Poetry
Phenomenological Undulation
By Anne Waldman
For a final farewell to Ursula No. 8, our collaboration with The Poetry Project and Nicole Eisenman, the revered American poet Anne Waldman performs a poetry reading in the sanctuary of St. Mark’s Church in-the-Bowery, The Poetry Project’s East Village headquarters for almost half a century. Waldman’s new poem, “Phenomenological Undulation,” was written especially for our poetry issue, in response to the work of Waldman’s longtime friend, the painter Pat Steir.
Pat Steir, 9 x 7, C, 2022. Oil on canvas, 108 x 84 inches (274.3 x 213.4 cm). © Pat Steir. Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth
Pat Steir, 9 x 7, D, 2022. Oil on canvas, 108 x 84 inches (274.3 x 213.4 cm). © Pat Steir. Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth
Phenomenological Undulation
“Happiness is being on a beam with life—to feel the pull of life.” —Agnes Martin
For Pat Steir
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Anne Waldman’s most recent books include Bard, Kinetic, a memoir with poetry, essays and interviews. She is co-editor with Emma Gomis of New Weathers: Poetics from the Naropa Archive. The Burroughsian opera Black Lodge, with music by David T. Little and libretto by Waldman, premiered at Opera Philadelphia in 2022. She collaborated with Pat Steir on Cry Stall Gaze and on Steir's Kairos catalogue. She is a founder of The Poetry Project and the Kerouac School, where she curates and teaches.
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Staffed entirely by poets, The Poetry Project has nurtured new and experimental poetry since 1966. Based at St. Mark’s Church in-the-Bowery, in New York’s East Village, the project has been an accessible resource and advocate for diverse, culturally rich poetry and art from its conception, offering reading series, writing workshops, a quarterly newsletter, a website and archives for poets and the wider reading community. Learn more about The Poetry Project.