Archives for category: Uncategorized

beaulieu-emersonEric Schmaltz has just reviewed John Riddell’s Writing Surfaces: selected fiction of John Riddell (as edited by Lori Emerson and myself) on Lemonhound:

This necessary volume offers a comprehensive selection of Riddell’s diverse array of meta-media writing strategies. Emerson and beaulieu’s selection spans from his better-known lipogrammatic comic “Pope Leo: El Elope” (illustrated by bpNichol) that recounts the tragic murder of Pope Leo using only four letters (P, O, E, L) to the dirty, concretistic “a deux,” a work composed of typewritten text that is disrupted by smears, hand drawn lines, and inkblots. Much of the work presented here explores Riddell’s interest in the relationship between machines and language–he creatively intervenes with the functions of the typewriter, photocopier, and paper shredder, among other technologies. Riddell’s work poses a special challenge to editors because much of it is unreproducible–much of it relies on aleatoric operations and at other times precise and irreproducible gestures. Considering both editors’ outstanding backgrounds exploring radical, media-related literature, there may be no one better to trust with this work.

Red-VS-120x120

A 32″ x 104″ edition of My Prose of the Trans-Canada is on exhibit as part of SEE THE SOUND, a three day exhibition of visual poetry at the Verses Festival of Words, Vancouver.

What does poetry look like? Going beyond sounds in the air or words on the page, three poets and visual artists reimagine poetry in the visual realm. This four-day exhibit brings new perspectives on how letters and words combine in our perception to create a poetic impression.

prose2Works by visual artists and poets include:

Derek Beaulieu’s epic “Prose of the Trans-Canada”
Kevin McPherson’s debut of a new piece of visual poetry
Corrina Keeling’s improvised visuals created during Verses events

Astorino’s, 1739 Venables Street, Vancouver, BC

acad mcleans 2 Maclean’s 2014 Canadian Universities Guidebook selects my ENGL214 class as one of the “cool courses” happening at ACAD this year …

Terri Trembath of CBC Television Calgary visited my Alberta College of Art + Design ENGL214 class to discuss typewriters and creative writing.

Screen shot 2014-03-17 at 7.40.06 PM Screen shot 2014-03-17 at 7.40.17 PMScreen shot 2014-03-17 at 7.40.54 PMScreen shot 2014-03-17 at 7.40.30 PM

2I was recently invited to participate in a photo-shoot for Calgary Arts Development’s Living a Creative Life: An Arts Development Strategy for Calgary (photograph courtesy Jason Stang)

SAIT’s student newspaper The Weal takes an interest in my teaching at ACAD…

Typewriters challenge students’ way of thinking

Computers, tablets and phones, have caused some people to write automatically and unthinkingly because of the convenient use of autocorrect, backspace and spellcheck. But ACAD instructor Derek Beaulieu is determined to make his English 214 Creative Writing class stop and think about the actual mechanics of writing by requiring them to use typewriters.

1901896_10203522945260191_31171523_n1601373_10203522959500547_201848936_n 1964888_10203522957940508_1143244915_nscrawl-a-thon1 scawl-a-thon2scawl-a-thon 3In support of WORDSWORTH 2014 SUMMER LITERARY CAMP I recently completed a Concrete poem on the windows of Calgary’s LOFT 112.

Written over 6 hours, this untitled piece was constructed organically, without a plan.

Responsive to the shapes of letters, and movement outside the window, this poem will remain permanently on the window of LOFT 112 as a reminder of the fundraising efforts.

This afternoon, LOFT112 hosted Typing Pool #2 – a chance for members of Calgary’s literary community to try their hand on a series of typewriters; clanging keys and sliding carriages. This initiative is linked to my ENGL214 course at Alberta College of Art + Design…4photo[1]photo321

 

CBC-Pizza-1974_hr_enCBC Eyeopener: ACAD professor Derek Beaulieu explains why he’s making his students write their assignments on old-fashioned typewriters

AcadianYellowFor news and updates on my teaching at Alberta College of Art + Design, check out www.creativetypewriting.wordpress.com…