Hearing/Here-ing

Two wonderful events I will be attending this week, that you should attend too:

On Thursday, in Oxford:
Back Room Poets present a poetry reading, featuring Brian Catling, Peter Robinson, & Vahni Capildeo. With members of Oxford Improvisers, support by Elizabeth Birchall and Josephine von Zitzewitz.
When: 14 May 2009; Doors open 7 pm, start at 7:30
Where: St. Mary Magdalen Church (opposite Borders), Central Oxford
Tickets: £6 (-£4)
See below for more detailed information about this reading and the fantastic poets.


On Friday, in Paris:
Shakespeare and Company presents Cecilia Woloch's Paris Poetry Workshop. A tradition for many local and visiting poets, this May workshop is now in its eighth year. It introduces English speaking poets from various corners of the map to one other and to local audiences and writers. My friend Jennifer Huxta will be reading.
When: 15 May 2009; 7 pm
Where: Shakespeare and Co. bookstore, 37 rue de la Bûcherie 75005 Paris

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About the series and the poets:

BACK ROOM POETS has provided a valuable forum for Oxford-based poets to perform and 
discuss their work for many years, and continues to present live poetry to a wider 
audience, most recently at the Oxfringe Festival and at Art Jericho, Liz Birchall 
has been a member since the foundation of the group. Her collection *The Forest that 
Sailed Away* pays homage to Wychwood Forest, and she is now working on a cycle about 
bees. Josephine von Zitzewitz has been a member since 2004 and is currently working 
on a D.Phil on Russian Literature of the 1970s at St John's College.

PETER ROBINSON has published nine books of his own poetry, the latest of which is 
*The Look of Goodbye: Poems 2001 - 2006* (Shearsman Books, 2008) as well as a 
collection of aphorisms and translations from Italian and Japanese. He has also 
engaged with a poetry as a critic and editor. His own poetry has been described 
as exhibiting 'the urgencies of new creations' (Roy Fisher) and as 'some of the 
most courageous poetry written in Englsh' (Adam Piette). His most recent work has 
been praised for its  'intense but nuanced detail ' , the subtlety of its syntax,  
and its  ' unconventional rhythmic virtuosity '  (Jacket Magazine). Having held 
a variety of academic posts in the UK and Japan, he currently teaches at the 
University of Reading.

BRIAN CATLING 'has been exhibiting and publishing internationally  since the 1970s, haunting
zones mostly unregulated by   institutions or the art market' (frieze). He says of himself: 'I  am obsessively
 engaged in the collision of separate activities that sometimes fuse together in a hybrid event -- they being the  
writing of poetry, the constructing of sculptural installation and the action of performance.' He has published
eight books of  poetry and a collection of his poetry, *A Court of Miracles*, is  due soon from Etruscan Press.
He is a Professor at the Ruskin  School of Drawing and Fine Art, and a Fellow of Linacre College.

VAHNI CAPILDEO is  'one of the most exciting and ambitious young  Caribbean writers at work today '  (Antilles).
Her debut  collection of poems, *No Traveller Returns* (2003), was praised  for its elegance and originality.
 It was followed by *Person  Animal Figure* (2005), a series of dramatic monologues. Her third  book,
*The Undraining Sea*, will be published in 2009. She  currently lives in Oxford, where she previously completed a  
D.Phil on Old Norse, in 2000. She will be reprising a successful  collaboration with members of the well-known
Oxford Improvisers at this year's Oxfringe Festival.