The Poetical is Political

July 28 – August 11, 2020

#StickyImpulse

These textual materials came from the Lenore Herb archive, in a box marked ‘Punk/Poetry.’ The contents show publications, posters, notes, and correspondence between artists, writers, musicians, and funders.

Much of this ephemera has been difficult to trace; I’ve led myself down search results to learn about Prince George’s Caledonia Writing Series, the publishers of Earl Courtney’s book, while the mysterious, single double-sided page in the Pat Stevens folder (titled ‘Pat Stevens Punk?’) will most likely remain forever unclaimed. Publications like Pulp and The Literary Storefront Newsletter provide a broader community context for the individual works themselves. In the June 1982 edition of The Literary Storefront Newsletter, who held a space at #1-314 Cordova Street, editor Dona Sturmanis finishes her weekly event update with, “Reaction to the evening varied from ‘this is not our scene’ to ‘how self-indulgent’ to ‘how varied’ and ‘fabulous.’ There is room for everybody, and that is what is so grand.”

Curator K C Wei (Video Out)