Ithaca

I've never been to Ithaca, NY but I'll be there to give a reading next Saturday, thanks to an invitation from Aaron Tieger. All the information can be found at SOON Productions. I'll be reading with Sean Cole, whose chapbook Itty City (Pressed Wafer, 2003) includes the following great poem:

"Book of Eagles.

Barn-headed girl in a pall. Her brain
full of cops. The grain hikes up its
stagecoach under autumn's fist. What cuneiform
is this on my list? What can I
do you for? If Brad were here the whole hell
would pull the floor up and tout its gunderwear.
Bright girl in a copse. How did your
crumble go?"

I plan on reading mostly recent poems, along with a few translations.

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I came across this good interview with Brett Easton Ellis in The Independent.

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On August 12, The Independent also printed this note about Edward Upward, who turned 102 in September:

"Better late than never: aged 101, Edward Upward has been awarded the Royal Society of Literature's Benson Medal, in recognition of a lifetime's service to literature. Upward was the inspirational "fourth man" in the group that also boasted Auden, Isherwood and Spender. He was, like them but more durably, radicalised by the 1930s. Together, Upward and Isherwood invented the surreal imaginary world of "Mortmere", as featured in the former's The Railway Accident and the latter's Lions and Shadows. His autobiographical trilogy of novels, The Spiral Ascent, shows why he moved left and stayed there. More recent work, which includes memorable short stories, has been published by Enitharmon Press. Previous recipients of the medal include Tolkien, Burgess and Strachey."