“There are worse crimes than burning books. One is not reading them.”—Joseph Brodsky
MOVING CENTER LITERARY FESTIVAL (AMSTERDAM, 2024)
Ru Paré Community
Chris Lebeaustraat 4
1062 DC Amsterdam
SCHEDULE
For the schedule of Prague’s events please check here.
12 October (Saturday)
14:00–15:30 – “Breaking Free”: Poetry workshop with Christine Otten and Lucien Zell
Visionary poet William Blake wrote about “mind-forged manacles” which confine us. Christine Otten’s foundation goes into four Dutch prisons to teach prisoners how to write. Join her and Lucien Zell in a discussion of what it takes to truly break free.
15:30-16:30 – Break
16:30–17:30 – Christine Otten: The Last Poets
The Last Poets were a legendary group of Afro-Americans whose groundbreaking revolutionary poetry made them world famous in the late 1960s and early 70s. They shocked both black and white audiences and had a profound influence on hip-hop culture. Otten wrote a highly acclaimed novel based on lengthy interviews with these men, their families and friends. The book is highly personal and political, has been adapted for the stage many times, and was translated into Arabic. Otten will be interviewed and will read from the book.
17:30–18:00 – Coffee break
18:00–19:00 – Peter-Jan Wagemans and Natálie Kulina: “Folk music without Folk”
Five pieces for solo violin and electronics, commenting on the folk music which disappeared in the Netherlands: dance, jazz dance, farmers’ songs, workers’ songs and religious songs.
19:00–20:30 – Andrei Codrescu, Eden Roding and Lucien Zell
Andrei will read selections from his many published books, including The Poetry Lesson, New Orlean: Mon Amour; Jealous Witness, So Recently Rent a World, The Art of Forgetting, Now Time Like Now, etc. Eden Roding will combine spoken words (long and short poems) with dancing and music. Lucien Zell will read from his collection Tiny Kites and from his upcoming collection, Mad Honey, punctuated with songs and a music video.
20:30–21:00 – Break
21:00–23:00 – Jeff Babcock: “Blind Date with a Film”
Babcock is well-known in Amsterdam for his guerilla screenings of little-known and long-forgotten cinematic masterpieces. He will select a film with a literary theme and surprise the audience with his choice.
Note: Jeff Babcock’s film screening is 3 euros entry (Jeff firmly believes films, and their subtle wonders, should be accessible to all).
13 October (Sunday)
10:45–11:45 – Sarah Falkner and Nicholas Kahn: The peripatetic and perpetually permutating “Truppe Fledermaus”
Nicholas Kahn, Sarah Falkner, David Sater and Melinda Reidinger, in the guises of The High Priestess, Orlovsky, Strength and Mr. Death–will read selections from Sarah’s poetic companion volumes. Chance and audience participation will determine the selection, with audience members drawing Tarot cards to pick which texts will be read aloud.
11:45–12:45 – Martien von Agtmaal: The Objective
Martien will read from and discuss his debut novel, The Objective, a fictional account of a melancholy translator, a tropical doctor in a tree house, a group of friends on the road, a doomed quest for love, and a wandering honeyblonde cat.
12:45–13:00 – Coffee break
13:00–14:00 – Adam Trachtman: “Creative Storytelling Through Neural Networks”
Adam will explore how graphic novels diverge from traditional narrative forms. He will describe the multi-layered creative process behind the world’s first AI-assisted graphic novel, which is based on two decades of reference photos, a German NST neural network, Python, Photoshop, and his diverse background in fine arts, illustration, and programming.
14:00–15:00 – Victor Chakravarty: Presentation
15:00–15:45 – David Sater: “Alchemical Poetry and Magical Tales”
David will present two new books: a collection of alchemical poems and hermetic essays (The Archaeus of Water) and The Witch in the Sea-Prison of Habits, an artist book made in Mexico with copper etchings and watercolors.
15:45–16:15 – Coffee break
16:15–17:00 – Paul Manwaring: Readings
Paul will read original poems between excerpts from his non-fiction trilogy based on his unique experiences and strange relationships as a resident of Prague, Los Angeles and Amsterdam.
17:00-17:45 – Lutsa Horvath: “How Poems Can Turn into Songs”
Lutsa will perform music, draw connections between poems from a previous century and today, and talk about how a poem can turn into a song.
17:45–18:15 – Dawn Mcguire: “Shattered Minds” (via zoom)
Dawn is the author of four collections of poetry and the winner of several poetry awards. But she is also a professor of neurology at an institute where she works with wounded military veterans with chronic pain and shattered minds. She will introduce the audience to the broad scope of her work.
18:15–18:30 – Break
18:30–19:45 – Panel discussion: “AI in the Arts”
Writer and anthropologist Melinda Reidinger leads a discussion on this hot topic with panelists Jeroen van der Most, Jody Echegaray and Lynae Zebest. Jeroen is a high-tech artist and keynote speaker. Jody worked in Hollywood for decades creating special effects for big budget films and is now a clinical psychologist. Lynae is an occultist, writer, potter, jeweller and experiential artist, now re-envisioning early human cave art through the lens of generative AI hallucinations.
19:45–22:00 – Film screening and discussion: Fish have no Psychiatrists: A Day with Andrei Codrescu
Released in April 2024, this the cinematic portrait’s European debut. Andrei will be present to talk about the film with the audience and (via Zoom) the film’s director, Julian Semilian.
FESTIVAL PRICES
Workshop: 10 euros (suggested donation)
Presentations: 7.50 euros each (5 euros for students and poor artists)
All presentations on 1 day: 20 euros (not including Workshops; 16 euros for students and poor artists)
All presentations on 2nd day: 40 euros (not including Workshops; 30 euros for students and poor artists)
All presentations on both days, including the workshop: 50 euros
Special offer, Jeff’s “Blind Date With a Film”: 3 euros
