Tuesday, January 26, 2010

FISH! On Working with Derek Pollard

by Daniel Reinhold: www.danielreinhold.com

The DWC's very own Derek Pollard will return for a reading with Derek Henderson this Friday. Derek Pollard received his MFA from the University of Utah, and has twenty-seven muses: a practice common in that state. He is a student of the experimental and has widely diverse influences from John Cage to Lao Tsu from the Italian futurists to Brian Eno. He is interested in random composition. He has been known to throw things out of windows. Cut up pieces of old letters, severed fish heads, and once after a long night of alleged inebriation, his jockey shorts. He later named them Ode to Fruit of the Loom.

Derek’s poetry is clean, poignant, and sparse. It is often accessible. A term he clearly despises.

He has performed experimental readings previously at the DWC, once having three poets read simultaneously. Another time he orchestrated five poets reading randomly from texts. One poet read off book and intermittently shouted the word “fish.” Reportedly the poet was in the throes of a two-week ether binge. Pollard, reeking of chemicals, denied any such allegations.

Derek is returning to Syracuse after having been imprisoned in New Jersey. A condition clearly preferable to living freely in New Jersey. He spends his time hanging out in shopping malls watching girls with big hair, and drinking Orange Julius’s.

His return to Syracuse has raised ardent protest from the Daughters of the American Revolution for undisclosed reasons. The reading is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served. Wine, cheese and fresh severed fish heads.

Daniel Reinhold's work has appeared in several galleries throughout Maryland and New York. He is currently a DWC PRO student in poetry. He lives in Ithaca, NY with his dog Zelda, in a tree-surrounded studio within sight of Cayuga Lake.

1 comment:

  1. Dan, you've captured his essence. I was sorry to miss him (I do miss him). I worked Fri. night.

    ReplyDelete