news | Wednesday November 20, 2013

Video: Jordan Abel Launches The Place of Scraps

Jordan Abel reads from The Place of Scraps (it’s the kind of video you can just listen to, if you’re in a mad rush and have to prioritize just one of your senses…)

The Place of Scraps is the first book by Nisga’a poet Jordan Abel. It launched on October 10, 2013 at the Western Front in Vancouver, British Columbia and has received much critical attention.

Drawing inspiration from Marius Barbeau’s canonical book Totem Poles, Abel explores in The Place of Scraps the complicated relationship between First Nations cultures and ethnography. His poems simultaneously illuminate Barbeau’s intentions and navigate the repercussions of the anthropologist’s actions. Abel also shares, in this video, more personal thoughts on the writing of his book.

In the first reading, of the title poem from The Place of Scraps, the overwhelming presence of Barbeau’s voice and sounds is gradually usurped by those of Abel, reflecting, perhaps, one of the purposes of The Place of Scraps: to make way, through and after historical noise, for the intonations of the people themselves.

The second reading represents no small feat either: Abel studied more than 80 pulp western novels, searching for the word “Injun” and composing a compelling cut-up poem.

Using only a loop station, his wits, and his dulcet tones, Abel created an atmospheric and thought-provoking environment, allowing his audience to soak up his language and the spirit of his poetry.

Get The Place of Scraps ($19.95) while it lasts!