CLASSIFICATION
Swallow ID:
5709
Partner Institution:
Simon Fraser University
Source Collection Label:
Reading in BC Collection
Sub Series:
Reading in BC Collection
ITEM DESCRIPTION
Title:
Robin Blaser, bp Nichol, Sharon Thesen in Poetry and the sacred on at SFU July 6th, 1983, tape 2 of 2 #426
Title Source:
J-card and inventory
Title Note:
Liner notes: see the photo in material description
Language:
English
Production Context:
Documentary recording
Genre:
Reading: Poetry
Identifiers:
[]
Rights
Rights:
Copyright Not Evaluated (CNE)
CREATORS
Name:
Blaser, Robin
Dates:
1925-2009
Role:
"Reader"
Name:
Nichol, B.P.
Dates:
1944-1988
Role:
"Reader"
Notes:
bp Nichol
Name:
Thesen, Sharon
Dates:
1946-
Role:
"Reader"
Name:
Vanel, Kurtis
Dates:
1936-2017
Role:
"Recordist"
Notes:
no info in any directories, he was an SFU technician, also known as 'Doug Gysemen'
CONTRIBUTORS
MATERIAL DESCRIPTION
Image:
Recording Type:
Analogue
AV Type:
Audio
Material Designation:
Cassette
Physical Composition:
Magnetic Tape
Extent:
1/8 inch
Track Configuration:
2 track
Playback Mode:
Stereo
Sound Quality:
Excellent
Physical Condition:
Good
Other Physical Description:
Black and white clear jewel case with J card
DIGITAL FILE DESCRIPTION
Channel Field:
Stereo
Sample Rate:
44.1 kHz
Duration:
T00:38:17
Size:
38.8 MB
Bitrate:
32 bit
Encoding:
WAV for master files and .MP3 for online files
Channel Field:
Stereo
Sample Rate:
44.1 kHz
Duration:
T00:37:57
Size:
40.9 MB
Bitrate:
32 bit
Encoding:
WAV for master files and .MP3 for online files
Dates
Date:
1983-07-06
Type:
Performance Date
Source:
J-card
LOCATION
Address:
8888 University Dr, Burnaby, BC, Canada
Venue:
SFU
Latitude:
49.2767
Longitude:
-122.9178
Notes:
The location is mentioned in inventory
CONTENT
Contents:
Side Track No. Comments
One 002 Robin Blaser continues his lecture; reads a quotation for Guy Davenports’ The Geography of the Imagination
111 Reads a passage on the state of modern science from Ruth Nanda Anshen’s essay “Convergence” (in Bernard Lovell’s Emerging Cosmology)
026 Reads a passage by Michel Serres on knowledge
065 Blaser’s lecture ends; the panel begins an open discussion. Sharon Thesen expresses an initial repulsion at the idea of convergence (of mind and matter). Blaser responds
114 Question from the floor to the panel about the “slippage” between the very abstract notions of the sacred, and those notions derived from Social institutions which deal with the sacred… bp Nichol responds
146 Bp Nichol is asked about whether there is any relationship between his view of the sacred and his work at Therfields; he responds
203 Bp Nichol responds to a question about how he views the relationship between the family and the sacred
257 A question about the distinction between the sacred and the divine; the panel responds
393 Question about birth and death and their relationship to the sacred; Roy Miki and Robin Blaser respond, discussing how the certitude of death has affected poetry and contemporary attitudes toward the family. Blaser begins to relate the yearning for family with the yearning for love
473 Side one ends
Two 003 Blaser continues to talk about love
012 Sharon Thesen talks about the fragmentation of the family, says this is more easily related to deficiencies of language than to poetry or the sacred
038 Comment from the audience and response by Robin Blaser about the language of the family and of the sacred
058 Blaser talks about ‘culture, institutions, power and civilization (as an “individual task”)
074 Question from audience: The tone of the present discussion seems to suggest a kind of lament for the loss of the sacred, but isn’t it true that the panel has been merely talking about the sacred, rather than acting within it?
104 A response: The poem, Portrait of the Poet as Landscape is a kind of lament for the absence of the sacred, but he failed to recognize that the sacred has become a part of the ordinary. The disappearance of the sacred is at the base of modern thought
133 Question from audience about whether the fact that much respected modern writing on the sacred is in prose (not poetry) is a comment on the disappearance of the sacred. The response: There is no distinguishable difference between poetry and the best prose on the sacred (Blaser: “…scholarship is a poetic act”)
157 Bp Nichol brings the discussion back to the topic of death
195 Comment from the audience on the relationship between violence and the sacred, and a question about whether the present discussion is a "funeral or a party” for the sacred
204 Blaser expresses the view that “…we’re headed for a different kind of poem” in this so-called “post-modern” era; refers to Olson’s (and Pound’s) view that poetry and scholarship must come together
244 The discussion ends, it is proposed that the panel reads some of their poetry
259 Bp Nichol reads “Hour 24” from the second book of Book 6 of The Martyrology
294 Sharon Thesen reads – from “Snakes and Ladders”
321 “What Now” – Thesen
340 Robin Blaser reads “The Universe Is a part of ourselves…”
354 “I have tried for 35 to redefine sweetness…” – Blaser
261 End of discussion
Notes:
SFU BC Readings formatting
NOTES
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