57 News Autumn 2007

The Autumn season, as from October the 1st sees the launch of new content for the iPoems & Video Jukebox system

57 proudly announces the Poetry Video Jukebox release of 5 x new films, inc.:

Iain Sinclair: Continuous Sky
Clare Pollard: Thinking of England
Imtiaz Dharker: these are the times we live in
Billy Childish: Chatham Town Welcomes Desperate Men
Paul Farley: Liverpool Disappears for a Billionth of a Second

& we will be installing rare film-footage of the great late Scottish poet & folklorist - Hamish Henderson - & the great late St Vincentian poet & jazz musician - Shake Keane – along with other surprises

iPoems premiers a wealth of brand-new audio selections from – the aforesaid – Iain Sinclair, Clare Pollard, Paul Farley & Billy Childish – all recorded this Summer - & work from sessions with Shamshad Khan, Paul Lyalls, Mark Gwynne Jones & Jacob Sam-La Rose - spreading the word through performance – plus recordings from special sessions with
Lorna Goodison, John Hartley Williams, Jane Draycott, Cecil Rajendra & Patience Agbabi – with more t.b.a.

57 has recently announced the electronic release of a rare recording by the late great Mikey Smith - Say Natty Natty/Golliath - on the Poetry Jukebox – STILL FREE - accompanied by a newly commissioned article on Mikey by Mervyn Morris – also freely available. As from October the 1st - the Poetry Jukebox also boasts content from a whole host of new writers & performers – check it out!

To come – we have new Articles from Nigel McLoughlin on poetry, new-media & higher education; Janet Smith on poetry & performance in a post-colonial context; word from Peter Howard on poetry as hypertext; plus a new interview with Patience Agbabi – with more t.b.a.

57 will soon announce newly commissioned work with the poet & flash-animator Peter Howard - inc. unique collaborations with Lemn Sissay, Jean ‘Binta’ Breeze & Iain Sinclair - further exploring this extraordinary hybrid art-form

Access to the iPoems & Video Jukebox systems is either through direct download - @ 50p per audio-file or @ £1.50 per film-file – or streaming through subscription @ £15 per annum – that’s streaming access to a multi-media catalogue of over 70 hours of content - with the first month FREE for trial. Institutional rates are available on enquiry


Events & other Highlights for 2007

57 is party to a huge programme of events in Autumn 2007 – highlights of which include:

Linton Kwesi Johnson - who takes on an extensive tour of the UK to mark the publication of the Selected Works from Penguin – taking in Ilkley, Oldham, Bedales, Durham, Manchester, London, Hull, Whitby, Glasgow, Sheffield, Liverpool, Bridgewater, Whitstable, Hastings, Colchester, Lancaster, plus … with more details published on the 57 Forum

Jean ‘Binta’ Breeze – who continues to deliver remarkable work – including for the recent Abolition of Slavery memorial event at the British Museum & a commission for the Royal Opera House based on Hogarth’s ‘A Rakes’ Progress’, as well as promoting her new collection – The Fifth Figure (Bloodaxe). She will be touring the UK & internationally throughout Autumn 2007

Adrian Mitchell is working on new theatre productions, plus promoting his recent collections from Bloodaxe - The Shadow Knows - & from Orchard - Daft as a Doughnut (for kids) - as well as his recordings with 57 - The Dogfather. Also in 2007 Adrian is working on his newly commissioned autobiography & new audio recordings with 57 for young people

Patience Agbabi is engaged in an extensive performance & educational programme & will be airing new works from her forthcoming collection - Bloodshot Monochrome (Cannongate) & Courttia Newland will be touring the UK & internationally promoting his recent collection of short stories from Peepal Tree - Music for the Off-Key … with much more t.b.a.

Please check out the new iPoems MySpace site: http://www.myspace.com/ipoems

New additions to the 57 CD Catalogue will include:

Billy Childish: Poems of a Backwater Visionary (57 Productions)
Jayne Cortez: Find Your Own Voice (Bola Press)
Lawrence Ferlinghetti: The Berlin Tapes (City Lights)

More to follow ...

Paul Beasley For 57 Productions

STOP PRESS: 57 special screenings will be taking place throughout Autumn, details t.b.a. shortly

OTHER available articles

Adrian Mitchell's Farewell
Adrian Mitchell - 'the shadow poet laureate' passed away on the 20th of December 2008. Here is his farewell poem

New Media and the Teaching of Poetry in Higher Education
Nigel McLoughlin of the University of Gloucestershire shares insights as to how new media is beginning to inform poetic teaching practices in Higher Education in this newly commissioned article for 57

Digital Poetry Goes Live!
Here's a copy of a new article as first published by the National Association of Writers in Education (Writing in Education, Issue 41) - by Paul Beasley of 57

57 News Autumn 2007
In Autumn 2007 57 announces a wealth of new content for the iPoems & Video Jukebox systems - & is engaged in an extensive promotional programme - inc. events, workshops & talks - here are the details

Mikey Smith by Mervyn Morris
Here's a fine new article on the great late Jamaican dub-poet Mikey Smith from Mervyn Morris - especially commissioned by 57 - & coinciding with the re-release of a rare recording of Mikey's poem 'Say Natty Natty/Goliath' on the Poetry Jukebox - STILL FREE!

Recent Press
Here's a selection of links to recent press - with thanks to The Guardian's Culture Vulture, Open Magazine, plus ...

Performance Poetry and Theory
Performance Poetry and Academic Theory in the Trenches: Suggestions for a necessary Dialogue by Cornelia Gräbner

THE POET IN THE COMMUNITY: A LITTLE ADVENTURE
The popular poet & broadcaster Ian McMillan writes about his experiences of working with the public at large & small in a specially commissioned article for 57

57 launches iPoems & the Video Jukebox
57 is pleased to announce the launch of www.ipoems.org.uk & www.poetryvideojukebox.com - in October 2006 - here's the announcement

The Bowery Program in Applied Poetics
Here's an announcement of A Certificate Program in Applied Poetics at the Bowery Poetry Club, New York Summer 2006 Session: August 13-August 27, 2006

Ivor Cutler, John La Rose & Linda Smith: The Guardian Obituaries
2006 witnessed the loss of Ivor Cutler, John La Rose & Linda Smith - inspirational figures - memories of whom are cherished & whose work & influence lives on. Here we offer links to The Guardian Obituaries by Mark Espiner, Linton Kwesi Johnson & Jeremy Hardy respectively

The Bitten Tongue
The Censoring of a Poem: 'Isaiah' by Jean 'Binta' Breeze

Hovis has left the building
Another sad link - Hovis Presley, poet & comedian, a premature obituary - from Toby Hadoke for The Independent (sorry, it seems you would have to buy this now - it is a touching item)

Kamau Brathwaite: My Emmerton 2005
Here is a copy of an open letter received from one of the Caribbean's most distinguished sons - concerning the plight of & fight for his physical & spiritual home - CowPastor, Barbados

A Hot Weekend: Performance Poetry Conference
In the Summer of 2003 a special conference was inaugurated at Bath Spa University - on the subject of 'Performance Poetry'. Here, the curator - writer & performer Lucy English, gives a personal account of what was involved & its outcomes

Michael Donaghy The Guardian Obituary
A fine appreciation of the work & life of Michael by Sean O'Brien

Courttia Newland Interview
Young black British purveyor of 'urban realism', Courttia discusses his work to date & that in progress

Sound Poetry
Leading experimental poet, Peter Finch, traces the emergence & development of 'Sound-Poetry' within British & European contexts - providing a special focus on Bob Cobbing - & hyperlinks - to explore this avant gardist phenomena - in a specially commissioned article for 57

Liz Lochhead Independent Interview
Liz discusses her recent collection of poetry - The Colour of Black & White (Polygon) - & her adaptation of The Thebans

Linton Kwesi Johnson New Humanist Interview
Linton battles interview fatique to deliver a frank & revealing account of his personal development - through politics, poetry & music

A Conversation with Jean “Binta” Breeze
Dub and Difference: the transcript of a recent interview conducted with Jean by Jenny Sharpe for Callaloo journal (USA)