PAOLA POLETTO & JAKE KENNEDY, eds. — BOREDOM FIGHTERS
SEAN STANLEY & KRISTI-LY GREEN — ETCETERA AND OTHERWISE

What is "graphic poetry"? Does it combine words and images in a manner unlike its more familiar cousin, the graphic novel? Sandra Kasturi and David Clink will co-host “Graphic Language”, a joint launch designed to shed light on such perennial aesthetic riddles. Paola Poletto and Jake Kennedy assembled a collection of graphic poetry, Boredom Fighters. Sean Stanley and Kristi-Ly Green collaborated on a graphic novel, Etcetera and Otherwise. After moderating a group discussion with these four creators, Kasturi and Clink will turn their microphones over to a “graphic poetry slam”. – A This Is Not A Reading Series event presented by Pages Books & Magazines, Tightrope Books and EYE WEEKLY.

Tranzac Club, 292 Brunswick Ave, Toronto
Thurs, Oct 2; 7:30pm (doors 7:00pm) free 

ETCETRA AND OTHERWISE
A collaboration between artist Kristi-Ly Green and writer Sean Stanley. 
A charmingly illustrated surrealist fable.
A love story.
An erotic journey.

Bookstore owner Otherwise meets the beautiful Etcetera one afternoon when she comes into his store. The two begin on a fantastical erotic road trip that will last 28 days. As Otherwise falls more deeply in love, the mystery of Etcetera grows, culminating in the answer to the most important question of all — “do you love me too?”

KRISTI-LY GREEN is an artist and illustrator. Her exhibitions have included "Irregular Slubs," and "Twenty-Nine Different Kinds of Food Disguised as Different Kinds of Food". Green runs the Victorian-of-the-Month Club. She continues her search for a sponsor to sculpt Lady Wallis Simpson out of butter at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair. Green lives in Toronto.

SEAN STANLEY offers this biographical sketch: “Two years after dropping out of University of Victoria’s writing program, Sean found himself working in a stone quarry, splitting rocks with a chisel and sledgehammer during the hottest day of the summer.  One other guy was working with him.  At one point the other guy rested his sledgehammer on his thigh, squinted at Sean's feet, and said in a low, strangled voice, “I am prepared to take you seriously if you find it absurd, and to find you absurd if you take it seriously.”  This was followed by a long pause, neither man moving.”

BOREDOM FIGHTERS brings together eighteen works that fall somewhere between a graphic novel and poetic verse. Participating authors reside across the country and include Derek Beaulieu, Christian Bok, Lisa Foad and Carolyn Gordon, Stacey May Fowles and Marlena Zuber, Tim Gaze, Jake Kennedy, Mark Laliberte, Donato Mancini, Kevin Mcpherson Eckhoff, Gustave Morin, Marc Ngui, Paola Poletto, Daniel Scott Tysdal, Jen Pickering, and Sally McKay. Their poems tackle the broad topic of boredom: Is boredom a symptom of the absence of love? Does it suggest our present task is too easy? Inside, graphic doesn’t always trump poetry and thus the ultimate tug of war is between word and image. Co-editors Jake Kennedy and Paola Poletto refuse to privilege either images or words. With respect to Dada and concrete poetry and with of-the-moment admiration for the graphic novel, they contend that the best category for their collection of graphic poetry is “other”. It presents the most exhilarating and deathless community of boredom fighters in all of Canada.

JAKE KENNEDY is a poet, editor and teacher. Last year, he won the prestigious bpNichol Chapbook Award for Hazard, his 27-page collection of seven pieces of prose and visual poetry. Kennedy teaches in the English Department at Okanagan College.  He lives in British Columbia.

PAOLA POLETTO is an artist coordinator. Her work includes program direction for Design Exchange and co-founder of Kiss Machine before joining the Office of Arts and Culture of Mississauga. She is curator of fahion no no, an exhibition exploring the relationship between art, design and craft (Harbourfront Centre, Toronto, January 2009). Her art has been exhibited at various group exhibitions in Canada, US and Europe

DAVID CLINK is the co-publisher of Believe Your Own Press, the Artistic Director of the Rower's Pub Reading Series, and the former Artistic Director of the Art Bar Poetry Series. He is the author of five poetry chapbooks and the editor of seven others, and his first collection of poetry, Eating Fruit Out of Season, was released with Tightrope Books in spring 2008.

SANDRA KASTURI is a poet, writer and editor. She has published three poetry chapbooks, as well as the well-received poetry anthology, The Stars As Seen from this Particular Angle of Night. Her poetry has appeared in various magazines and anthologies, including Prairie Fire, On Spec, 2001: A Science Fiction Poetry Anthology, and Northern Frights 4. In 2005 she won ARC magazine's coveted annual Poem of the Year. The Animal Bridegroom (Tightrope Books) is her first full-length poetry collection.
 

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