I have fled as Niagara, I’ve fled as a fishtail.
I have fled as a magpie sporting only a necktie.
I have fled omnivorously, on a chafing dish.
I have fled as a scent from the Orient.
I have fled as a crystal. I have fled as a wiz.
I have fled as a quail, to no avail.
I have fled as a squint that sorely hides.
I have fled as a fossil, as a riptide.
I have fled as a bulimic, starving bitterly
As will she who dines with me.
I have fled with my nose in a book.

[This poem appears, in a slightly different version, in his book New Depths of Deadpan, 2009. This is what the poem sounded like when he read it at Segue in 2004, with me as co-reader. Charles Borkhuis said we fit together “like a foot in a mouth.” I just know I loved him and will continue to do so.]

Johanna Drucker has organized a one-day symposium on the Los Angeles and the fine printing tradition in California, scheduled for October 9th at the Clark Library.

From what I understand, the library doesn’t seat too many people, and an RSVP is required. I’ll be presenting a short paper on conceptual writing and various small presses here.

Paul Vangelisti is speaking, as well as other authorities on California publishing. Several students of Johanna are presenting on local typesetters and printers.

The reception afterwards will feature many of the editors who run presses like Les Figues, MakeNow and Insert (and a bunch of others I’d never heard of).

A readable version of the image below, with the full schedule, appears here. Let me know if you want to come, I can get you in. I could even drive you!