POETRY READING – Tom Raworth Reads Old and New Work
Monday, Oct. 8, 7:30 pm, FREE
Presented in collaboration with MadHat, Inc., an Asheville-based arts non-profit dedicated to supporting innovative poetry, as well as collaborations between poets and artists in other media
The New American Poets of the 1950s and 60s, poets like Allen Ginsburg, Gary Snyder, and Charles Olson, shook up the world of poetry with a new, edgy, sometimes raucous music. Their sound found receptive ears among many writers just coming into their own, even, as it turns out, in merry old England. Their radically different approaches to poetry spoke to the generation that had spent childhood in the air raids and blackouts of World War II, a generation that sought, in an England that had surrendered its empire, to find new models for the world, and new paradigms for the work of poetry.
Tom Raworth, born in London in 1938, was one of those listening. Since leaving school at 16 he has worked, occasionally taught (including a stint at King’s College, Cambridge) and printed and published poetry by others in both magazines and books (he helped introduce the work of Charles Olson to English audiences, publishing Olson’s first English collection). He became a key figure in what came to be known as the British Poetry Revival. Along the way, he’s had more than 40 books of his own (poetry and prose) published, and been translated into many languages. He has also exhibited his graphic work worldwide; collaborated with musicians, visual artists and other writers; and has given readings in more than twenty countries (most recently China and Mexico).
Poet Lee Ann Brown will open the evening with a reading of her work.
PANEL DISCUSSION – Ideas without Walls / In-Between the Spaces
Thursday, October 11, 7:00 p.m. – FREE for BMCM+AC members & students / $7 non-members
Co-sponsored by the WCU Design Lecture Fund
A panel discussion with three internationally acclaimed design arts professionals. The participants will discuss the contemporary environment in which design experiences are palpable and culturally relevant. Visual presentations will include research and constructed projects challenging traditional boundaries and historical models in architecture, information design and graphic design.
Panelists:
Jon Jicha / Professor of Art / School of Art and Design / WCU / Cullowhee, NC
Dale Bradshaw / Technology Director / Primal Screen / Atlanta, GA
Deborah Littlejohn / Lecturer / School of Design / NCSU / Raleigh, NC
MUSIC PERFORMANCE – William Duckworth’s TIME CURVE PRELUDES
Saturday, October 13, 7:30 p.m. – FREE
The concert will take place at St. Matthias Episcopal Church, 1 Dundee St., Asheville.
Co-sponsored by the Lenoir-Rhyne Graduate Center in Asheville
Performing for this concert are three pianists, Esther Wang (Gustavus Adolphus University), Naomi Niskala (Susquehanna University), and John Cheek (Lenoir-Rhyne University).
William Duckworth was born in 1943 in Morganton, North Carolina and studied with micro-tonal composer, Ben Johnston. Written in 1979, the Time Curve Preludes have become Duckworth’s most enduring and most often-performed work. The Preludes are connected by a common motive, based on Dies Irae, explored in the language that has been described as “post minimal.” Often noted as well are the work’s connection with hammer dulcimer music, use of drones to enhance the sonority, and reflecting the composer’s interest in prime numbers and the Fibonacci series.
William Duckworth (with Nora Farrell) is the founder of Cathedral, a website which tracks the performances of his performance ensemble and enables users to log on live to any performance, even “playing along” with live performance through the virtual instruments embedded in the site. Duckworth has also written i-Orpheus, an opera employing multi-timbral electronic resources, including cell phones. His most recent work includes “sound garden” installations and a piano concerto.
