The 2nd Avant Writing Symposium is set for Aug. 19-21 in Columbus, Ohio.
The Festival, and the archive with which it’s associated, focuses on a group of primarily North American writers, most of whom became active starting in the 1970s. They are primarily interested in poetry and visual poetry, but are also writing prose, and in numerous transgeneric forms not easily classified.
Archive curator and festival manager John M. Bennett says many of the writers are also involved with visual arts, photography, sound art, music, performance, conceptual art, mail art, and/or artists’ books. These writers are all quite unique, but almost none of them are associated with any of the prevailing literary or institutional establishments of the day.
This year’s event will include a number of special presentations from writers and artists invited from Spain and Latin America.
The symposium is open to all interested persons.
Bennett is accepting proposals for presentations for 30-minute slots (with some exceptions for longer presentations) for papers, performances, digital presentations, and other activities, having to do with innovative and avant-garde writing, broadly conceived. Include a brief bio. Deadline: May 17, 2010. Send proposals to:
Dr. John M. Bennett, Curator
Avant Writing Collection
19 Thompson Library
1858 Neil Av. Mall
The Ohio State University
Columbus, OH 43214 USA
Or by email, Bennett.23@osu.edu
Registration fee is $30 US.
Information on hotels and lodging availabilities will be forthcoming closer to the event.
Information on the Avant Writing Collection
Photos from the First Symposium
The collection’s 2 catalogs in PDF versions
http://library.osu.edu/sites/rarebooks/avant/Avant2.pdf
http://library.osu.edu/sites/rarebooks/avant/VisualPoetry.pdf
Sponsored by
The Rare Books & Manuscripts Library
The Ohio State University Libraries
The Department of Spanish and Portuguese
The Center for Latin American Studies
The Ohio State University
Art by Baron & John M. Bennett
