January 14, 1999-Vol30n16: Wednesdays at 4 Plus to open Jan. 27

VOLUME 30, NUMBER 16

THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 1999

Wednesdays at 4 Plus to open Jan. 27

By MARA McGINNIS
News Services Editor

Wednesdays at 4 PLUS," the biannual literary series sponsored by the Poetics Program in the Department of English, this spring will feature several faculty members of the Poetics Program and successful students and recent graduates with established literary careers.

The series will open Jan. 27 with a visit from award-winning fiction writer and MacArthur fellow Joanna Scott and poet and critic James Longenbach, both professors in the University at Rochester English Department.

Other series highlights will include a poetry reading/hypertext performance on March 31 by Loss Pequeño Glazier, director of the UB Electronic Poetry Center, and Jim Rosenberg, a prominent hypertextual/web poet and theorist from Pittsburgh.

On April 9-10, extensive collaborative events featuring distinguished guests in the literary and art world will accompany two weekend events: a special tribute to SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor Raymond Federman, acclaimed writer of experimental fiction who has retired after 30 years at UB, and the opening of "In Company: Robert Creeley's Collaborations" in the Castellani Art Museum at Niagara University.

Other literary figures appearing throughout the semester will include Kenneth Goldsmith, conceptual poet and installation artist; Joanne Kyger, author of 15 poetry collections and a prominent figure in San Francisco poetry circles; author Nancy Shaw, former editor of Writing; New York City poet Kevin Davies, and renowned French poet Michel Deguy, editor of Pos & Sie.

"Wednesdays at 4 Plus" is sponsored by the James H. McNulty Chair (Dennis Tedlock), the Samuel P. Capen Chair of Poetry and the Humanities (Robert Creeley) and the David Gray Chair of Poetry and Letters (Charles Bernstein), all in the Department of English; the Rare Books Collection curator (Robert Bertholf), and the Melodia E. Jones Chair in French (Raymond Federman) in the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures.

Jan. 27: Prose and Poetry Reading, Joanna Scott, James Longenbach, 4 p.m., Center for the Arts (CFA) Screening Room. Lecture by Logenbach: "Sex and the Plain Style in Contemporary American Poetry," 11 a.m., 438 Clemens. MacArthur fellow Joanna Scott's novels include "Fading," "My Parmacheene Belle," "The Closest Possible Union," "Arrogance" and "The Manikin." Longenbach's books include "Threshold" and "Modern Poetry After Modernism." Both are professors in the English Department at the University of Rochester.
Feb. 10: Poetry Reading, Anselm Berrigan, Lisa Jarnot, 4 p.m., CFA Screening Room. Jarnot and Berrigan, UB graduates, organize readings at one of New York's most important poetry centers, The Poetry Project of St. Mark's Church. Jarnot's recent book is "Some Other Kind of Mission." Berrigan authored "Integrity & Dramatic Life."
Feb. 17: Book Party, Charles Bernstein, 5:30-7:30 p.m., Talking Leaves Books, 3158 Main St., Buffalo. Book signing for "My Way: Speeches and Poems" (University of Chicago Press) and "Log Rhythms," illustrated by Susan Bee (Granary Books).
Feb. 23: Poetry and Prose Reading, Kenneth Goldsmith, 7:30 p.m., Hallwalls, 2495 Main St., Buffalo. A conceptual poet and installation artist, Goldsmith's most recent book is "No. 111 2.7.93-10.20.96." His other works include "Fidget," "Soliloquy" and "73 Poems." He will read with the Poetics Program's Mark Peters, who coordinates The Deluxe Rubber Reading Series, of which this is the first event.
Feb. 24: Poetry Reading, Joanne Kyger, Ben Friedlander, 4 p.m., CFA Screening Room. Joanne Kyger's most recent book is "Just Space: Poems 1979-1989" from Black Sparrow Press. She lives in Bolinas, Calif. Poet, scholar, editor and critic, Ben Friedlander is the author of "Selected Poems," just out from Meow Press. He is finishing his doctoral studies at UB. Co-sponsored by Just Buffalo Literary Center.
Feb. 28: Reading, Bernadette Mayer, Peter Gizzi, 2 p.m., Hallwalls, 2495 Main St., Buffalo. Mayer's books include "The Desires of Mothers to Please Others in Letters" (Hard Press) and "Proper Name and Other Stories" (New Directions). Gizzi, who recently received his doctorate from UB, is the author of "Artificial Heart" (Burning Deck) and teaches at the University of California at Santa Cruz. Sponsored by Just Buffalo Literary Center.
March 3: Poetry Reading, Eleni Sikelianos, Laird Hunt, 4 p.m., CFA Screening Room.
March 4: Talk, Eleni Sikelianos, Laird Hunt, 5 p.m., Portable Talks, 19 Hodge Ave., #9, Buffalo. Sikelianos, whose recent book is "The Book of Tendons," is a program coordinator at the St. Mark's Poetry Project and is involved in translations from the French and Greek. Hunt is the author of "Thousands and Snow Country." Sikelianos' "Portable Talk" is entitled "On the Sublime;" Hunt will discuss "Some Notes On History, Writing."
March 16: Talk and Poetry Reading, Nancy Shaw, Peter Jaeger, 8 p.m., Cornershop, 82 Lafayette Ave., Buffalo. Nancy Shaw, a member of Vancouver's Kootenay School of Writing, former editor of Writing and author of "Scoptocratic," will talk on "Cultural Poetics." Jaegar will give a reading. He is a Poetics Program Fellow for 1998-99.
March 17: Poetry Reading, Kevin Davies, Nancy Shaw, 4 p.m., CFA Screening Room. Kevin Davies, like Nancy Shaw, is associated the Kootenay School of Writing. Tsunami published his "Pause Button;" "Give" is forthcoming from Aerial/Edge.

March 19: Poetry readings, Jean Donnelly, Leslie Bumstead, 8 p.m., Cornershop, 82 Lafayette Ave., Buffalo. Donnelly is the author of "The Julia Set" (Edge Books, 1995). Bumstead's poems have been published in Central Park and The Germ.
March 25: Lecture: "Signed, Inscribed and Annotated: Dramas of Book Ownership in America, 1650-1850," Jay Fliegelman, 12:30 p.m., Baldy Kiva, Room 101. Fliegelman's books include "Prodigals and Pilgrims: The American Revolution Against Patriarchal Authority, 1750-1800" and "Declaring Independence: Jefferson, Natural Language and the Culture of Performance." He teaches at Stanford.
March 31: Poetry Reading/Hypertext Performance, Jim Rosenberg, Loss Peque–o Glazier, 4 p.m., CFA Screening Room. Rosenberg is a leading hypertexual/Web poet and theorist; his best-known work is "Intergrams" (Eastgate Systems). Glazier, director of UB's Electronic Poetry Center and Webmaster for the College of Arts and Sciences, is author of "Leaving Loss Glazier" and "Small Press: An Annotated Guide."
April 7: Poetry and Prose Reading, Michel Deguy, Raymond Federman, 4 p.m., CFA Screening Room. Acclaimed metafictioneer and SUNY Distinguished Professor Emeritus in the Department of English, Federman returns to campus as part of a celebration of his life and work. Deguy is one of France's most celebrated poets.
April 9-10: Tribute to Raymond Federman/Les ƒcrits Franais Marginaux, 120 Clemens Hall. Participants in the Federman tribute on April 9 will include GŽrard Bucher (1:30 p.m.); Federman (2 p.m.); panel with Doug Rice, Larry McCaffery, Thomas Hartl and Robert Ridel (2:30 p.m.); Judd Hubert (3:30 p.m.), and RenŽe Hubert (4 p.m.). All but Bucher will speak in English, times subject to change. Events on April 10 will be mostly in French and feature Suzanne Crosta, Christian OnikepŽ, Jonathan NgatŽ and a student roundtable.
April 9-10: In Company: Robert Creeley's Collaborations. April 9, reading, Michael Palmer and Bobbie Louise Hawkins, 8 p.m., Hallwalls, 2495 Main St., Buffalo, co-sponsored by Just Buffalo Literary Center. April 10, panel discussion on collaborations with Creeley featuring artists John Chamberlain, Jim Dine and James Surls, and poet/publisher Jonathan Williams, 2 p.m., CFA, room to be announced. April 10, opening reception, 6-8 p.m., Castellani Art Museum, Niagara University, with special guests Creeley, Chamberlain, Dine, Surls and Williams.
April 14: Lecture on "bp Nichol," Peter Jaeger, 4 p.m., CFA Screening Room. Jaeger's "ABC of Reading TRG: Steve McCaffery, bp Nichol and the Toronto Research Group" is forthcoming from Talonbooks (Vancouver).
May 2: Poetry Reading, Jerome Sala, Charles Bernstein, 2 p.m., Hallwalls, 2495 Main St., Buffalo. Jerome Sala's most recent work is "Raw Deal: New and Selected Poems" (Talisman). Bernstein teaches in the Poetics Program of the UB Department of English. Sponsored by Just Buffalo Literary Center. In conjunction with this reading, Susan Bee will exhibit her paintings on May 1 from 8-11 p.m. in Cornershop, 82 Lafayette Ave., Buffalo.