(Philadelphia, PA) In celebration of the newly released poetry collaboration entitled The City Real & Imagined, the ICA will host a reading/performance by CA Conrad & Frank Sherlock on Wednesday February 3 at 8pm.

The poets will read from their work during the event, which also features a visual presentation from photographer Zoe Strauss.

Conrad and Sherlock have engaged in many collaborative efforts in the city of Philadelphia for more than a decade. Their combined endeavors have included curatorial work, political activism, literary projects, and a close working friendship. The culmination of their shared actions has resulted in The City Real & Imagined, a new Heretical Texts title from Factory School Books. This book-length poem was fueled from walks through Philadelphia, which included sharing both their common and divergent experiences of their city with each other.

Poet/critic Rob Halpern of Nonsite Collective says, “Through their (Conrad’s & Sherlock’s) modes of practice, the poem becomes a form assumed by lived social relations under the pressure of so many forces conspiring against us. What’s more, the poem becomes not only a formal expression of dissent, but the insurgent means by which “dissensus” might potentially and provisionally be organized within contested social spaces and public discourses.”

The book release party will include a slide presentation from Zoe Strauss, who is a Philadelphia native, USA Gund Fellow and  recipient of a Pew Fellowship. Her work is featured on the cover of The City Real & Imagined.

The ICA event is an opportunity to wander with Conrad & Sherlock through their psychogeographical work and play. The event will include peoples’ histories and magical traditions rooted in the first capital of the American possible- the city of Philadelphia. Landmarks that remain standing will be visited, citizens that live on in memory will be revisited, and provocations for future mappings of a real & imagined city will be shared.

Are the Fairies at Work?

When feeding my oldest mare yesterday, l noticed that she had a double braid in her lovely mane- something like a “lover’s knot” in the middle with 2 braids cleverly woven coming out of the knot on either side! (IMPOSSIBLE to untangle, so l let it be). Now my family settled this area over 100 years ago and l have heard no stories about the fairies living here.. But as we have had some other strange occurrences around here lately, l wonder if they have sought out remote places to reside, or have we in the USA always had our fair share?

l will say that l am of lrish background ( dating back to the lreland of the Norman Conquest, when my family was given land in return for fighting with William the Conquerer). My ancestors fled lreland to the “colonies” in the 1700’s to escape the wrath of the English… but that is another tale. So, am l just imagining things like my wise old granny or is it possible that wee folk live in my hollow trees?

Melinda Chilton

CAConrad is a nationally acclaimed poet and performer. The son of white trash asphyxiation, his childhood included selling cut flowers along the highway for his mother and helping her shoplift.

Over the course of the last 2 years, CAConrad has published three books: Deviant Propulsion, by Soft Skull Press, a book that inspired a Publisher’s Weekly reviewer to draw parallels between his work and the poetry of Allen Ginsberg; The Book of Frank, a magical book of poems that brings to life an alter ego character who speaks a continual stream of uncensored truths, won the Gil Ott Book Award and was published this year; and The Advanced Elvis Course, also by Soft Skull Press in 2009 is a rollicking and surreal book about the mythological Elvis. In 2010, Factory School will publish a collaboration with poet Frank Sherlock titled The City Real & Imagined.

Elizabeth Kirwin, publisher and editor of FairiesInAmerica.com, is pleased to be working with CAConrad. She wanted to bring his approach to poetics to FairiesInAmerica.com.

Kirwin remarked, “During the 1990s, CAConrad introduced me to the American Pagan movement and the radical faeries, feminism, and the art of writing concise verse. CAConrad was the first person to help me to understand my shifting gender identity was a way of manifesting my own magic. CAConrad also made me see that the divisions within the GLBT movement were simply imagined, and could easily be overcome by everyday personal action.” Website visitors will notice a pansexual approach to the faery movement (representing all sexualities on the continuum) and a wide scope on gender.

CAConrad will be giving public readings of his recent work in 2010. On February 3rd he will perform at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Philadelphia. Lucy Gallun will give a lecture on her video installation at 6:30pm, and a book party for The City Real & Imagined (Factory School, 2010) by CAConrad & Frank Sherlock will occur at 8pm with Zoe Strauss. Zoe Strauss provided the book cover photograph, and will be presenting a slide show of her work and also selling her photography book America (AMMO Books, 2008).

On February 4th CAConrad & Ana Bozicevic will read at Stockton College in New Jersey. CAConrad will read at Philadelphia’s Temple University on February 11th for the Creative Writing Program. Look for these and other related events to be posted on the home page of FairiesInAmerica.com or at CAConradEVENTS.blogspot.com.

FairiesInAmerica.com was launched in April 2008 as a collective effort to accurately represent the creativity and unique philosophies of the faery community. The website publishes performance art, music, poetry, writing and visual art. FairiesInAmerica.com also features essays on sexuality, gender, spirituality and more. Currently, membership to the website is free and those who join may post to the blog, or comment on blogs or pages on the website.

Email CAConrad@fairiesinamerica.com to contribute original poetry for inclusion on the website or visit Bardic Sepulchral.

Nearly eight years ago, I wrote of the forsaking of humankind by our gods. Thanks to author and researcher Shannon Avery, it seems we have one last chance at redemption.

Redemption is a recurring theme in Avery’s new book of poems and stories: The Queen’s Rune and Other Tales of the Sidhe. The “Dirty Little Secret” of Sidhedom is hinted at throughout the book and readers who take the time to explore Avery’s masterful rendering of Sidhe language and culture into a form relatable to humans may just decrypt the puzzle. But even for the Uninitiated, Avery performs a remarkable feat of linguistic and cultural detective work, not to mention a literary high-wire act, as she virtually channels the Fair Folk, balancing razor-sharp analysis with rich imagery.

For those of you new to the Sidhe world, They are humanoid creatures sharing our Universe and our planet, removed from humanity only in our limited ability to perceive them. Their culture is several thousand millennia older than our own and Avery deftly handles half-a-million years of history with an insight that could only have come from a deep devotion to honoring the subject. Her translation of the Ann Amrahn Atraighn, for example, captures the cold, otherworldly arrogance of Our Friends, The El’Ohim, as They attempt to instruct their “most puerile kin” in the mysteries of the Universe as well as the very human-like sense of betrayal and regret the teachers feel when their experiment goes so violently awry. Avery’s translation feels like redemption itself after the travesty that was Hammond Cole’s version of 1649, not to mention the abomination inflicted on the world by the Reubenites in their heretical and error-laden Genesis chapter of the Torah.

Redemption flows through the Sidhe “love” poems as well; Avery’s poetic language—delicate one instant; eviscerating the next—evokes for human readers the depth of Sidhe passion and the core conflicts in all Sidhedom. Like Perceval in the Fisher King, Avery’s Sidhe lovers—Amfortas and Eriu; Rhiannon and Pwyll—kneel in the Temple of Sound and ask “Whom does the Grail serve?” In the Lay of Amfortas, the title character sings: When my body and my harp are ashes/your conjured rage has laid us bare/and I regret it not. True appreciation of the torment of Amfortas and Eriu may still elude humans, but Avery’s eloquence conjures a musical spell that insinuates itself into our all-too-limited flesh.

To assist Avery in weaving her web are illustrator Danae Bentley and performer Lea Ann Douglas.

Bentley’s illustrations run the gamut from colloquially charming to harshly disturbing to enticingly encrypted with delicate high-order mathematics. Her literal, yet hauntingly whimsical,  depictions of some scenes in the Kambuzi Massacre left this reader feeling oddly dirty—like catching an accidental glance at a child while he changes clothes. And the imagery of that story—the illustrations and text combined—evoke memories of horrors from my younger days as a soldier and scholar in war-torn Europe: “They are our enemy. They are not us. Their blood is not ours. Their blood is a river. This river will flow across Benue State and out to sea. Benue will be clean.”

Lea Ann Douglas is Avery’s patroness and herself a devotee of Sidhe culture. She combines Avery’s research with her own performance and creative writing background to generate live performances about and in the style of the Sidhe.

Perhaps the only negative aspect of The Queen’s Rune is that, in its emphasis on ancient Sidhe culture, it fails to address the gathering storm of Sidhe-Human relations at this time. Avery’s lyrics evoke the culture of the Sidhe—their complexity, their passion, their devotion, their pain, their playfulness—but gloss over some of more disturbing aspects of Sidhedom. Most particularly, Avery leaves out the implications of the Kambuzi Massacre. The book, for all of its success in creating a bridge of understanding between the two species, fails to warn humanity of just how dangerous our “closest cousins” are and what is at stake should we fail to heed their message yet again. Avery’s Ann Amrahn Atraighn ends with the Loyalist Seth Levian heading forth “to seek mankind’s redemption” but neglects to mention that the sands of time have run quickly these last 5769 years and that our hour is nearly up.

In summary, this collection of Sidhe art, literature and lore is very highly recommended. The poetry and stories will entertain, engage and enchant and, for the reader with Ears to Hear, dares us, in the words of Brother W.B. Yeats, to “Come away, O human child!/ To the waters and the wild /With a faery, hand in hand/ For the world’s more full of weeping than you can understand.”

I can feel the spirit of the Spring Gathering, and those who participate, already welling inside of me.  I know Yurt Village will be full to the brim, and a fire will burn on the knoll each night, until Beltane Eve, when the old Maypole is taken down and burned in solemn ceremony. I dream of witch camp on the edge of the lovely faery gardens, the bottoms, and the lodge in the morning. While coffee is brewing we catch up after six months or so of not seeing each other, and exchange exciting ideas about our craft, earth worship, living on the land, living in a city, and whatnot.  Before long it is noon and the lunch bell is ringing.

I have heard from many faeries across the East Coast and into TN that they will not be able to make it this year. Resources are scarce. Many say, that the spring gathering (which was overflowing with too many people last year), will be smaller than ever. No matter the number of faeries attending, it will be alive with excitement and all of the delights of the faery world.

While I’m dreaming in my own backyard, on Beltane, I’ll be with the tribe, stirring the cauldron, and inviting the elements to join us in our earth dance.

Faery kisses to all. And a blessed spring.

As we share in this sacred time together, I have noticed that our tribe is expanding.  In years past, there have not been so many as there are now. As the earth changes, we welcome new people with  their energy and ideas for collective action. Just leave behind those broken hierarchical and materialistic patterns of behavior and embrace the faery way.

I met so many exciting, creative, spontaneous people in fairyland this past weekend. I can feel the love from everyone and the anticipation that we are beginning to form a whole new tribe and hive of beings, interwoven with one another.  We are  making some uplifting magic together.

The faeries have become known and are on the way to ‘popular.’ Let’s not forget to remember who we are during this heady time.

Pandemonyum

Electronic Musical Accompaniment by C. Hill

In Celtic mythology, humans are abducted by fairies. This poem celebrates the capture of a moon tide swimmer by a sea fairy. The moon tide is the catching tide.

Moon Tide