Poetry And/Or Revolution Conference to Be Held Oct. 3-5 in the Bay Area

Oh, to be in the Bay Area this October. Announcing the "Poetry And/Or Revolution" conference, taking place Oct. 3-5, 2013. This year's event is an extension of sorts of this May's “Militant Poetics” conference in the UK, which was in itself a follow-up event to last May's London "Poetry and Revolution" conference. That one featured readings and talks from Mark Nowak, Maggie O’Sullivan, Marianne Morris, Keston Sutherland, Joan Retallack, Harry Gilonis, Sean Bonney, and more. More info on the new stateside event:

“Poetry and/or Revolution” is a response, an attempt to continue the dialogue. It gathers thirteen poets: half East Bay (+1), half UK. It meets in three locations: Santa Cruz, Davis, and Oakland. Each day will have talks. Each evening will have readings which will then transition into late night discussions, we hope. There might be some dancing.

But putting the revolutionary potential of socializing aside, “Poetry and/or Revolution”, like “Militant Poetics,” has been inspired by the long relationship between poetry and political antagonism, a relationship that has come under formation again in the last year. We might be unsure of this relationship. Or we might be convinced we know what it is. Either way, we might as well talk about it some more and do it transnationally.

[. . .]

Jasper Bernes, Sean Bonney, David Buuck, Chris Chen, Joshua Clover, Jennifer Cooke, Danny Hayward, Francesca Lisette, Marianne Morris, Jill Richards, Juliana Spahr, Keston Sutherland, Wendy Trevino

More details as they surface. For now, check out other good resources along these lines (certainly there are more): The Bay Area Public School, Sean Bonney's Abandoned Buildings, Compline, Damn the Caesars' Crisis Inquiry, the Contemporary Poetics Research Centre at University of London's Birkbeck College, a recent interview with Keston Sutherland, Marianne Morris's Iran Documents interview with David Brazil, the recent Sutherland/Joshua Clover exchange for The Claudius App 5, and Jennifer Cooke reading at Manchester's Other Room series as well as Cooke's "Statement of Contradictions," her piece from last year's conference.