New Writing Series Winter 2012

Don Mee Choi, Wednesday, January 25, 2012, 4:30-6:00 p.m. at the Visual Arts Facility: Performance Space
	Don Mee Choi grew up in Seoul and Hong Kong, then came to the U.S. to study art. Her first book of poems is The Morning News is Exciting (Action Books, 2010). She has recently received a Whiting Writer's Award. Her newly published translation is South Korean poet Kim Hyesoon's All the Garbage of the World, Unite! (Action Books, 2011). She also has a chapbook of translations forthcoming from Tinfish Retro Series. Her previous translations include Mommy Must Be a Fountain of Feathers (Action Books, 2008), Anxiety of Words (Zephyr, 2006), and When the Plug Gets Unplugged (Tinfish, 2005). She holds a BFA and MFA from California Institute of the Arts and a PhD in Modern Korean Literature and Translation from Union Institute & University. She is a recipient of a Daesan Translation Grant, Korea Literature Translation Institute Translation Grant, and has served as poet-in-residence at the Henry Art Gallery. She lives and works in Seattle. Podcast of Event

Claudia Rankine, Wednesday, February 8, 2012, 4:30-6:00 p.m. at the Visual Arts Facility: Performance Space
	Rankine co-edited the anthology American Women Poets in the 21st Century: Where Lyric Meets Language, and her work is included in several anthologies, including Great American Prose Poems: From Poe to the Present, Best American Poetry 2001, Giant Step: African American Writing at the Crossroads of the Century, and The Garden Thrives: Twentieth Century African-American Poetry. Her work has been published in numerous journals including Boston Review, TriQuarterly, and The Poetry Project Newsletter. She lives and teaches in California. Podcast of Event

Renee Gladman, Wednesday, February 15, 2012, 4:30-6:00 p.m. at the Visual Arts Facility: Performance Space
	Renee Gladman was born in Atlanta in 1971. She received a B.A. in philosophy from Vassar College, and a Master’s degree in poetics from New College of California. She is the author of four works of prose, most recently Event Factory and To After That (TOAF), and one collection of poetry, A Picture-Feeling. Since 2005, she has operated Leon Works, an independent press for experimental prose and other thought-projects based in the sentence, making occasional forays into poetry. She teaches in the Literary Arts Program at Brown University, and lives in Massachusetts. Podcast of Event

Jaap Blonk, Monday, February 27, 2012, 4:30-6:00 p.m. at the Visual Arts Facility: Performance Space
	Jaap Blonk (born 1953 in Woerden, Holland) is a self-taught composer, performer, and poet. He discovered his potential as a vocal performer, at first in reciting poetry and later on in improvisations and his own compositions. For almost two decades the voice was his main means for the discovery and development of new sounds. Working with electronics, at first using samples of his own voice, Blonk extended the field to include pure sound synthesis as well. A renewed interest in mathematics spurred research of the possibilities of algorithmic composition for the creation of music, visual animation and poetry. As a vocalist, Jaap Blonk is unique for his powerful stage presence and almost childlike freedom in improvisation, combined with a keen grasp of structure. He performed in many European countries, as well as in the U.S. and Canada, Indonesia, Japan, South Africa and Latin America. With the use of live electronics the scope and range of his concerts has acquired a considerable extension. Besides working as a soloist, he collaborated with many musicians and ensembles in the field of contemporary and improvised music, like Maja Ratkje, Mats Gustafsson, Nicolas Collins, Joan La Barbara, The Ex, the Netherlands Wind Ensemble and the Ebony Band. He premiered several compositions by the German composer Carola Bauckholt, including a piece for voice and orchestra. A solo voice piece was commissioned by the Donaueschinger Musiktage 2002. On several occasions he collaborated with visual computer artist Golan Levin. Blonk's work for radio and television includes several commissioned radio plays. He also makes larger-scale drawings of his scores, which are being exhibited. He was the founder and leader of the long-standing bands Splinks (modern jazz, 1983-1999) and BRAAXTAAL (avant-rock, 1987-2005). He also has his own record label, Kontrans, featuring a total of 15 releases so far. Other Blonk recordings appeared on Staalplaat, Basta and VICTO. Podcast of Event

[More]