0400

On the compass? We’re about to have an impromptu reading.

Via Soviet Postcards. By I. Iskrinskaya, 1968

Wed, 01 May 2013 00:00:36 -0400

Via Soviet Postcards. By I. Iskrinskaya, 1968

Remember back when I said I was working on a poem for Helene...

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 12:21:00 -0400

Remember back when I said I was working on a poem for Helene Sardeau? It’s done, and it’ll be in the zine our Open Minds participants have created for this Friday’s reading and open mic. We hope to see you there.

Where: Offender Aid and Restoration of Richmond, 1 N. Third Street.

When: Friday, May 3rd, 5:30-7:30pm

The Essential Writings of Marcel Duchamp (pdf)

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 19:30:50 -0400

The Essential Writings of Marcel Duchamp (pdf):

“Make this mirrored wardrobe for the silvering.” -MD

A massive library of visual poetry e-books

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 21:12:00 -0400

A massive library of visual poetry e-books:

You are so welcome, because this is an awesome collection.

It will take a while to download.

98 Recordings of Inuit Throat Singing

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 20:15:51 -0400

98 Recordings of Inuit Throat Singing:

From Jerome Rothenberg’s notes on Inuit throat singing:

Inuit throat-singing is done in the following way: two women face each other; they may be standing or crouching down; one is leading, while the other responds; the leader produces a short rhythmic motif that she repeats with a short silent gap in-between, while the other is rhythmically filling in the gaps. The game is such that both singers try to show their vocal abilities in competition, by exchanging these vocal motives. The first to run out of breath or be unable to maintain the pace of the other singer will start to laugh or simply stop and will thus lose the game. It generally lasts between one and three minutes. The winner is the singer who beats the largest number of people.

Originally, the lips of the two women were almost touching, each one using the other’s mouth cavity as a resonator .

Happy birthday to Terry Pratchett, whose Discworld books are so...

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 16:31:54 -0400

Happy birthday to Terry Pratchett, whose Discworld books are so loved in our house that we’ve named our dogs after members of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch.

On the left, Captain Delphine Angua von Überwald.
On the right, Lance-Constable Salacia von Humpeding.

They are shown above in the beleaguered state that commonly follows forcible bathing.

Poictesme Release Party

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 17:07:51 -0400

pwatemvcu:

Poictesme literary journal is celebrating its annual release TONIGHT at the Camel from 7 to 10. There will be free food, a cash bar, an art show, and an open mic, as well as issues of the ‘12-‘13 journal.

Via RVA News: Several years ago, police arrested Mickael Broth...

Sun, 21 Apr 2013 22:14:52 -0400

Via RVA News:

Several years ago, police arrested Mickael Broth for vandalizing property with graffiti and he was sent to jail. He’s now written about the experience, with insight into how we should think about graffiti, prison, and community building.

Photo

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 19:30:33 -0400

IU on Strike!: Privatization Kills 45-year old Community Bookshop

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 14:29:43 -0400

IU on Strike!: Privatization Kills 45-year old Community Bookshop:

Via IUonstrike:

Because of IU’s contract with Barnes & Noble, the Friends of Art Bookshop will be closed this summer, as it violates the contract. The goal of the bookshop, for those of you who dont know, was to “assist faculty and graduate students in their research and creative activity, generate income for…

The Poetry Foundation - On Baseball

Sun, 14 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0400

The Poetry Foundation - On Baseball:

It’s baseball season.

infinity-imagined: Ernst Haeckel; Art Forms of Nature (1904);...

Sat, 13 Apr 2013 22:23:00 -0400

Stephoidea

Phaeodaria

Acanthophracta

Spumellaria

Diatomea

infinity-imagined:

Ernst Haeckel; Art Forms of Nature (1904); Stephoidea, Phaeodaria, Acanthophracta, Spumellaria, and Diatomea.

Via IUonStrike. Yesterday was the first day of IU’s...

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 08:11:45 -0400

Via IUonStrike.

Yesterday was the first day of IU’s strike.