news
10.31.2011
Readers I just finished uploading the video recordings of the CultSoc 10 readers. You can scroll through them by clicking here or if Vimeo is your preferred hangout, you can visit the whole album here. They appear chronologically reversed; that is, Jon Curley opened the show and Peter O’Leary closed it. Such is revision in the order of things. I’ll have performances from J. Robbins posted soon. Thanks again.
10.29.2011
New Recording from BELLS≥
In July, 2011, Matt LeMay and BELLS≥ braved unusually hot, unventilated, and cramped conditions to record live performances of five songs, the fate of which recording was not yet clear. All participants were happy with the outcome, though, and following mastering by Carl Saff, this download-only EP was the result. Caspar Newbolt’s photographs were used for the artwork.
10.10.2011
Anticipating Video With the help of filmmaker and BELLS≥ guitarist, Chris Ernst, we recorded all of the contributors’ readings at the CultSoc10 event. I hope to have the videos posted within the next week or two. Thanks again to the performers and attendees alike. It was wonderful, delightful, and affirming to have you all together at once. More on that, no doubt, soon enough. Top row: Jon Curley, Sally Delehant, Eric Hoffman, Chuck Stebelton; second row: Norman Finkelstein, Zach Barocas, Brooklyn Copeland, Chris Glomski; third row: Michael Heller, Shannon Tharp; Mark Scroggins; Peter O’Leary
09.30.2011
The Full Scoop on The Cultural Society 10th Anniversary Event Please join us on Saturday, October 8, 2011 to celebrate the first decade of The Cultural Society. The First Half
Readings and an informal reception at New York’s famed Poets House will feature local and national poets, the majority previously published by The Cultural Society. Established in 1985, Poets House has, through the years, acted as a supporter, advocate, and public face of poetry in New York City and around the world. Their 2009 move to the current location provides elegant accommodations for performers and attendees alike. The readers are Brooklyn Copeland, Jon Curley, Sally Delehant, Norman Finkelstein, Chris Glomski, Michael Heller, Eric Hoffman, Philip Jenks, Peter O’Leary, Mark Scroggins, Chuck Stebelton, and Shannon Tharp. The Second Half
Live music at Bruar Falls in Williamsburg, Brooklyn will feature: singer/songwriter Drew O’Doherty; singer, songwriter, and recording engineer J. Robbins, performing selections from his repertoire on acoustic guitar, drawing material from Jawbox, Burning Airlines, and Channels with Gordon Withers accompanying on cello; singer, musician, and composer David Grubbs (Bastro, Gastr Del Sol, et al.), performing on electric guitar; and BELLS≥, a four-piece instrumental group with Zach Barocas on drum kit, Chris Ernst on electric guitar; Adam Rizer on electric bass guitar; and Steve Shodin on electric guitar. Gordon Withers will also join BELLS≥ for most of their set.
09.5.2011
Socialism I created a Facebook event for the CultSoc10 Anniversary. You can check it out here. Likewise, if you’re inclined, there’s a CultSoc group at goodreads now as well. So if you like the work we publish, you can say so over here. If you like a smaller approach, feel free to click on one or more of the sidebar icons under ‘follow.’ Thanks again.
09.1.2011
Today the CultSoc Turned 10 From 2001-2004 or so, the CultSoc’s home page featured a different image or quote every update.1 Here’s a handful of images from that time: I’m still shouting,
08.29.2011
Pre-Order The Nineteenth Century and Other Poems
I’m very pleased to announce that Chris Glomski’s forthcoming book of poems can be pre-ordered via the publications page. We expect to start shipping on 9/13/11. If you have any questions, feel free to drop me a line. Thanks again.
08.25.2011
10th Anniversary Event
The wheels are officially in motion for the 10th Anniversary Event. It’s a two-parter on October 8th, 2011 with readings and a reception at Poets House in the afternoon and live musical performances at Bruar Falls at night. The Poets House portion of our celebration will be free; there will be a $10. admission to Bruar Falls. The readings will feature Brooklyn Copeland, Jon Curley, Sally Delehant, Norman Finkelstein, Chris Glomski, Michael Heller, Eric Hoffman, Philip Jenks, Peter O’Leary, Mark Scroggins, Chuck Stebelton, and Shannon Tharp. The rock show will feature sets from David Grubbs, Drew O’Doherty, J. Robbins, and BELLS≥ (Robbins and BELLS≥ will both be joined by Gordon Withers on cello). There’s more news to come but I thought I’d start getting the word out. Thanks again.
08.22.2011
The Cultural Society Turns Ten The Cultural Society will be ten years old this September and I can say without a doubt that I never thought it would last this long. The original guiding policy has sustained the CultSoc1, since the start: I post what I like. In the course of time I have had the opportunity to publish some printed and/or bound work as well, always adhering to a similar, if not the same criterion. I think it has more often than not served me, my contributors, and our audience well. Though I actively publish poetry and perform and release recorded music, I’m not in the competitive publishing or music business. This distinction is worth noting not only because it is a matter of preference but because it might explain some of the decisions I’ve made in the course of the last ten years. The CultSoc has developed along two sometimes incompatible lines: what I would like to see at the website2 and what I would like to see and hear in the tactile world.3 What has mattered to me is something like posterity but without the grandiose or sentimental baggage of that term. My assumption has been simple: having the CultSoc allows me to stay in touch with old friends, make new ones, present work that otherwise might not find it’s way to an audience; at bottom is the fact that if I like it, someone else might, too. So here we are, ten years later, still enthusiastic about new work from familiar people and unfamiliar work from new people. Trends have brought a wide variety of contributions: interviews, picks, photographs, paintings, videos, music, and live performances. The majority of the CultSoc’s activity has, however, boiled down to mostly one thing and that one thing is poetry. I think this has occurred for several reasons, some related to technological developments and their accompanying activity4, and some unique to poetry5. I’m not sure there’s a whole lot to add to these thoughts except that I remain grateful to my contributors, without whom there would be far less beauty and understanding in the world. I am also grateful to the readers of this website and to those who listen to and read our recordings and publications. Your support assures us that we’re not simply casting our work into the void. And though I’m not sure being limited to such casting would keep us from carrying on with our work, it is no small comfort to know that we need not worry about it.
05.3.2011
Update In which our editor manages to stick to a semi-annual schedule. This update features work from some new and some prior contributors: Michael Autrey, Sally Delehant, Joel Felix, and Joseph Massey. The picks are mine. Feel free to dive right in. In other news here’s a review of Peter O’Leary’s Luminous Epinoia and a recording of O’Leary (laryngitically) reading from his work. Cultural Society recording artists, BELLS≥, are playing a show in DC this weekend to benefit FIGHT SMA, a cause close to our hearts. If you or anyone you know is in or near the Nation’s Capitol this Friday, please join us. Further, we’re looking forward to Chris Glomski’s forthcoming The Nineteenth Century, which will be available from this society this summer. Further still, we’re laying plans for a Cultural Society 10th Anniversary Event, the location and particulars of which are yet to be determined but we’re shooting for October. Shout, shout: (version); JCNJ; EL/JP!; Wiselephant West; PBNY; O’D.s; Cody; Magpies; Princes; Bandmates; z./S./J.; Neo-Modernists; NJNY; GDCo.; D./D.T.B.; & you.
11.14.2010
New Publications Are Here!
Members of our society will be no stranger to the work of the inimitable Peter O’Leary. We’re proud to publish his latest, most ambitious, farthest-reaching, and personal collection of poems to date. It’s called Luminous Epinoia and you can order it by clicking here. Also available are a poem by Douglas Piccinnini called SOFT, and a collection of several poems by Zach Barocas called Looking Up. In the event that you need something to listen to while you read (and who doesn’t, at least part of the time?), please check out There are Crashes, the first recording by BELLS≥, an instrumental group from Brooklyn, NY. Thanks again for your continued support and interest.
10.4.2010
Poems, Publications, and a Record This update has poems from Wes Benson, Roberto Harrison, Joseph Massey, David Pavelich, and Shannon Tharp. The picks are mine. In other news, Peter O’Leary’s triumphant Luminous Epinoia should be in hand in a couple weeks and chapbooks from Douglas Piccinnini and myself should be back from the printer in a month. Additionally, so as not to lose sight of the CultSoc’s multimedia assault, the BELLS≥ record will be in hand in the next several days. Warm up your turntable, we’ll take care of the rest. Shouting? Of course: Team SBS; (version); NJNY; local & interstate talents & interests; PBNY (Mazel Tov?); LaChima; JCNJ; Westbound Elephants; Syl; Julian Conover; Cody; Franklins; Magpies; Do’D.; Bandmates; Northbound Stillwaters; Princes: ems; El/JP!; z./S./J.; & you.
09.6.2010
Images Since 2001 I’m pleased to report that the images have been restored. Which brings, as far as I know, the new site to full completion.
09.1.2010
Nine
I almost forgot: today marks the ninth anniversary of this society. Happy birthday to all of us.
09.1.2010
New Website I launched the new website today, and though it’s incomplete, I’m happy to have it live nonetheless. A few known bugs at the moment:
Otherwise, I think you’ll find the site an easier and more thorough experience. You can search by contributor, date, keyword, or category, which more or less covers the whole knish. I’ve also added a sharing feature, in the event that you’d like to post links to the social networks you use. Last but not least, you can now subscribe to the site or to individual contributors. So if you don’t want to deal with whole updates but can’t bear to miss new work from your favorite contributor, you can simply click the RSS next to their name and receive notification via Google Reader or whatever service you use for your feeds. If you have any questions, comments, or bug reports, please send them to me via the contact page. Thanks to the spectacular men of version industries for their work on this site; contributors past, present, and future; and you.
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