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

Sunday, 13 August 2006

We are awake. And attached to a recording device. Still.

The Librarian is staggering at the moment. But she has been able to nab 26 minutes of a man playing banjo in the Groovy Movie tent, so even though it’s been a night of, well, obviously, bogs, but also dancing Dutch people (dangerous when trying to record reggae live, especially when they accidentally spill whiskey down the back of your already skanky trousers) and the constant search for electricity, the bonus is that everyone has left the radio tent at the moment, so we can both go live on air and talk to ourselves and use the Wi-fi to update the blog while no-one is looking. Or listening. Or whatever. Everyone outside the radio tent seems to be fairly oblivious of well, quite a lot, at the moment, apart from neon glow sticks, chai and the nearest drum beat. We are going to try and upload some audio at the ridiculous hour of 4.55 AM . Here goes:

Poet Julius Joker provides us with an appropriate soundclip

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