maplElEafpoEm

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w i d e r  is belladona*books' number 97, published in conjunction with the belladonna reading series in new york; rawlings read in october.

the chap' is subtitled "rarities & remixes from Wide Slumber for Lepidopterists", referring rawling's first book -- a delirious exploration of sleep as experienced by one immersed in the study of moths and butterflies, where the text itself will seem to flutter frantically, doze peacefully or rise to walk in its sleep.

Like wide, w i d e r moves through the life cycle of the lepidoptera and the states a human experiences in sleep; each of the six poems is listed in the table of contents next to a symbol which first appeared in wide and depicts a stage in these cycles.

w i d e r lifts off with "A Field Guide", listed by "O" - egg/insomnia.
Beginning this way, w i d e r  feels like a field guide to the feral wide. Indeed, the vivid and surrealistic imagery of w i d e r  seems somehow more concrete than the boundless and abstract concepts of wide.
In "Mil" I feel as if I see the Lepidopterist properly for the first time, suffering from dyssomnia ("C~"; egg, larva). s/he paces restlessly within the rhythm of the poem, which reads like a disrupted list of habits stemming from disrupted sleep:

To awake in dregs. To sleep-awake in pools of glass. Our body in elipses. Body in wings. Wings in fright  --p.4, W I D E R

In "REMnants" we find snatches of dreams, as if collected in the morning, muddled and half remembered, but still powerful.

While the connection to wide is clear and fundamental, w i d e r  holds itself distinct, existing independently rather than as an afterthought. The six poems are playful, dark, and engaging. w i d e r  increases my appreciation for the fantastic depth & breadth of what rawlings has created by breeding sleep with lepidoptera.

Useful Links

theatre commutiny: wide slumber for lepidopterists
belladona*books
belladonna reading series
a. rawlings' blog

Last night's installment of the Test Reading Series featured Bill Kennedy, Darren Wershler-Henry and Jessica Smith.  Audio recordings and excerpts from the poets' work will be available at the Test official website in the near future.

CLICK here to see photographs of the event








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Finding its home at various venues around the city each month, the Toronto Poetry Slam - curated by Dave Silverberg - is known for its high energy levels and its ability to consistently draw crowds in excess of 100 people. For this month's installment I was among the 120 in attendance at the Victory cafe on Saturday September 30th.

Now this isn't exactly a reading series. Dave Silverberg asks who in the audience has never attended a slam before, and explains to those of us with out hands up that this is going to be "unlike anything [we]'ve ever seen before". He goes into the history briefly - a 20 year old tradition started in Chicago - but members of the audience hush him loudly. This, he explains, is another aspect of the slam that is a little different from your standard reading. Audience interaction, be it boos and hisses or woops of encouragement, is highly encouraged.

Last night I headed over to Mercer Union for an installment of Test, a favorite series of mine. The Mercer Union is a centre for contemporary art, and upon arrival it became immediately apparent that we were to be spending the evening in the company of a rather large and interesting piece of art. This piece was constructed from sheets of yellow paper rolled into cylinders and placed to protrude at varying heights from corrugated cardboard boxes. It seemed to glow from inside,  putting me in mind of stressful jobs and crystals formed under intense pressure.

The first reader was Diana Fitzgerald Bryden. She read primarily from her current poetry manuscript Self Help. The poems are short pieces which often question a second person, a mysterious 'you' - perhaps a friend, lover, adversary? the reader? herself?
Just enough was said. Just enough was unsaid.

The second reader was Jason Christie, reading from his recently published iROBOT, a collection of prose  poetry exploring a world where every machine containing a computer chip gains sentience. I wasn't sure what to expect, but quickly fell in love with these quirky, unreliable machines and their sorrows over 'purpose' and 'existence'.

I enjoyed the evening immensely.
Consult the website for more information about last night's readers & next month's installment.

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Located at It's Not a Deli, hot sauced words was a night of bad soccer jokes, open mic-ers leaving before features, positive feedback loops and good poetry.  "Creative James" Dewar, the man responsible for the series, was an engaging host. He also thought of putting little peices of paper and a couple of pens on each table to be sure that wandering - poet-hands knew no boredom. 

The readers were Gregory Betts and a. rawlings.

Greg's set was amusing and interesting. His work contains a lot or response-text and wordplay (he also hate Hamilton. or loves it. or). He read from a selction of chapbooks and a tradebook. His chapbook the Cult of David Thompson was of particular interest. It responds to the journals of David Thompson, a man who apparently cut the Canadian border by hand and did other various important things without becoming famous enough to be mentioned in high school Canadian history textbooks. Also,  I am now regretting not purchasing the Haikube Book. 

a. rawlings put on a sensational show, reading from her Wide Slumber for Lepidopterists. Though I was already familiar with the text, the experience is completely different aloud. For instance, the  a hoosh a ha  which had been so peaceful in print became violent and sensual in when a. read it. 
If you're in Toronto, she'll be reading at the Scream in High Park mainstage, and you should definitely get out to see her as well as all of the wonderful poets that will be reading that day. 

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the Lexiconjury Reading Series was organized by a. rawlings and Bill Kennedy. Last night was an all "open michelle" where "everyone is the feature". There were so many readers. SO MANY. And so many were so good. I found myself wishing I'd thought to write down their names with little notes about their peices so I could remember who was who and who to look up later. Poster, list of readers at bottom.

The Open Michelle rule is that each reader is allowed to read two poems, at least one of which must be a "cover" poem. Many of the covers were found poems, taken into a different context and becoming quite comical. Jessica Westhead read Shoplifting is Stealing by Walmart.

Everyone was very friendly, and I was able to chat with a number of people I'd been waiting patiently to meet. 
It's a great shame that this reading series is ending, but I'm glad that I was able to make it to one installment.