~ John Scott ~

Three poetry films in latest issue of TriQuarterly

TriQuarterly 147, Winter/Spring 2015 is out, and kicks off as usual with some high-quality poetry film: Situation 7, a video essay by poet Claudia Rankine and filmmaker John Lucas, and two “cinepoems”: John D. Scott’s In the Waiting Room (poem by Elizabeth Bishop) and Martha McCollough’s Indefinite Animals.

TriQuarterly remains one of the most prestigious literary journals to feature multimedia works. Submissions are open for five months, beginning on February 16.

Two Elizabeth Bishop filmpoems and the art of Heather Haley

The latest installments from our two favorite monthly columnists don’t disappoint. In his “Swoon’s View” column at Awkword Paper Cut, Marc Neys considers “Two Cinematic Approaches to the poetry of Elizabeth Bishop”: “First Death in Nova Scotia” by John Scott, and “Where are the Dolls” by Cassandra Nicolaou.

The editing is thoughtful and draws the viewer inside the story (I love the jump cuts between the introvert close-ups of the woman and the loud and intimidating girls). Nicolaou did an amazing job in translating the poem to this day and age with respect and love for the original words, accenting the power of Elizabeth Bishop’s poetry. And when it’s over, I want to see it again.

And in her “Third Form” column at Connotation Press, Erica Goss mixes interview with analysis for an in-depth portrait of Heather Haley, organizer of the long-running Visible Verse Festival in Vancouver and a talented filmmaker in her own right.

Heather Haley’s videos take risks. They deal with domestic violence, eating disorders, prostitution, and other serious issues that affect society. “I don’t set out to deliver a message. I don’t like being preached at and I don’t want to preach. My work comes from my experience, but it’s also universal. I don’t theorize,” Heather told me. “There’s not enough time for that.”

On literary film-making: an evening with The Brooklyn Rail @ 7:00 pm on May 23rd

Visual Verse celebrates artists who use film and video to create work based on short stories and documentaries about writers or films which revolve around poetry. After presenting work by four leading literary filmmakers — Ram Devineni, John Scott, Cheryl Gross, and Immy Humes — a discussion will be moderated by Rachael Rakes, film editor for The Brooklyn Rail. That’s coming up this Thursday evening. The location is 52 Prince St, New York, New York. For more details, see the McNally Jackson bookstore website.