Hist Soundtrack Complete /  by James belflower

I wasn’t sure if I would ever say this, but I have completed the soundtrack for my collaborative graphic novel HIST. I’m very proud of this album because it blends the rich and uncanny textures of intimate found sounds, such as the clicking of beech nut spikes, with spoken word, extending the digital materiality of the graphic novel into the sonic realm. Working with my coauthor and vocalist, Matthew Klane, over the last two years, he and I have recorded the full album, mixed it, and the mastering was recently finished by the wonderful Sam Torres at Polymouth Music. I am in the process of shopping this album to various labels and will update as soon as I place it!

Keep an eye out for updates on future performances. For now, enjoy these offerings below.

Featured
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Hist Soundtrack Complete
HIST at House Poets in Philly | 2/24/23
HIST at House Poets in Philly | 2/24/23
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HIST Soundtrack Excerpts On ANMLY

New poetry published - Capacities To: Affect Up Against Fascism /  by James belflower

I’ve been working on two new series, Capacities To and SPLTTD. A special issue of Capacities To from Imbricate Press published quite a few of them. It’s awesome to be in such good company.

Thanks to Gregory J. Seigworth, Mathew Arthur, Wendy J. Truran, Chad Shomura for their wonderful editing skills and their timely release of this joyful collection.

HIST at House Poets in Philly | 2/24/23 /  by James belflower

HIST Soundtrack Excerpts On ANMLY /  by James belflower

Thanks to the wonderful people at ANMLY mag who have an awesome hybrid creative blog, “The Markings of Music.” The editor, Olivia Muenz, was kind enough to publish excerpts from the HIST soundtrack, “Canoe Chase on the Horican,” and “Narra-mattah,” my audio/visual collaborations with Matthew Klane. Our recordings are accompanied with an interview diving in to the process behind the book and the reasoning behind a soundtrack for it. There are so many wonderful things on the blog so check them all out!

HIST performance @ Fitz books & waffles! /  by James belflower

Matthew Klane and I performed some tracks from HIST with poets Julie Neely and Robin Lee Jordan on 2/3/23. Such a good turnout and amazing waffles! Thanks for the love Fitz and company!

Fitz Books and Waffles
Robin Lee Jordan Reads at Fitz Books and Waffles

Robin Lee Jordan

Fitz Books and Waffles
Julie Neely Reads at Fitz Books and Waffles

Julia Neely

Hist Performance at Fitz Books and Waffles

Photo Courtesy of Robin Lee Jordan

Hist Performance at Fitz Waffles and Books

Photo Courtesy of Robin Lee Jordan

“Thicket on the Prarie” Video Courtesy of Robin Lee Jordan

Hist Performance @ Endicott college /  by James belflower

The Center For Belonging was an excellent performance space.

Photos Courtesy of Michael Kilburn

Photos Courtesy of Michael Kilburn

We performed John Cage’s Musicircus with students from a course on Zen Buddhism, co-taught by Rocco Gangle, Daniel Sklar, and Michael Kilburn.

Randall Livingstone took us down to the ocean, which was across the street!

Photos Courtesy of Michael Kilburn

Photos Courtesy of Michael Kilburn

New Review in Journal of Modern Literature /  by James belflower

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Emerging Improvisations

A Review of Paul Jaussen’s Writing in Real Time | Emergent Poetics from Whitman to the Digital

My review of Paul Jaussen’s Writing in Real Time is out. Enjoy it when you get a chance!

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Writing in Real Time

Excerpt: In Writing in Real Time | Emergent Poetics from Whitman to the Digital, Paul Jaussen reconsiders the formal idiosyncrasies of the American long poem through contemporary systems theories. Jaussen claims that the immutable architectures that support long poems from Walt Whitman to Nathaniel Mackey cannot be reduced to the play of lyric intensities, nor are they productively approached through extensive genre categorization. Instead of these two methodologies, he argues that their forms interactively emerge; they unfold in real time as adaptive systems with the capacity to critique, rework, and respond to their changing material environments. To read the diversity of the American long poem through systems theoretical discourse is to reveal what Jaussen calls “interactive emergence,” the poet’s sustained creative/critical improvisation with the material dynamism of time.

New Review: Writing In Real Time /  by James belflower

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Writing in Real Time

Emergent Poetics from Whitman to the Digital. Cambridge UP, 2017. 226 pp. $105.00 hardback.

I just finished a review of Paul Jaussen’s excellent Writing in Real Time | Emergent Poetics from Whitman to the Digital for the Journal of Modern Literature. I highly recommend it! With the Covid Pandemic, I’m not sure when this will be published, but I’ll keep you posted.

Abstract

In Writing in Real Time | Emergent Poetics from Whitman to the Digital, Paul Jaussen reconsiders the formal idiosyncrasies of the American long poem through contemporary systems theories. Jaussen claims that the immutable architectures that support long poems from Walt Whitman to Nathaniel Mackey cannot be reduced to the play of lyric intensities, nor are they productively approached through extensive genre categorization. Instead of these two methodologies, he argues that their forms interactively emerge; they unfold in real time as adaptive systems with the capacity to critique, rework, and respond to their changing material environments. To read the diversity of the American long poem through systems theoretical discourse is to reveal what Jaussen calls “interactive emergence,” the poet’s sustained creative/critical improvisation with the material dynamism of time.