Chris Turnbull, the editor of Rout/e magazine has just included a visual poem of mine as part of a poetic route. Turnbull wrote that my poem was planted “along the Dwyer Hill entrance point to Marlborough Forest.”

My poem “edges the first water section of the trail. It is often near flooded, the left and right sides of the swamp (track bisecting) quite dramatically different. It’s one of the first places the geese return to, and [Turnbull has] sighted blandings turtles (endangered), water snakes, marsh wrens, and muskrat in abundance. And, of course, frogs among other things.”

Better co-ordinates soon, but “if you go to Google Earth, to Dwyer Hill, locate roughly half way between Flood Road and Heaphy Road and head for the chunk of obvious water. The trail is unobservable…”

Jonathan Ball has just offered a capsule review (bottom) of seen of the crime in the Winnipeg Free Press. More information on seen of the crime can be found here.

rob mclennan has just offered a brief review of seen of the crime at his blog. More information on seen of the crime, including ordering information, can be found here.

The selection at  UBUWEB: VISUAL POETRY has just grown with the addition of new and historical work by Shaunt Basmajian, Bob Cobbing, Michael Jacobson, Cecilie Jordheim, Louis Luthi, Robert Majzels, Heidi Neilson, Barbara O’Connelly, ottar ormstad, Carl Fredrik Reutersward, Luigi Serafini and Nico Vassilakis. Also included is a brief selection of work by bpNichol, an overview of Martin Vaughn-James’ visual narratives and a 1966 anthology which juxtaposes Marshall McLuhan’s work next to avant-garde practitioners.

 

As part of my on-going “Abstract Language” column at Abstract Comics: The Blog, in October I discussed Mark Laliberte’s 2010 collection brickbrickbrick. For November, I’ve posted a brief discussion of bpNichol’s Konfessions of an Elizabethan Fan Dancer.

Helen Hajnoczky has just reviewed Seen of the Crime.

I’m pleased to announce that Prose of the Trans Canada will be included in Language to Cover a Wall: Visual Poetry through its changing Media (Nov 17, 2011 – Feb 18, 2012) at The UB Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY.

Language to Cover a Wall: Visual Poetry through its changing Media abounds in visual and concrete poetry, in which the visual arrangement of text, images, and symbols combine to create an intended effect. This alternative to standard linear poetry occupies a space between poetry and visual art but some of it — “intermedia” poetry — blurs the distinction between writing, graphic art, video, dance, music, and digital media.

I’m thrilled to announce that Wordfest 2011 is augmenting my appearance at the festival in support of Seen of the Crime by projecting Prose of the Trans-Canada on the side of the Calgary Tower for the duration of the festival:

derek beaulieu’s work is consistently praised as some of the most radical and challenging contemporary Canadian writing. A towering moment in beaulieu’s on-going exploration of letraset as a medium for concrete poetry, Prose of the Trans-Canada, will be on display, after dark, as an “illuminated light sculpture” on the façade of the Calgary Tower from October 11–14. Rising over 20 metres, the visual poem will illuminate the Calgary Tower and provide a new platform for this cutting-edge artist.

new from SNARE BOOKS:

Seen of the Crime: Essays on Conceptual Writing

by derek beaulieu

‘Finally, a book about poetry that is actually about poetry. derek beaulieu is quickly proving himself an essential companion to the contemporary.’~ Sina Queyras

In a series of statements, essays, missives, and informal discussions, seen of the crime surveys the radical edges of Canadian and international poetry; the conceptual and the concrete, the political and the playful. With seen of the crime, derek beaulieu explores the flourishing and frustrating alternatives: poetry without subjectivity, without narrative, without words, and even without letters.

Now available at independent bookstores near you.

As part of my on-going “Abstract Language” column at Abstract Comics: The Blog, this month I discuss ottar ormstad’s 2007 op art visual poetry suite  bokstavteppekatalogen.