League of Canadian Poets features Exodus 13 from the Vispo Bible in Poetry Pause

 thanks to the League of Canadian Poets for their support of the Vispo Bible. 

Check out Exodus 13 here.

vispo haiku

 here are 3 vispo haiku. i have been learning how to use Adobe Illustrator of late. normally i work with Photoshop, but thought i'd give Illustrator a go. two women inspired my attempts at making visual poetry haiku: Dona Mayoora who has been making asemic haiku, and Catherine Vidler who has been making and sharing hers on Instagram. as always, i appreciate the inspiration. of course, these are inspired most of all by 2020 and end tymes.

1. state of the country ; 2. growing anxiety; 3. end of the empire.

So Many Silenced, So Many Unnamed - a new section within the Vispo Bible - recently published on the Pi Review

 thanks to John Whittaker of the new online magazine for asking me to submit work to help debut the site. i'm happy to follow friend and visual poet, derek beaulieu and look forward to seeing what comes  next.

you can see excerpts, which include both visual poems and poem-poems (not sure what else to call non visual poems) here.

So Many Silenced, So Many Unnamed is a new section i'm working on for the Vispo Bible that uses passages from the Bible and addresses misogyny, silencing,  and erasure of women in the Bible and how scripture is used to justify the ongoing violence against women, BIPOC and LGBTQ folk. 

Note that i've been playing with the title and have changed it from its original, "So Many Are Silent, So Many Unnamed."

not vispo but photos

my series of photos, the End of Days is now up on the Watch Your Head site. thanks to Kathryn Mockler and the editors for publishing my photos. Watch Your Head is an online site that publishes works devoted to climate crisis and climate justice. a separate anthology of writing and art will be published from Coach House Books and is available for pre-order.

The Vispo Bible: Matthew to be published by Knife Fork Book in 2021

chufffed to announce that Knife Fork Book will be publishing Matthew in 2021, all being well. Knife Fork Book is a publisher and poetry book store and community inspiration in Toronto, Ontario. My work has also appeared in Not Your Best, an anthology of visual poetry. This will be the seventh chapbook from the Vispo Bible. Below, here is Matthew 7

Street Cake Magazine has published Exodus 18 from the Vispo Bible

 thanks to editors Nikki Dudley & Trini Decombe for including Exodus 18 in Street Cake Magazine. 

to see where all of the work from the Vispo Bible has been published so far, please go to http://eleanorincognito.blogspot.com/2020/05/where-can-you-find-work-from-vispo.html

No Place Like Home - a series

No Place Like Home 1, and 2 are digital manipulations of a photograph of the first house I lived in from age 4 to 8, in a small town in Ontario, Canada with my parents and siblings. The text is a reference to Dorothy’s repeated refrain from the Wizard of Oz when she clicks her ruby red shoes and says, “there’s no place like home.” The house here is reminiscent of the trauma, fear and confusion that represented home for me as a child and for many others.

No Place Like Home 3 depicts the many rooms of the house, which did not provide safety, with the text representing the lack of security a child is made to feel when her love and trust is manipulated and abused.

All pieces were created using Photoshop.

And a side note: for many years, home meant nothing to me but fear until I was able to come to terms with my childhood and of not having the kind of home I had heard about from tv or in films. Not everyone does. “According to self-reported data from the 2014 General Social Survey on Victimization (GSS), one-third (33%) of Canadians aged 15 and older experienced some form of maltreatment during childhood. Child maltreatment includes physical and/or sexual abuse before the age of 15 by someone aged 18 or older, as well as witnessing violence by a parent or guardian against another adult.” https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/170216/dq170216b-eng.htm

Leviticus 5 in Poem Atlas' Escapisms Exhibit (May 15 - June 5, 2020)

Thanks to Poem Atlas for including Leviticus 5 in this stunning exhibit. I am delighted to share the virtual page with fellow visual poets. 

Where does escapism fit in? When I work on these pieces, I perform several repeated actions in Photoshop. I get lost in both the meticulous nature of the process and the creative possibilities. The pieces I'm submitting show how colour and layering turn the text into something material and depart from the original, yet somehow maintain some of its flavour. I have grapheme synaesthesia so that words, letters and numbers evoke colour for me. It is a satisfying feeling for me to be able to match the colours in my head with the tone I perceive from the source text based on the words and the style of the text. I become mesmerized in a way. I often keep going until I feel a kind of shiver, as if I've done something magical, but I don't feel at all as if I'm in control of the result. I love this feeling.

The Vispo Bible: Leviticus 5 (2017): source text from Biblegateway.com, King James Version. Text translated into visual poetry using Photoshop. I translated the ritual, sin, and blood in this chapter. Something tree like, hard, bare, weathered and bloody resulted.

Genesis 33 in Mellom Press Online Exhibit, Translations: May 11 to June 7, 2020

Thanks to Silje Ree who will be including Genesis 33 from the Vispo Bible in the upcoming online exhibit, starting  next week.

Where can you find work from the Vispo Bible (as of February 3, 2021)

i'm going to use this blog entry to provide links to the Vispo Bible's publications for all who have asked or who might want to know:

OVERVIEW

THE VISPO BIBLE is a life's work to translate every chapter, every book, every verse of the Bible into visual poetry. I began the project in 2015, and as of May 1, 2020, i have completed 300 pages: Old Testament: Genesis, Exodus, Levitucus, Numbers, Ruth, Esther, Deuteronomy,

New Testament Acts 1-8 so far/ currently in progress,Matthew,Mark,Romans, John I, II, III, Jude, Revelation.

In 2018, I received funding from the Ontario Arts Council based on a recommendation from Coach House Books for the Vispo Bible.

1. The Vispo Bible: One Woman Recreates the Bible as Visual Poetrypresented as part of Kanada Koncrete Material Poetries in the Digital Age, University of Ottawa, May 4-6, 2018

This is my general overview of the project.

2. The powerpoint presentation of the work included in the talk. I've done more pieces since, but this is the bulk of the work.

3. Glue, String and Binder Rings, an essay I wrote on how various publishers are responding to the challenge of publishing the Vispo Bible in print. Published in the Babel Tower Notice Board. {link is no longer active, i will provide a new link when it appears}

4. YouTube Videos

Genesis

Acts 2 - layer by layer

5 Chapbooks and Broadsides

Matthew, The Vispo Bible, Knife Fork Book, 2021. Toronto, Ontario.

Romans, The Vispo Bible, where is the river, 2018, Toronto,Ontario [there's a link to a free pdf]

Revelation, the Vispo Bible, Timglaset Editions, 2018, Malmo,Sweden [out of stock]

now available as a free pdf.

John,the Vispo Bible, The Blasted Tree, 2018, CalgaryAlberta

Ruth, the Vispo Bible, Simulacrum Press, 2018, HamiltonOntario

Mark,the Vispo Bible, above/ground press, 2018, Ottawa,Ontario

Esther,The Vispo Bible, Puddles of Sky Press, 2017,Kingston, Ontario [scroll down; out of print, i think]

Deuteronomy2 from The Vispo Bible, pagefiftyone, 2019, BritishColumbia

Revelation 20 from The Vispo Bible, No Press, 2017, Calgary, Alberta [out of print]

Leviticus XII, Penteract Press, 2017 UK [out of print]

6. Anthologies

Judith: Women Making Visual Poetry (Timglaset Editions, 2021)

WAAVe Global Gallery 2020 (Hysterical Books, 2021)

7. Print Magazines

Not Your Best Visual Poetry (Knife Fork Book, 2019)

Train, Concrete Poetry issue, 2019

to call no 6, Germany psw, 2019

to call no. 1, Germany psw, 2018

illiterature issue v, the graphic novel, (Puddles of Sky Press, Kingston, ON) [scroll down]

untethered (Toronto, ON), Volume 3.2 2017 

Dreamland (Prince George, BC), 2016

8. SITES/EXHIBITS

Beir Bua Journal, Issue III (April 2021)

League of Canadian Poets Poetry Pause (September, 2020 and February, 2021)

The Pi Review (August, 2020)

Streetcake Magazine Issue 68, Part 1 (August, 2020)

Escapisms, Poem Atlas (May 15 to June 5, 2020)

Translations, Mellom Press (May 11 to June 9, 2020)

Europlasty 4 (Korea 2019)

Talking About Strawberries All The Time,2019

Renegade, 2019

Angry Old Man Magazine, 2018?

CONCRETE IS POROUS, Toronto, Ottawa, Windsor, 2018

Brave New Word, 2016

Ustanga, 2016

h&, 2015 and 2017

http://handandpoetry.blogspot.com/2016/04/amanda-earl-chapter-4-of-exodus-from.html

Our Teeth, 2016

University of Ottawa, English Department presentation by Claire Farley, 2016

9 ENGAGEMENTS

Eileen Tabios, Galatea Resurrects - The Book of Mark

Gregory Betts, Decoding (visual) Poetry: Some Thoughts on Amanda Earl’s Vispo Bible, February 1, 2022

The Vispo Bible: Acts from the New Testament

I have begun to work on the Acts of the Apostles from the New Testament. For Acts, I will be saving each individual layer separately.

Excerpts from the Vispo Bible have been exhibited in Ottawa, Toronto and Windsor,  Ontario. Publications include

Romans, where is the river, 2018, Toronto, Ontario

Revelation, Timglaset Editions, 2018, Sweden

Ruth, Simulacrum Press, 2018, Hamilton, Ontario

Mark, above/ground press, 2018, Ottawa, Ontario

Esther, Puddles of Sky Press, 2017, Kingston, Ontario

Revelation 20, No Press, 2017, Calgary, Alberta

Leviticus XII, Penteract Press, 2017 UK

Additional individual pieces have appeared in h&; our teeth, illiterature, Brave New Word (Ukraine), Dreamland Magazine, untethered, Ustanga.it,  Chaudiere Books NPM 2018, and To Call No 1  from Plaugolt Satzwechhsler in Germany,  not your best visual poetry from knife fork book. (2019) and Train Concrete Journal and blog (2019/2020). 

Thank you to the Ontario Arts Council 2018 Recommender Grant for Writers program for funding part of the creation of the Vispo Bible 

The Vispo Bible: Matthew 8, 9 and 10 in Train : journal of concrete poetry

thanks to DW Adams for including three chapters from the Vispo Bible in Train. Another piece was also included on the blog http://trainpoetryjournal.blogspot.com/2019/12/from-vispo-bible-matthew-27.html and DW was kind enough to interview me about my visual poetry and other things here.http://trainpoetryjournal.blogspot.com/2020/01/an-interview-with-amanda-earl.html.

a hand made visual poem featured in Guest 8: Femmecraft

G U E S T 8 , the latest in the above/ground press chapbooks edited by guests is now out. https://guestpoetryjournal.blogspot.com/.

For this issue, the editors are the wonderful Kate Siklosi and Dani Spinosa, who sent out a call for femmecraft, hand made work. I loved this idea. I am pleased that my stoneware NO bowl is in the chapbook. You can pick up a copy through above/ground press, and you should...because there is intriguing work therein. My contribution is a handbuilt stoneware bowl in the form of a coil and the word “NO,” which I also made from stoneware. I was thinking about craft, which is often dismissed as "women’s work," as if that is somehow pejorative, and often not considered to be art. I was thinking about resistance to this idea and resistance to women’s empowerment and creativity. I thought the call represented a celebration of feminist resistance to patriarchal dismissal and suppression of the force and creativity of imagination.

This is one of four imperfect pieces I submitted for consideration. They are cracked and chipped and made wrong. When I first started to take pottery workshops in the 90s, my instructor told me my work was charmingly uneven. I replied that this was much like my character. I think handmade work can resist this insistence on perfection and therefore show evidence of tender humanity. As T.J. Burnett said, “Perfection is a second-rate idea.”

and here are the other pieces from the series:

The Vispo Bible: Deuteronomy - completed

The Vispo Bible: Deuteronomy 34

I began Deuteronomy in May and have finally finished it (November 16, 2019). So far, only two of the chapters have been published Deuteronomy 2 by Page Fifty One and 34 here. 

I have completed 291 pages since I began the Vispo Bible in 2015, 7 chapters from the Old Testament and 8 from the New. All being well, I will start on Acts from the New Testament in the beginning of 2020. 

Thank you to all those who have published excerpts from the Vispo Bible, purchased chapbooks and broadsides and expressed interest and support in the project.

If you'd like more information, please feel free to contact me at amanda at amandaearl dot com.

not quite a palindrome, an homage to Sacha Archer's Redo in Arc Poetry Magazine's Issue 90

Page Fifty One publishes Deuteronomy 2

Thanks to Geoffrey Nilson of pagefiftyone in New Westminster, BC for publishing this piece from the Vispo Bible in an edition of 50 copies. I have some copies if you'd like one. They are 5 x 5 inches and this is fittingly micro-broadside # 5.

I began Deuteronomy in May and am at the 12th of 34 chapters of Deuteronomy.
Since June, 2015, I have completed a total of 269 pages from Old and New Testaments.
The Vispo Bible is a life's work to translate every book, every chapter, every verse of the Bible into visual poetry.

Not Your Best #1 Visual Poetry now available for pre-order from Knife Fork Book

thanks to the editor Eric Schmaltz for including pieces from the Vispo Bible and Knife Fork Book for publishing NYB 1. the anthology is now available for pre-order. click on the link to purchase.

bill dimichele

I was sad to learn that the visual poet, artist, poet, publisher bill dimichele had died on Sunday, August 4, 2019 at the age of 67. i knew bill as both a poet and a publisher. my small press, AngelHousePress published his work on NationalPoetryMonth.ca and in Experiment-O Issue 5. he also participated in the DevilHouse 6 interview, a series that explored the nature of transgression in creative work.

somehow, i don't remember when it happened or how, bill contacted me to participate in Tip of the Knife, his wonderful blog/site where published various writers and artists. he was always so welcoming and enthusiastic. i will never forget how much he welcomed me and encouraged me to play and be whimsical. For #15, i somehow misunderstood and thought he was doing a special issue on child art. i wasn't sure if i should contribute but the call inspired a series called Vizpo Kidz. He loved it.  In his introduction to the work, he wrote "I’ve seen a lot of Amanda’s work, and I’ve been happy to publish some; I always imagine the Angel creating her art out of laughter, lightheartedness and beautiful, whimsical energy.  Images made from inventive letter/picture coactions bring both amusement and sage excitement.  One of the most interesting aspects of these things is the titles, all twists on the pics - and who could not love titles like ‘Cinderella Snowflake’ and ‘Scuttling Sam Bones’?  Not everyone can make a crisp graphic work like Amanda can.  And no one else can put a head on it.

She may live in our newly constructed Age of Quasi Reason, but she’s not a slave to it the way some visual poets are, like those who construct little scientific systems devoid of soul and spirit.  Amanda may live in Candyland, but she knows how to tame the gum drops."

I was enchanted.  He published my attempts at autobiography as song titles in Issue 17. my earlier attempts at working with the alphabet in Issue 5 in 2011.

For Issue 11 from 2012, i was playing around with words, shapes. He wrote this about my work:

She has some cool space age themes going on with these pieces- simple so that our space voyager can take off with letters made of polished metal and plutonium retro rockets, excited to land, to spread new visual languages to the uninitiated aliens.  Amanda can do this, so I crown her Queen of the Universe.  These transformed glyphs are full of meaning to make the odyssey worthwhile.  Each page reveals a testament to exploration, fire and bravery.  Then there’s the piece about a crater where the ship has crashed, digging into the black extraterrestrial ground, exploding red astronaut blood which hovers above the surface in low gravity.  The red/black contrast itself is powerful enough to shatter the planet.  At first I thought 001 seed was outside the theme, but then I started thinking that some other  worldly race planted us and tended us.  Don’t look at me like that, it’s possible. 

I was so pleased to be part of Tip of the Knife, which introduced me or reacquainted me with fellow travellers of whimsy and gave me the opportunity to be read by the great bill dimichele, a kindred.

i end this post with a quote from his own contribution to Tip of the Knife 32, the final issue. 

This was when Billy first came unstuck in time.

His attention began to swing wildly through

the full arc of his life passing into death which

was violet light.

Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

rest in whimsy, fellow explorer. enjoy the violet light.

my condolences to his family, friends and all he's published and by published by. i will miss him. 

post-script, all being well a few best of issues of Tip of the Knife will be published and edited by Crag Hill. 

Concrete is Porous: Act 3 - Windsor, Ontario

the third exhibit for Concrete is Porous will take place at the Common Ground Gallery in Windsor, Ontario from May 28 to June 9, 2019.

I have two pieces in this show from the Vispo Bible: Genesis 2 and 34. If you are in Windsor, or area, I hope you'll check out the show, with readings taking place by the curators and Gustave Morin.

thank you once again to the organizers for including my work.

Starting Deuteronomy - the Vispo Bible

here's an intermediary step on the road to Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy is in the Old Testament and has 34 books. Let's see how long it takes me to complete it. I've decided to have a palette of metalic gold text on a black background for this book. Not sure why. Something to do with Moses, I guess. Golden idols.