i've begun researching a new project, so far dealing loosely with sound ecology, sustainability, Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife Species, human impact on environment and environmental impact on human well-being, repetition, text as ecosystem, and pronoun employment. relationship between these not yet firmed, but similarity, parallel, tangents starting to cohere.
the project's had a number of working titles so far. the one i've used with most frequency is Environment Canada. after some thought, i've decided to shift the working title to echology. has closer ties with my subjects, and still recalls EnviroCan (with its E/C commencing echo).
formerly 537neon
a.rawlings' books and chapbooks
- Wide slumber for lepidopterists, Coach House Books 2006 (author), second printing
- W I D E R: B-sides, rarities, and remixes, belladonna* 2006 (author)
- Shift & Switch: New Canadian Poetry, The Mercury Press 2005 (co-editor), second printing
- A Sing Economy, Flim Forum Press 2008 (contributor with François Luong)
- 131.839 slög með bilum, 2007 (includes translated excerpt from WSfL)
- Strong Words: Year Two, Indiepolitik 2007 (contributor)
- Desire, Doom, & Vice, a Canadian Collection, Wingate Press 2005 (contributor)
- Pissing Ice: An Anthology of 'New' Canadian Poets, BookThug 2004 (contributor)
- [a,r] [s'c], housepress 2002 (co-written with Stephen Cain)
- The Common Sky: Canadian Writers Against the War, Three Squares Press 2002 (contributor)
7 comments:
Feel like sharing your reading list? Anything stand out on the sustainability front?
thanks for the questions, k. the current book i'm reading is wonderful-- the soundscape: our sonic environment and the tuning of the world by r. murray schafer.
my sustainability readings have largely been articles so far. book recommendations welcome.
hey, what a coincidence: I've just tightened the focus of a project I've had on the back burner for a couple of years now...it's called Field Guide to Cities and explores similar territory. I first became interested in ecopoetics after attending the Haliburton Soundscape retreat & attended some NAISA events...r murray schafer led a soundwalk in Haliburton...are you familiar with Hildgegard Westercamp's work?
lynn, that's a fantastic title! i was recently at a sound ecology retreat in haliburton, too... mind-expanding fodder! have been working on a blog post for some time now (eventually, it may materialize).
re: westercamp -- no. recommendations?
My favorite is her Transformations CD, especially "A Walk Through the City" and "Beneath the Forest Floor."
How about David Toop's work? I have Ocean of Sound and Haunted Weather--both are excellent.
The Book of Music and Nature is another book that you might like. The accompanying CD is gorgeous.
Thanks -- I'll check out the Schafer book.
I've asked this question to friends who work for environmental non-profits, but no one is ga ga about any particular text. The End of Suburbia is a useful documentary -- with bleak prophecies about peak oil -- though I am not sure about its wider availability for rental. Oddly enough, the ones who are most vocally interested in sustainability come from the business sector, where they seek a pragmatic middle-road between profits and eco-friendly policies. But I worry their enthusiasm might stem from empty sloganeering, and I want a meatier defense.
In terms of poetics, I like David Abrams's Spell of the Sensuous and parts of Jed Rasula's This Compost... Also one book that is not very easy to place: Angus Fletcher's A New Theory of American Poetry: Democracy, the Environment, and the Future of the Imagination. The notion of sustainability is not in their program though...
Hey Angela,
do you know Trevor Wishart's book "On Sonic Art"? There a very interesting section about sound in the nature and how animals interact. There's also interesting writing about sound poetry. I know you were about as impressed as a lepidopterist at a Spatula convention when you heard his music last year, but the book is very interesting.
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