bpNichol's best known work, the life-long poem The Martyrology is a work that encompasses 9 books in 6 volumes. As an unofficial part of Nuit Blanche tonight, a twelve hour reading of the work will take place at the Church of St. Stephen-in-the-Fields from 6pm to 6am.
In an introduction to the work in in Michael Ondaatje's 1979 Long Poem Anthology, Nichol suggests that "an ideal reading would be one which begins with 1) The Martyrology, but then dips into Journeying & The Returns, Scrapture and The Captain Poetry Poems along the way, much as one might read earlier history to gain a better appreciation of a particular period. This is a notion only, a tentative map". AvantGarden use this as a jumping-off point for their reading and rewriting of the work, featuring dozens of readers, including a few open mic sections between 11pm and 2am.
Also on site, a pop-up bookstore featuring works by many of the readers and a selection of titles from the Coach House Press and BookThug. Readers include bill bissett, Margaret Christakos, Jay MillAr, Charlie Huisken, Maggie Helwig, Jenny Sampirisi, Shannon Maguire and many more.
For more information, see the Facebook page, here.
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