Rain Taxi Reading Series
Rain Taxi sponsors a reading series as a further demonstration of its commitment to literary culture. All events are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted.
FORTHCOMING 2008 EVENTS
Free Verse: The Flarf Collective
Thursday, September 25, 7 pm
Walker Art Center
Click here for directions
Join us for a special Free Verse “Evening of Flarf” as four noted poetry provocateurs—Nada Gordon, Sharon Mesmer, K. Silem Mohammed and Gary Sullivan—share their unique brand of writing in Minneapolis!
Often described as the first recognizable arts movement of the 21st century, Flarf began in 2001 with a handful of poets dedicated to creating poems with intentionally unpoetic language, often found with the aid of Internet search engines (the practice is sometimes referred to as "Google-sculpting"). The Flarf Collective is now over 30 members strong, with participants scattered across the U.S. and Europe. Their infrequent gatherings are unique, provocative, and most of all, fun!
“It's been a long time since I found it necessary to pay attention to a poetry movement. Now, I will.” —Bruce Sterling (on his Wired blog)
About the poets:
Nada Gordon is the author of four poetry books—Folly, V. Imp, Are Not Our Lowing Heifers Sleeker than Night-Swollen Mushrooms?, and foriegnn bodie—and, with Gary Sullivan, an epistolary techno-romantic non-fiction novel, Swoon. She practices poetry as deep entertainment and is a proud member of the Flarf Collective.
Sharon Mesmer is the author of three poetry collections—Annoying Diabetic Bitch, The Virgin Formica, and Half Angel, Half Lunch—and two fiction collections, In Ordinary Time and The Empty Quarter. She is the recipient of two New York Foundation for the Arts fellowships in poetry.
K. Silem Mohammad is the author of the poetry collections Breathalyzer, A Thousand Devils, and Deer Head Nation. His work has appeared in The Best American Poetry 2004 and Bay Poetics and he is the co-editor of the poetry magazine Abraham Lincoln. He teaches creative writing at Southern Oregon University in Ashland.
Gary Sullivan is the author of the books Dead Man, How to Proceed in the Arts, Swoon (with Nada Gordon) and PPL in a Depot, and of the comic book series Elsewhere. He is a frequent contributor to Rain Taxi Review of Books, which has serialized his comic strip, "The New Life," since 1997. His critical work appears in The Consequence of Innovation: 21st Century Poetics, among other places.
Free Verse is co-sponsored by the Walker Art Center and Rain Taxi Review of Books.
And on Saturday, October 11, 2008:
The Eighth Annual Twin Cities Book Festival!
Click Here to see a complete list of previous events
in the Rain Taxi Reading Series