February 2, 1995: Vol26n15: UB's Carles Bernstein edits first audio anthology of influential

By PATRICIA DONOVAN
News Bureau Staff
Language poetry," the bedeviling school of contemporary poetry that
has intrigued the literary world for two decades, has been wrestled
onto a new CD titled "Live at the Ear."
	Edited by Charles Bernstein, David Gray Chair in Poetry and
the Humanities at UB, it is the first audio anthology of this
increasingly influential school of poetry.
	The 72-minute recording, produced by Richard Dillon and
Elemenope Productions, features 13 four-to-six-minute tracts excerpted
from readings presented by major language poets at Manhattan's
historic Ear Inn between 1974 and 1993.
	Because it is intended for use in the classroom, as well as by
poetry aficionados, the CD is accompanied by a 32-page booklet with
textual excerpts from each recorded selection (often highlighting the
authors' unusual typographics, spelling and usage), photographs of
each writer and a description that illuminates his or her personal
aesthetic.
	This back-up material is useful because language poetry is a
cryptic and highly theoretical literary form grounded in philosophical
discourse, and is best approached by the initiated. Among its features
are a celebration of the visuality of words through the original use
of space and typography, and the construction of works that, like
abstract art, are usually devoid of conventional content and derive
their "meaning" from both the creator and the receiver of the poem.
	Among the poets featured on "Live at the Ear" is Bernstein, a
noted literary critic and editor of "L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E," the journal of
language poetry. He joins Susan Howe, associate professor of English
at UB, and author of groundbreaking work in the field of poetics. Of
the 13 poets included, 10 have taught at UB or performed here, in
connection with the UB Program in Poetics and the "Wednesdays at 4
Plus" literary series.
	Bernstein helped pioneer the UB Poetics Program, a unique one
that reflects the tenets of language poetry by exploring not only the
work itself, but the process by which it was created. He says that
"Live at the Ear" is an excellent teaching tool for several reasons.
	"First of all," he notes, "there are few, if any, commercial
recordings by these poets. That means that for many audiences, this CD
presents a unique opportunity to hear language poetry read aloud.
	"The technical quality of the recording is superb," he said,
"particularly considering that the original recordings were made in a
nightclub during a live performance. So the listener has an
opportunity to hear the work as it was meant by the writer to be
heard."
illon points out that the original live
	recordings have been digitally remastered by Dick Charles, one
of the most respected audio technicians in the business, to ensure
high technical quality and the best possible sound. "And of course,"
adds Bernstein, "CDs are easier to use in the classroom than audio
tapes because specific tracts can be located much more easily."
	Bernstein points out that there are few recordings of
contemporary poetry available with the amount of textual and reference
support material that accompanies this recording, and virtually no
recordings at all by the poets included here, despite their critical
reputations and recognition in their field.
	"Live at the Ear" features the following poets: Susan Howe,
from " Speeches at the Barriers;" Ron Silliman, from "OZ;" Leslie
Scalapino, from "bum series;" Ted Greenwald, from "You Bet;" Rosemarie
Waldrop, from "Reproduction of Profiles;" Alan Davies, from "Shared
Sentences;" Barrett Watten, from "Under Erasure," and Erica Hunt, from
"cold war breaks." Also included are Bruce Andrews, from "I Knew the
Signs by Their Tents;" Hannah Weiner, from "Spoke;" Steve McCaffery,
from "The Curve to its Answer;" Ann Lauterbach, from "Opening Day,"
and Charles Bernstein, from "Dark City."