SUSAN HOWE: A CELEBRATION

Birkbeck, University of London
Saturday 21st June, 9.25am-6.30pm

Susan Howe is a unique figure in twentieth-century poetry. Her work came to prominence in the early 1990s in association with the American Language poets, but quickly set its own agenda outside these parameters. From her first career as an artist, Howe brought an intense sensitivity to the visual dimensions of the text, producing a diverse body of work that has continually probed the borders between poetry and other disciplines and media. In its unorthodox readings of the American canon, its obsessive interest in history and what the official narratives of history exclude, and, more recently, in her collaborations with the experimental musician, David Grubbs, Howe’s work is unrelenting in its capacity to surprise and stimulate us.

In this one-day symposium, we aim to recognize the impact Susan Howe’s writing has had on contemporary poetics, and to provide a focus for new critical approaches to her poetry.

The conference begins with the keynote lecture by Elizabeth Willis at 9.30am, followed by four panels of papers, and finishing with a drinks reception at 6.30pm. This event is free and open to all.

Keynote Lecture: Elizabeth Willis (Wesleyan University)

Papers by: Stephen Collis, Drew Milne, Will Montgomery, Redell Olsen, Tony Lopez, Nick Selby, Carol Watts, William Watkin, William Rowe, Catherine Martin, Jess Wilkinson, Susan Nurmi-Schomers, Anna Reckin, Mandy Bloomfield.

To see the full programme please visit the conference webpage:

http://www.bbk.ac.uk/cprc/news/newsitem1




John Tranter: edit@jacketmagazine.com