New Year, New writers’ series: The Dartington Campus Readings

A brand new series of four evening performances dedicated to reading begins at UCF's Dartington Campus in January 2009.  The series will feature the work of some of the most innovative and dynamic writers currently working in the UK performing their work.

Building on the legacy of modernist experimentation at Dartington, the Performance Writing Field, based at UCF's Dartington Campus, will be presenting contemporary writers from three generations, ranging from those who have published their first major collection in the last few years to those who have many books behind them.  The performances will take place in Studio 3, one of the best technically-equipped studios in the region, and will include highly thoughtful and measured readings, dynamic vocal performances, as well as engagements with a range of audio-visual media.

The series opens on Thursday 22 January 2009 at 7.30pm with performances by Caroline Bergvall and Andrea Brady.

"Caroline Bergvall has emerged over the past decade as one of the most brilliantly inventive poets of our time, with an approach to acoustic performance that is nothing short of sensational". (Charles Bernstein)

Internationally reputed writer working across media, languages, sonic and visual artforms. From published and recorded performances to audio texts, collaborative installations and critical poetics.

She is French-Norwegian, and based in London.

Caroline Bergvall's work deals with multilingual poetics, body genres, sexual politics, new literacies, multiple platforms for writing, cultural and linguistic performativity, the role of the artist and of art. Her projects and research alternate between published poetic pieces and performance-oriented, often sound-driven writing projects. She collaborates frequently with other artists and her books are noted for their combination of performative, visual and literary textualities. She has developed books, audioworks, visual textwork, net-based pieces, live and sited performances, both in Europe and in North America and has toured her work and readings extensively. Most recently at: MOMA (NY), Dia Arts Foundation (NY), Tate Modern (London), Museum of Contemporary Arts (Antwerp), Göteborg Poesi Festival (Sweden). Her books include: Goan Atom (Krupaksya 2001), Fig (Salt, 2005) and recently Alyson Singes (Belladonna, 2008).

She was part of the team that developed the innovative and cross-arts writing programme Performance Writing at Dartington College from its first year on in 1994 and was its Director from 1995-2000. Visiting Professor, Temple University (2005). Co-Chair of Writing on the MFA at Bard College, NY (2004-2006).

She is currently an Arts and Humanities Research Council Fellow in the Creative and Performing Arts at the University of Southampton (2007-2010).

Andrea Brady was born in Philadelphia in 1974, and has lived in the UK since 1996. She is the director of the Archive of the Now (archiveofthenow.org), and co-publisher of Barque Press. Her publications include Vacation of a Lifetime (Salt, 2001), Embrace (Object Permanence, 2005), and the hypertext verse essay Wildfire (dispatx.com, 2006). She has performed throughout the UK, Europe and US and is widely published in small magazines.  She was one of four poets featured in a recent special issue of Chicago Review (53.1, 2007). Andrea teaches Renaissance and contemporary literature at Queen Mary, and lives in London.

The next in the series will follow on Thursday 26 February with readings by Marianne Morris and Tony Lopez.

The events will be open to the public, free of charge, and there will be plenty of opportunity for extended post-reading discussion and debate.

For further information about BA(Hons) Writing and MA Performance Writing at University College Falmouth's Dartington Campus visit www.falmouth.ac.uk/writing, email admissions@dartington.ac.uk or telephone Admissions on 01803 862224.

In April 2008, University College Falmouth merged with Dartington College of Arts to create a new institution focusing on the expansion of Falmouth's expertise in Art, Design and Media and Dartington's expertise in Choreography, Music, Theatre, Art and Writing.

The merger will pave the way for a new specialist Arts University in Cornwall in 2012, creating a Higher Education institution unique to the South West.

University College Falmouth is a founding partner in the Combined Universities in Cornwall (CUC), a unique initiative to promote regional economic regeneration through Higher Education, funded mainly by the European Union (Objective One), the South West Regional Development Agency, and the Higher Education Funding Council for England, with support from Cornwall County Council.

Ends

For further information about this media release, please contact Julia Burdett, Communications Manager, Dartington Campus, University College Falmouth. Telephone: 00 44 (0)1803 861610; or email:  j.burdett@dartington.ac.uk

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