The Itinerant Poetry Library

Since May 2006, The Itinerant Poetry Librarian has been travelling the world with a library of ‘Lost & Forgotten’ poetry, installing the library & librarian and archiving the sounds, poems and poetry of the cities, peoples and countries she meets. Welcome to the project's blog . . . Our Itinerant Poetry Librarian lives wherever her library is - come join the cause!

FAQs: • Yes we carry our entire life and the library with us as we go • Yes, it is quite heavy • No, we're not mad. As Charles Simic said, 'But what if poets are not crazy?' That's the spirit boyo!

We exist to: remind people of the importance of free public libraries...subvert mainstream channels of distribution...remind people that access to knowledge should be free and not dependent upon economic wealth hierarchies... show people that poetry/art can provide answers to questions we ask of life...experiment in existing outside of 'the market' – thereby, instead, investing in social capital, social innovation and community.

We aim to make life taste better. Word.

Where have we been . . . ?

(2006) Amsterdam, Berlin, Dresden, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Munich, Paris, Barcelona, London, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, Norwich, York, Antwerp, (2007-2008) San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, Portland, Seattle, Vancouver, Leipzig, (2009) Ulm, Chemnitz, Rotterdam, Huntingdon, Callander, (2010) Cork, St. Andrews . . . Where'd you like us to go? Can you help? Get in touch!

What We Are Up To Right Now . . .

Archive

Saturday, 12 August 2006

Mud. Solar power. Radio. Rock on!

. . . well. We have made it through the last 2 and a half days, and survived the floods, which have covered the Ruigoord site in mud, mud, and er, mud. Oh, and an ice cream van which drove up, parked in a bog and started serving. We brought our toothbrush, some pre-made cous cous, and of course, the poetry library. What more do we need? Nothing. We have already signed up 7 new members, most of whom, we have to admit, were fellow Radio DJs like us, hangin’ out in the Radio Ruigoord tent. But hey, who cares. It was wet outside and our librarian is precious about her books. So we had a private Poetry Library installation inside, in the warm, next to the mixing desk. Our trusty librarian cum sound editor cum DJ has already done 2 shows, one special ‘Europe ConVerses’ programme, where we showcased some of the best sound clips and poetry we have recorded over the last ten weeks of the poetry blog, podcast and library tour. We then also did a special report from the site, which we will try and upload right here now. However, bear in mind we are still sitting in the radio tent with solar powered electricity for the laptop, wifi, and stream, which has a tendency to disappear at any point . . . but we shall have a go. Enjoy!

Awesome. Wi-fi uploaded audio from a tent in Ruigoord, Amsterdam, recorded live at Ruigoord August 11th 2006 by DJ Babybarb





These are the dudes who are making this sound



The Spiritual Jam people DJ Babybarb recorded at 2am on Aug 11th, this is them when we met the next day, doing another mini session for us . . .




And this is how the electricity is powered. Pedal power!





On site at Ruigoord





Ruigoord tee pees. Good to sleep in when it doesn’t flood





On site at Ruigoord2





The squeaky cloudbus





Ice cream in all weathers





A flamenco dancing poet





It’s a Journeyman. He was chopping wood for the stove, inbetween playing his Jamaica reggae radio show. . .





Ever seen a mobile solar-powered cinema. No? Here you go . . .





A Dutch poet on stage on Friday night in the bar tent





A Ruigoord boat. Handy in this weather

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