Charles Olson R.B. Kitaj was one of the most significant painters of the post-war period. His collage-like figurative paintings were a major influence on the British Pop Art scene. Lucky for us much of his work also has literary underpinnings. Educated in the U.S. Kitaj spent most of his adult life in London. He returned to the US in 1967 to teach at the University of California Berkeley and then the University of California Los Angeles before returning to London in 1972. It was during his stint on the West Coast that Kitaj undertook, First Series - Some Poets, a series of portraits of mostly West Coast poets completed...
Profile of Phinney Books: An Indie Bookseller in Amazon Territory
When Leigh Burmesch moved to Seattle a few months ago she wanted to know if Seattle’s bookstores really do embrace the gorilla in their backyard, Amazon. What a better place to start then a visit to Phinney Books and chat with Tom Nissley, a former Amazon employee and “Jeopardy!” champ , about his opening and running a new bookstore in the Age of Amazon. [vimeo width="640" height="300"]http://vimeo.com/115480898[/vimeo] More at Flip the Media
And a happy new year…Holiday Cards by Poets
Postcard by Alice Notley. Photograph: Courtesy of Raymond Danowski Poetry Library, MARBL, Emory University As the 2104 holiday season wraps up let's finish the year with a look at how some of our most beloved poets shared the holiday love. Winter Wedding: Holiday Cards by Poets currently on view at Poet's House features over 40 works by poets who included creative correspondence as a component of their offerings. "Holiday cards, valentines, birthday greetings, rare booklets, and more from some of the last century’s most beloved poets, including Langston Hughes, Alice Notley, Ted Berrigan, Seamus Heaney, and Sylvia Plath. Ranging...
Straight from the baby’s mouth
From the time when her son was 11 months old until he turned 18 months Lenka Clayton extracted 64 objects from his mouth. 63 of them are represented in this brilliant visual catalog, 63 Objects Taken from My Son's Mouth. The one item not included is a sachet of rat poison that her son put in his mouth at 11 months. That object was flushed down the toilet while mom was in a panic. Details: 63 Objects Taken from My Son's Mouth, 2014. Designed by MASS MoCA's Director of Design; Brett Yasko, with color photographs by Tom Little. Letterpress cover...
Seattle: The Book Buying Capital of America
The results are in and Seattle takes the cake when it comes to buying books. For her New York Time Opinion Piece, What People Buy and Where, Elizabeth Currid-Halkett utilized the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Expenditure Survey to track differences among cities in household spending in various categories from 2007 to 2012. In the book category Seattle ran away from the field by spending a whopping 68% more than the national average on books! Full disclosure: I live here and I buy a lot of books :-)