Join a.p. and former @calliesberlin writer-in-residence Tracy Fuad on November 23rd for the Berlin launch of Fuad’s debut collection of poetry, about:blank. On this occasion, Fuad will read a selection of poems from the volume, followed by a discussion of her practice with writer Patty Nash. Afterwards, stick around for refreshments and an informal reception.
Tracy Fuad’s poetics emerge from an interrogation of language’s production and reproduction across varying media and tongues. Combining phrases culled from online landscapes, like Yelp reviews, chatroom snippets, and ad jargon, Fuad enacts the noise of the internet, utilizing a host of analog and algorithmic processes to stitch, tear, recombine, and recreate. Her writing is at once complex yet inviting, cold yet warm, incisive yet humorous; and perhaps above all, it begs the question: can the speech-act contained within poetry render digital language physical?
about:blank was selected by Claudia Rankine as the winner of the Donald Hall Prize for Poetry, a yearly competition held by the University of Pittsburgh Press. Written before and after the author’s move to Iraqi Kurdistan, the text belies the author’s relentless absorption of lingual stimuli, and her desire to constantly reappraise language’s substance. Rankine said of the volume: “Like the course of a life, not every moment in this innovative collection yields to its reader; butabout:blank's collective force trembles with formal brilliance and originality.”
Attendance is free but space is limited. In accordance with 2G+ rules, proof of vaccination or recovery will be required for entry.