Poems by Poetry Filmmakers

THIS SUNDAY’S PUBLIC READING

Hear and see dynamic and diverse poetry filmmakers perform their work on Sunday, November 6th, 7-8:30 pm at People’s Co-op Bookstore! It is wonderful to hold an event at this venerable bookstore which has been in existence at different locations since 1945!

In town for the Poets with a Video Camera: Video Poetry 1980-2020 Exhibit at Surrey Art Gallery, New York-based Adeena Karasick, Wisconsin-based Kurt Heintz and UK-based Sarah Tremlett will be performing alongside landmark Canadian interdisciplinary artists Valerie LeBlanc and Daniel H Dugas, and notable locals Heather Haley and curator Tom Konyves. (I have volunteered to emcee.)

Here’s a PDF with links to the poetry filmmakers websites and their poetry videos, some of which they will be presenting on Sunday.

(Curious about the rationale behind poetry videos and how to approach them? See my piece in The Tyee and check out this poetry resource page.)

Bios

Adeena Karasick is a NY-based poet, performer, cultural theorist and media artist and the author of 12 books of poetry and poetics. The most recent is Massaging the Medium: 7 Pechakuchas, (The Institute of General Semantics Press, 2022). She teaches Literature and Critical Theory at Pratt Institute. The “Adeena Karasick Archive” is located in the Special Collections, Simon Fraser University.

Daniel H. Dugas is an internationally acclaimed poet, artist, musician and videographer. In 2022, he published his two-volume poetry collection émoji, etc. / emoji, etc., as well as Fundy, the catalogue (co-written with Valerie LeBlanc), for the eponymous videopoetry-based installation. In 2021 he received the Lieutenant-Governor’s Award for High Achievement in French Literary Arts.

Heather Haley – poet and author – pushes boundaries by creatively integrating disciplines, genres and media. Founder of the Edgewise ElectroLit Centre, curator of the Vancouver Videopoem Festival and Visible Verse at Pacific Cinémathèque, Haley has directed numerous videopoems, with official selections at dozens of international film festivals.

Kurt Heintz was present at the creation of slam poetry in the 1980s. In the 1990s, Heintz brought Telepoetics to the web with L.A. activist Merilene Murphy and Vancouver’s Heather Haley. Heintz founded the e-poets network and has recorded and streamed hundreds of poets, many at Woman Made Gallery (Chicago). And yes, he writes, too!

Matt Mullins makes videopoems and writes poetry, fiction, and screenplays. His videopoems have been screened at festivals around the world. His writing has appeared in numerous literary journals. His collection of stories, Three Ways of the Saw, was a finalist for Foreword Magazine’s Book of the Year. Watch his videopoems at: https://vimeo.com/mattmullins

Sarah Tremlett is a prize-winning poetry film-maker, poet and theorist www.sarahtremlett.com and a director of Liberated Words www.liberatedwords.com. A curator and judge at festivals, her publication The Poetics of Poetry Film has been termed ‘‘A ground-breaking, industry Bible, https://www.intellectbooks.com/the-poetics-of-poetry-film. She will be reading from Tree her family history poetry film project.

Tom Konyves is a writer, poet and videopoetry theorist. Having coined the term videopoetry in 1978, Tom is one of the original pioneers of the form. In 2011, he published a Manifesto, a “definitive guide” which has garnered 20,000+ views from 67 countries. He is the author of six books of poetry and a surrealist novella.

Valerie LeBlanc is a Canadian interdisciplinary artist and writer who has exhibited nationally and internationally. Her subjects include: the human condition, the economy and the environment. Her works travel between videopoetry, fiction, performance, visual and written theory. In 2020, she published her poetry collection Perspectives; followed by Fundy, co-written with Daniel H. Dugas, 2022.