This weekend Spare Room is hosting a three-day, three-location marathon reading of Charles Olson’s book-length epic Maximus.
Charles Olson, who William Carlos Williams called “a major poet with a sweep of understanding of the world”, was born December 27, 2010, and there have been a series of events across the country in recent months to commemorate the 100th anniversary of his birth.
The readings in Portland take place:
Friday, January 14, 4:00 – 9:00 pm
Switchyard Studios 109 E Salmon Street
Readers: Jacqueline Motzer, Jesse Morse, Zachary Schomburg, Christopher Luna, Dan Raphael, Laura Feldman, Michael Weaver, David Abel
Saturday, January 15, 2:00 – 7:00 pm
galleryHOMELAND 2505 SE 11th Avenue
Readers: Alicia Cohen, Sam Lohmann, Jennifer Bartlett, Jaye Harris, Donald Dunbar, John Hall, Susan Rankin, Dan Raphael, Rodney Koeneke, Endi Hartigan
Sunday, January 16, 2:00 – 7:00 pm
YU 800 SE 10th Avenue
Readers: Lisa Radon, Linda Austin, Tim DuRoche, Patrick Hartigan, Meredith Blankinship, Joseph Mainz,
Jamalieh Haley, David Weinberg, Castle, Paul Maziar, Drew Swenhaugen, James Yeary
And here’s the opening lines of Maximus, to get you started:
Off shore, by islands hidden in the blood
jewels & miracles, I, Maximus
a metal hot from boiling water, tell you
what is a lance, who obeys the figures
of the present dance.
