55 years ago, on this exact date of November 22, a reading by bpNichol and Lionel Kearns took place at Concordia (what was then Sir George Williams University). That reading was recorded and that recording is now part of SpokenWeb’s SGW Poetry Series Collection. On November 22, this recording will be played as a Ghost Reading.
Listening Practice, Presentations | 1968, bpNichol, Ghost Reading, Katherine McLeod, Lionel Kearns, November 22, Sir George Williams Poetry Reading Series
When listening to one recording from the SGW Poetry Series (1966-1974), it can be hard to hear its place amid the reading series as a whole. One can visualize its place on a list or on a calendar but it can be harder to sonically hear the seriality itself, except when someone on the recording, most often the host, refers to the previous or following reading. For this Audio of the Week, as we near the end of 2019, I have selected two clips from December readings in which there are announcements for the next readings in January.
Audio of the week, ShortCuts, SPOKENWEBLOG | 1967, 1968, Katherine McLeod, SGW Reading Series
After reading for about eleven minutes, Earle Birney pauses to ask if there is any water to drink. There is a glass and a pitcher (audibly present) but nearly empty, and thus the evening’s host George Bowering heads out into the hallway to find Birney a cold beverage. This interlude of extra-poetic speech reveals that, despite it being mid-February, the room temperature feels more like summer and, more importantly, the humourous nature of the extra-poetic speech attunes the listener to the sociality as well as to the poetry.
Audio of the week, ShortCuts, SPOKENWEBLOG | 1968, Earl Birney, Katherine McLeod, SGW Reading Series