Julia Drescher and C. J. Martin: October 26, 2023

The Poetry Center presents Julia Drescher and C. J. Martin, reading and in conversation with each other and with their audience. Drescher reads three separate pieces of work: "Doubles Sonnet," parts from "Blatta" (after Clarice Lispector), and the entirety of "Almost Alive" (above/ground press, 2023). Martin reads his sequence Family Style Meal, a work written and printed for this occasion, incorporating a series he calls "complete poems." Both poets offer complimentary copies of their books to the audience, and generously entertain questions. Steve Dickison makes the introductions, at The Poetry Center.

Publisher
BECA (Broadcast and Electronic Communication Arts)
Location
The Poetry Center, San Francisco State University
Date
2023-26-10
Event Run Time
01:29:14
Contributors
Steve Dickison
Rights

©© American Poetry Archives. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. For all other uses please email poetry@sfsu.edu.

Views
1275
Downloads
1764

Julia Drescher (00:24:06)

Julia Drescher reads her "Doubles Sonnet," then reads two sections of her work, "Blatta," inspired by Clarice Lispector's writing. She finishes with a reading of her chapbook "Almost Alive" — an extended poem knitted through with statements by and about Jay DeFeo.

C. J. Martin (00:20:15)

C. J. Martin begins by speaking to "how to be an artist as a student...that problem," and recommends: "Get lucky enough to meet your people and make shit with them."

He then reads a small book prepared for this event, Family Style Meal, which includes poems he refers to as "complete poems" — which start with a fragment, and then are written out beyond that start. 

Conversation (00:38:31)

During their conversation in response to the audience, Julia Drescher and C. J. Martin discuss ideas of poetic form, what finishing a poem means, repurposing work from other writers, and the art of mishearing things, among other aspects of their poetics and practice. 

Before the discussion closes, the students in the room receive a writing assignment: Make something with words with someone else. Martin solicits two words from the audience ("terrified" and "rice") as a start, to incorporate into the written assignment.

Related Items

Michael Kleber-Diggs and Cynthia Parker-Ohene: November 16, 2023 Rebus. Summer Rental. "Scribes" from the "1928 Franciscan" yearbook (page 71) Kit Robinson and James Sherry: March 21, 2014 Gloomingdale’s for “Bus Vogue: the Glow Series” 1991.053 2000.183 1984.153 1997.046 1990.105 1984.152 1984.154 1990.095 1996.133 1994.265