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 16 August 2008

Dorpsjuweel 2008: Sounds of The Netherlands

In between installing our Library & Librarian, we try to keep agoin'on our Digital Audio Archive project: recording the sounds of the cities, countries & people we meet. We just met [again] the wonderful Ruigoord community [Amsterdam] in the Netherlands, and have been helping run Ruigoord Radio. We're not sure if there is live a stream up yet, so we've whacked up some of the audio we've been recording [see links to stream below] via The Internet Archive, so you can listen to it almost as soon as we have done gone recorded it! Enjoy!

"The artists enclave Ruigoord has now been flourishing as a cultural freeport for exactly 35 years. For so many years there has been a big summer festival on the fields surrounding the village inspired by the Amsterdam Balloon Company, the Landjuweel. But now around Ruigoord the march of industry draws ever closer and it’s time to give a new twist to the festival. So we have a whole new concept in mind: the Landjuweel comes to the village! This year the Juweel (meeting) will take place in the heart of the village and that in itself is an alchemical transformation."



Ken Parsons and [some of] the Bucket Boys [stream], recorded live on Saturday afternoon, 16th August 2008 at Dorpsjuweel Festival, Ruigoord, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Taking a Walk Around the Sounds of the Site [stream]: Saturday afternoon at Dorpsjuweel, Ruigoord, 16 August 2008.

The Low Budgetarians [stream]: reggae dub live set, Saturday evening at Dorpsjuweel, Ruigoord, 16 August 2008.

The Bucket Boys [stream]: live set & mini-interview, Saturday afternoon at Dorpsjuweel, Ruigoord, 16 August 2008.

The Library returns to Amsterdam [proper] and re-opens next week: as long as we survive the festival weekend intact [it's already midnight and we've still gotta lotta recording to go!]

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