April was National Poetry Month, and I didn’t read as much poetry this time as I have in past years. Part of that was my specific choices for poetry books, and part was general business and mental exhaustion. As you can see from the list below, I have spent most of my reading time buried in All that is Evident is Suspect, a collection of writing from members of Oulipo (Ouvroir de littérature potentielle, or “Workshop for Potential Literature”). The writing therein is frying my brain in the very best way. Highly recommended.

Acquisitions

15. Lauren T. Davila (editor), To Root Somewhere Beautiful: An Anthology of Reclamation (Outland Entertainment) [2024.04.10] – Purchased through a Kickstarter campaign run by Outland Entertainment.
16. Frantz Fanon (Richard Philcox, translator), The Wretched of the Earth [2024.04.20] – Purchased from a fantastic new store which opened the weekend of 4/20: Black Dog Books and Records. I see myself shopping there a lot.

Reading List

Books and Journals

29. Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast [2024.04.07]
30. Paul Celan (John Felstiner, translator), Selected Poems and Prose of Paul Celan [2024.04.12]
31. Kirk Jones, Aetherchrist [2024.04.16]
32. Jean Daive (Norma Cole, translator), A Woman With Several Lives [2024.04.18]

Short Prose

49. Raymond Queneau, “Slept Cried”, All That Is Evident Is Suspect: Readings from the Oulipo 1963 – 2018 [2024.04.18]
50. Jacques Duchateau, “Lecture on the Oulipo at Cerisy-la-Salle”, All That Is Evident Is Suspect [2024.04.19]
51. Latis, “The Atheist Organist”, All That Is Evident Is Suspect [2024.04.20]
52. Marcel Duchamp, “Correspondence With the Oulipo”, All That Is Evident Is Suspect [2024.04.20]
53. Albert-Marie Schmidt, “Letter to the Oulipo”, All That Is Evident Is Suspect [2024.04.21]
54. Claude Berge, “Letter to Jacques Roubaud & Georges Perec”, All That Is Evident Is Suspect [2024.04.21]
55. François Le Lionnais, “Idea Box”, All That Is Evident Is Suspect [2024.04.21]
56. Jean Lescure, “The N+7 Method”, All That Is Evident Is Suspect [2024.04.21]
57. Georges Perec, “Alphabet for Stämpfli”, All That Is Evident Is Suspect [2024.04.22]
58. Italo Calvino, “How I Wrote One of My Books”, All That Is Evident Is Suspect [2024.04.22]
59. Luc Étienne, “Bilingual Palindromes”, All That Is Evident Is Suspect [2024.04.22]
60. Stanley Chapman, “Letter to Valérie Guidoux”, All That Is Evident Is Suspect [2024.04.23]
61. André Blavier, “Literary Lunatics”, All That Is Evident Is Suspect [2024.04.23]
62. Jean Queval, “Circular Reflections from an Immobile Insect”, All That Is Evident Is Suspect [2024.04.24]
63. Michèle Métail, “Fifty Oscillatory Poems”, All That Is Evident Is Suspect [2024.04.25]
64. Marcel Bénabou, “Ebony Cup and Ivory Ball, All That Is Evident Is Suspect [2024.04.25]
65. Jacques Bens, “How to Tell a Story”, All That Is Evident Is Suspect [2024.04.25]
66. Paul Braffort, “Invisible Libraries”, All That Is Evident Is Suspect [2024.04.26]
67. Noël Arnaud, “The Last Minutes”, All That Is Evident Is Suspect [2024.04.26]
68. Michelle Grangaud, “Gesture”, All That Is Evident Is Suspect [2024.04.26]