news | Tuesday August 23, 2011

Vancouver Poets Pay Homage to bill bissett

Last Sunday, August 21, 2011 at Emily Carr, Talonbooks was in attendance at the totalee awesum retro spectiv of bill bissett‘s life and art, which was part of the Vancouver Queer Film Festival. Here is an excerpt from the festival programme:

From inception, bill’s poetry has been marked by its experimental creativity, distinct spelling and a deceptively naïve voice that veils the satirical (and brazenly queer) politics of his work.

Hosted by Billeh Nickerson (reportedly warm and bearish), the event drew over eighty people out to hear bill bissett and also fabulous bissett-inspired readings by Heather Haley, Elizabeth Bachinsky, and Daniel Zomparelli, whose own book of poetry about gay culture in Vancouver (Davie Street Translations) is forthcoming from Talon in 2012.

(photo of book table display courtesy of Daniel Zomparelli)

These readings were followed by a screening of Strange Grey Day This, a black and white cinematic gem that reveals bissett’s early Vancouver life.

bill bissett’s latest book novel, will be available in September, 2011. A book by Carl Peters (textual vishyuns) about the aesthetic importance of bill bissett’s visual work is also forthcoming from Talon.