Mayakovsky, Printing Bernstein, Avant-Teaching, & Poetry Hate

Masha & I went to MOMA to see/hear readings of Mayakovsky. The best readings were delivered by  Ethan Hawke & Clement Joseph. They both aspired toward Vladimir's BOOMING Vox Populi. 

He was a romantic poet politico, a loving fighter. He was not an anti-war poet. Sometimes liberal, sometimes libertine, but also responsible, situating his poems beneath the weight of the revolution (sometimes crushed by it). I don't know any revolutionary poets today. I don't know any revolutionaries today. There won't be any revolt today. Go home. 

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I'm designing a complicated broadside for a new Charles Bernstein poem. I've employed five collaborators: poets who've aggressively annotated the poem &/or its parts. The broadside will be largely comprised of these annotations, surrounding the poem. 

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I'll be teaching (Print)making the Avant-Garde at The Center for Book Arts in just a few weeks. (Though it is in danger of cancellation if there aren't enough students in the class). This weekend course is a modified & extended version of the workshop(s) I taught as a Fellow at Mills College. 

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In somewhat local news, Stan Apps links to a piece of "poetry hateration" from the Brooklyn Rail, followed by his own remarks. I'll spin it for you thus: the article basically suggests that the old avant-garde IS the only avant-garde, & everyone else is wasting everyone's time. 

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