Susan Howe and David Grubbs are here.

Susan Howe

Dear fans of poetry, music, sound art, sound-based poetry, poetics, interactive media, sonic architecture, UbuWeb, Kenneth Goldsmith, John Cage, Laotian free-reed mouth organs and Emily Dickinson,

I’m writing to ensure your awareness that the distinquished poet Susan Howe and reknown experimental musician David Grubbs will grace the Walker stage with their collaborative efforts on Thursday. We’re lucky to have them here–busy, creative types that they are, and to have them appear together.

Perhaps you are a fan of these artists individually. Maybe your record collection includes albums by Gastr Del Sol, Squirrel Bait, Bastro, Red Krayola, or Wingdale Community Singers, in addition to the eleven solo records David Grubbs has produced.

On your bookshelf, maybe you have ear-marked copies of  the The Midnight (2003), My Emily Dickenson (1985), or Souls of the Labadie Tract (2003)  by the venerable Susan Howe or one of many anthologies that collect her poems with other esteemed writers of the contemporary word.

Or perhaps you have been following the trajectory of Howe and Grubbs’ unique language-sound collaboration. Hailing from different disciplines and generations, these remarkable makers have found a unique expression of sound and word that Artforum once described as “neither traditional recitation nor music-with-words…in Howe’s imagination, the past becomes a very current stake, [and] Grubbs’ sonic architecture is a striking accompaniment to the text.” (-Bennet Simpson)

No matter what kind of fan you are, including fans-to-be, here are some sneak peaks/enticements to whet your palette:

-Howe and Grubbs speaking on their collaboration at a seminar at Birkbeck College, University of London.

-An interivew with Howe in which she discusses her very early work as a painter, touching on many of the artists in the Walker’s collection.

-A brief abstract to a talk by Grubbs in which he explains, “I am a recording. I do not age.”

-And a real sneak preview of what you’ll hear on Thursday courtsey of WIRE magazine.

Thanks to Rain Taxi Review of Books for these links and for making it happen!