Published in TALISMAN 13 WORLD "REPORT" Conceptually focused and stylistically variant, the _Out Of This World_ anthology, edited by Anne Waldman (New York: Crown Publishers, 1991), assembles a banquet of printed energy spanning twenty-five years of evolving literary activity in lower Manhattan. The writing in this collection, "selected primarily from issues of The World," a "mimeographed magazine" produced by The Poetry Project since 1966, partakes of the unstatic wealth and poverty of the New York City streets. From the city's late- century scenes, accents and attitudes spring cosmi-cosmo secretive and subterranean mazes publicly reaching outward American. A "New York School", its roots in the voice and conversation of a loud city, continues and blasts-off towards the future ("hello"). We freeze a moment with it here. _Out Of This World_ was an extremely useful and progenitive text in a Reading Poetry course I designed at the University at Albany. The majority of the students enrolled in the course were born and/or raised in the NYC / Long Island area. For them, _Out of This World_ is full of familiar reference points, recollectible local geography and iconography given fresh perspective in poetry. There is a decent argument to be made for the anthology's concoction of a poetics "of place", if a fragmented and chaotic place. Subtitled _The Poetry Project at the St. Mark's Church-in-the-Bowery An Anthology 1966-1991_, this book can lead those new to its environs, one way or another, to an actual place, with history and life, where they may "...enter a very sophisticated atmosphere and get an education they wouldn't get in grammar schools or even colleges..." (Waldman xxvi) Used in the classroom in combination with other out-of-this-worldly stimulation, a mixture of semi-cartographically related milieu (musics, videos, and other texts), _Out of This World_ encouraged these students to read poetry as something immediate to their lives, seeing images visually, viscerally, hearing sounds closely. Among the additional "texts" in this course were: music by John Coltrane ("Out Of This World") and the Ketjak Ramayana Monkey Chant; video work by Harry Smith (_Early Abstractions_), Fritz Lang (_Metropolis_), _Poetry In Motion_, Will Alexander ("Utopian Stellar Concentrations"); and, in print, Ed Sanders ("Creativity and the Fully Developed Bard") and Nathaniel Mackey (_School of Udhra_). Our class' collective work during the term was to construct a conversation in cyberspace, beginning with _Out of This World_: to take and build upon the "discussion" from the classroom (cell) in a common electronic space on our local Internet node. The interchange takes place on our campus VAX Notes, a computer-mediated conferencing system which provides a permanent textual record of the discussion structured around a series of topics and replies. Any student at the University can access these by Notes by logging-in through linked computers. In what is a lengthy transcript, several distinct conversations emerge. Exchanges analyzing typography in the poetry of Michael McClure and John Giorno, explorations of the breath contours of Jack Anderson's "Modern Breathing", and attempts to define the unfamiliar concepts in School of Udhra transpire. Plenty of requisite elementary jabber along the lines of, "What is poetry?", "What does technology mean?" occurs, alongside youthful speculation on death and culture and poetry as it accumulates. The technology enacted here extends what one might expect to find amidst undergraduate discourse into a digitized, easily archived and locally accessible textual space. In addition to what takes place in the classroom, Notes allows the student to initiate topics of and to structure conversations around their interests and questions. The VAX space is also free from the potential side effects or censorships or adoring or angry glances from classmates. Our electronic discussion helped to transcend the awkwardness and inhibitions which can arise when a large diverse group of people are engaged in a complex discussion. <<< SPOOL_DISK:[NOTES$LIBRARY]ENGLISH.NOTE;1 >>> -< English conference >- ================================================================================ Note 32.0 R e a d i n g P o e t r y / Funkhouser Fall '93 250 replies ALBANY::CF2785 "Chris Funkhouser" 8 lines 7-OCT-1993 16:14 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This section of Notes is for students in C Funkhouser's ENG124 Reading Poetry course. Currently we are _Out of this World_, w/an anthology of writing emanating from the Poetry Project at St. Mark's Church in NYC, edited by Anne Waldman. ================================================================================ Most of the conversation in electronic space during the first month of our computer conference centered around Michael McClure, John Giorno, and Jack Anderson, whose work we read in _Out Of This World_ (and, in the cases of McClure and Giorno, saw performed on _Poetry In Motion_ as well). Most students had not been exposed to such writing, or presentation of writing, and were impressed and intrigued by poetry's "uniqueness" and "creativity". Students became extremely sensitive to W.C. Williams' definition of poetry, reading it as "...language charged with emotion," which Waldman brings in to her Introduction to the anthology. After two months of familiarizing ourselves to the project of reading poetry (it is an introductory-level course), and finding ways to talk about it (often the most difficult proposition), we shifted our attention from _Out Of This World_ for a week or so, to take a close look at Nathaniel Mackey's latest volume of poetry. ================================================================================ Note 32.112 R e a d i n g P o e t r y / Funkhouser Fall '93 112 of 250 ALBANY::CF2785 "Chris Funkhouser" 20 lines 15-NOV-1993 17:45 -< to the Angel of Dust >- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nathaniel Mackey's reading in Woodstock is on friday November 19th at the Woodstock Guild. 34 Tinker St., 8 pm. $5 "I've used the expression 'technical-ecstatic' many times, but not until recently, it seems, did I know how apt and applicable it could be. Yes, 'ecstatic' in the root sense of standing outside one-self, an exacting leverage applied and approached via 'technical' means--means fed by exactly such standing. Which comes first is a pointless question, to which the devil is a likewise pointless though tempting to answer. What gets me is the sense of quintessential repose out of which these issues, a paradisiacal aplomb which borders on boredom. The rub is that the self which might have enjoyed it isn't there, which can be said to be where hell comes in. Cold hell" Nathaniel Mackey, _Djbot Baghostus's Run_ ================================================================================ _School of Udhra_, to say the least, perplexed students and raised many questions. Nevertheless, it did actually serve a purpose as a type of school, where recordings of Mackey reading from the book formed an important link between the "teacher" and "students". Students were able to follow the poetry sounding aloud by the author, connect meaning, feeling and knowing in the cadence of Mackey's discordant and melodic verbal dance. Ultimately, students were -- to some extent -- confronted by questions stemming from the cultural tunnel-vision we all experience. Challenged by the sophistication of Mackey's writing, which raises divergent issues and speaks in different voices than those represented in the Waldman anthology, students spun their difficulties and frustrations into discovery and knowledge upon returning to _Out Of This World_. None were resistant to conversing, and studying the "self" and issues of "place", inquisitively, via computer. ================================================================================ Note 32.146 R e a d i n g P o e t r y / Funkhouser Fall '93 146 of 250 ALBANY::KM0733 "Karen Macklin" 20 lines 3-DEC-1993 14:26 -< This makes six. >- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I would like to comment on the music that heard in class today. I was entranced by it - wasn't even concentrating on it after a while because It was really mellow and I started focusing in on a million other thoughts. It reminded me a lot of rain and I forgot I was inside a classroom. I have to agree that _Out Of This World_ doesn't really take you "out of this world", but it certainly made me think a lot about what is inside this world and how different people see society and life. _School Of Udhra_, however, goes a little more in the direction of exploring a "world" other than our own. If I read Mackey's poems enough, I start to feel like I'm somewhere else - like somewhere smokey and mystical. But maybe it's just me. K.M. ================================================================================ Note 32.151 R e a d i n g P o e t r y / Funkhouser Fall '93 151 of 250 ALBANY::LK5515 "Lawrence Kirschner" 25 lines 6-DEC-1993 11:48 -< to boldly go...>- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HELLO AGAIN BOYS AND GIRLS... I would like to respond to the increasingly popular claim that _Out of This World_ really didn't take us anywhere. ON THE CONTRARY. The anthology of poetry written about things many of us deal with every day allows us to look at these things from an almost unconnected outside point of view. Whether it be a critical look (Ginsberg, Kupferberg) or or a romantic look (Perreault), or any other perspective, we were able to step outside of our own world and look objectively. The anthology doesn't take us to far off places in our imagination. It goes one better by taking us to a more difficult place to get to, not millions of miles from our current place, but JUST OUTSIDE of it. This also relates to the poem Rob mentioned, "COUSIN" (p587). This a freaky poem/story. I really liked it actually. But with regard to where these poems do or don't take us, I think it's safe to say this poem goes to a 'place' or scenario none of us have been before. And if any of you have had an experience like this one, stay the heck away from me please. But you get my point, right? Thanx for listening, take it easy, and absolutely never eat anything blue! (even blueberries are purple!!!) *** LARRY *** ================================================================================ Note 32.155 R e a d i n g P o e t r y / Funkhouser Fall '93 155 of 250 ALBANY::KC1445 "Kevin Carroll" 15 lines 7-DEC-1993 13:57 -< Going Out Of This World >- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- With reference to whether or not _Out Of This World_ takes you anywhere, I would have to say yes. When reflecting on my upbringing, I have been brought up in a conservative world with a Marine as my primary caretaker (my father). So when I read these poems and hear them being interpreted by others in class I am having doors opened to other worlds that I have never seen or may have never wanted to see. I even went so far as to look into reading some of the "underground" papers Chris talked about in the beginning of the semester so to maybe get a better understanding of what others think and believe that is going on in the world today. I am not saying that I have changed my views totally, not by a long shot, but I am seeing many thing in a new light while also rethinking some to the differences that I see. Kevin ================================================================================ The on-line discussion itself opened up, became more involved, energized and analytical during our discussion(s) subsequent to "readings" of Mackey. Following our brief departure from _Out Of This World_, students began to change their modes of analysis, and their expectations and perceptions of where the poetry was taking them. Questions about the cultural assumptions of constructing a "world", and what being inside or "out"-side of that world might mean came to the foreground of the discussion. In addition to questioning clear-cut definitions of "inside" and "outside", several students shared remarks which indicate a raising of their consciousness by virtue of having been exposed to the poetry. Comparing the three chronologically ordered sections of _Out Of This World_ ("Precursors The Fifties and Sixties", "Beginning the Project 1966- 1976", "Continuing the Project The Next Generations: 1976-1991"), while simultaneously creating a one-of-a-kind date-line of U.S. History drawn on a chalkboard over two meetings, students were compelled (on-line and in essays) to forge connections between the poetry they were reading and recent world history. Near semester's end, a number of students made the observation that the first two sections of poetry were more direct and hard-hitting, and that the later poetry presents a less weighty political activism. ================================================================================ Note 32.153 R e a d i n g P o e t r y / Funkhouser Fall '93 153 of 250 ALBANY::DK3363 "David Kruk" 26 lines 7-DEC-1993 02:35 -< Colorado's R e A l I t Y >- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- During our in-class oral presentations quite a few groups were comparing the different sections of _OOTW_ with each other. During this I came on something of a revelation: that the third section is necessary to the book because it relieves the reader from the rest of its harsh bitter reality. Sections I & II rarely pussyfoot around. It's selections include hard-hitting works like Ginsberg's, "The Little Fish Devours the Big Fish", Giorno's, "She Wanted", and Edward Sanders', "Yiddish-Speaking Socialists of the Lower East Side". The chosen selections in these first two parts of the book are almost without fail political, social, and radical. Often the authors, in expressing their viewpoints, are nothing short of obnoxious. The themes expressed are in many cases brought around in a, "GET IN THE READER'S FACE" style. Part II lightens up this tone. It's an almost immediate change, and while the writers still express political ideas, the way it's done is smoother. Examples of this less brash style of expressing political view can be found in Lorna Smedman's, "Collage", Ann Lauterbach's, "Here This That There", and even, "It's Miller Time" by Victor Cruz. More importantly, the poetry gets away from politics more frequently than in the first two sections, and becomes, if it may be said so, more 'frivolous'. "Poem to Marilyn Monroe's Hair", and "Dear Boy George", are a few examples. But Section III, while perhaps lighter or more easy-going than the previous sections, is necessary to the text. To sum it up, it breaks away from the earlier bitterness. ================================================================================ Early in the semester, Ed Sanders' pedagogically expansive essay on poetics, "Creativity and the Fully Developed Bard" ("The Multi-Decade Research Project/and its Implications for Writing & Poetry"), helped to make students realize they were only in the formative stages of their relationship with poetry. Most of the students began by interpreting much of what was happening in their lives as one form of poetry or another, and were not intimidated by the Vax Notes conversation. Over the final month of the semester, Notes became an integral part of our course. Students, seeing how the topics which came up on the Notes discussion began to heavily influence the classroom discussion, put forth their most pressing concerns and observations in our electronic forum. For instance, one student's Note of bewilderment upon reading Peter Schejdahl's L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E-esque poem in _Out Of This World_, "Homage to the Square", led to an impromptu in-class discussion on the finer points and subtle ideologies operating behind that particular "school" of poetry. _Out Of This World_, with the range of material it presents, is a marvellous text through which students may enter an eye-opening "world" of relatively new poetry. Electronic conversation, among the latest developing forums coming into vogue on campuses these days, ironically proved itself to be an excellent additional text in our studies of the poetry (much of which may be read as anti-technology). Reading students' plenitude of enthusiasm for the poetry in _Out Of This World_, and energy towards the Notes conversation, following their understanding of their own relation to technology and poetry as new environments, we find encouraging evidence that the gulf between the two may be gradually bridging. As poetry allows for a critique and understanding of technology, it may also assist in making the technological into a more lively space. The process of our lives and studies, familiar as they are, maintain a continuous check on our methodology, and leave room for topical movement and growth (as well as contradiction) as we invent a poetics-oriented world in the contemporaneous cyber-environment. --cf2785@csc.albany.edu