There were no laws governing amateur radio transmission in the United States before 1912. All you needed was some induction coil, brass wire, oscillators, and a battery, and if you so desired could become a broadcaster and a listener, filling the night air with unregulated messages traveling through electrical signal from station to station. And so we ask, what do we need to transmit now?
Transmission involves a passing, an outward motion, from the broadcast tower to the television, from your mouth to my ear, from my heart to yours. Transmission often involves a longing, an open question, will the message be received? Will it be understood, and answered? And what are we to do with the messages we receive, for what response are we responsible?
In our Fall 2019 Dis/Course Series at The Poetry Project we explore these and other questions around transmission and transmissibility. We will begin on Friday, September 27 with a meeting co-facilitated by Miriam Atkin, Olivia Divecchia, and Tara Homasi called “Language is My Second Language: Noise, Nonsense & Idiolects in the Community of Those Who Have Nothing in Common” where we will consider the possibility of speech outside of the exclusions of coding. In our second meeting on Friday, October 18, presented in partnership with The Fortune Society and Unlock Tomorrow/Words Uncaged and co-facilitated by Jamie Maleszka and Mersadez Lillian George, we will consider how transmission occurs under the carceral state, considering the function of incarceration as in part to block transmission and disrupt the ongoing communication of messages that keep communities interconnected and vibrant. Finally, on Thursday, November 14, Brandon Brown will facilitate a meeting on poetry and music, how a song or a poem becomes its own context, giving you (transmitting to you) a feeling — a childish feeling, a sad feeling, a free feeling, a strange feeling — and how that feeling might connect you to something both beyond you and inside you. We will talk about the paradox of pop music, and maybe we will dance.
Each meeting is free and open. Participants are invited to RSVP in advance to receive a packet of readings and other material to begin the conversation. Reading in advance, however, is not be required, nor is any particular education background or expertise. Come, talk about poetry and possibility, teach, learn, share, and connect more deeply with The Poetry Project community.
Language is My Second Language: Noise, Nonsense & Idiolects in the Community of Those Who Have Nothing in Common with Miriam Atkin, Olivia Divecchia, and Tara Homasi
Friday, September 27, 7 pm – 9 pm
Between In- and Out-Side: Transmission Under The Carceral State with Jamie Maleszka and Mersadez Lillian George in partnership with The Fortune Society and Unlock Tomorrow/Words Uncaged
Friday, October 18, 7 pm – 9 pm
Poolside Convo About Your Summer Last Night: On Songs with Brandon Brown
Thursday, November 14, 7 pm – 9 pm