Event Report — The poet Bob Perelman read to a capacity audience of more than one hundred people in a NWS event co-sponsored by the Honors College on Wednesday afternoon, 18 October 2006. Perelman read exclusively from his new book, IFLIFE, published earlier in the month by the New York-based Roof Books. He opened his set with “Against Shock and Awe,” a poem that first appeared on the Op-Ed pages of the Philadelphia Inquirer in February 2003. He then read “The Revenge of the Bathwater” (to the audible amusement of the audience), “The Dream of the Bed,” and several other short poems, before turning to a substantial excerpt from the book’s title sequence, “Iflife.” He closed the set with another extended poem, “Tank Top.” About 35 people remained for a lively question and answer period afterwards.
Archival Record — The event was documented on digital video tape (VHS and DVD duplicates of which will be available shortly); an mp3 file of the reading is also available upon request (contact the English Department).
Earlier in the afternoon, Perelman had visited Honors 180: A Cultural Odyssey, where he read from, discussed, and entertained questions about his work. In the photo reproced below, Perelman is shown talking about a “word ladder” employed in his poem “Against Shock and Awe.”
[...] (5′39″). Recorded on October 18, 2006 in the UMaine New Writing Series. Event report here. Alternative takes: October 2003 (3′21″), January 2004 (4′45″), January [...]
Pingback by The Signature Wobble « Third Factory/Notes to Poetry — August 21, 2009 @ 10:12 am