Dalle storiche pellicole originali di Howard Brookner, che si credevano ormai perdute, è tratto il film Nova ’78 (Pinball London-Bando a Parte, 2025), documento sui tre giorni della famosa/famigerata kermesse multimediale The Nova Convention allestita tra il 30 novembre e il 2 dicembre 1978 all'Entermedia Theater di Manhattan per salutare il ritorno di William Burroughs a New York dopo decenni di assenza. Ne è autore assieme a Rodrigo Areias il nipote di Howard, Aaron Brookner, che con il MoMA e la Giorno Poetry Systems ha programmato per questa sera e nei giorni seguenti le prime proiezioni pubbliche negli Stati Uniti. A Locarno e Firenze il film è stato presentato nei mesi scorsi: sul web ne circola un breve trailer.

Held in New York on November 30, December 1 and December 2, 1978, The Nova Convention was a three-day event honoring the cultural impact of the work of William S. Burroughs, imagined by James Grauerholz and co-produced by GPS and semiotext(e). The gathering included discussions, performances, and readings by Burroughs, Patti Smith, Allen Ginsberg, Philip Glass, Peter Orlovsky, Laurie Anderson, Julia Heyward, Anne Waldman, and others. The artist Les Levine moderated a particularly poignant conversation about science fiction and the not-yet-here future between Burroughs, Robert Anton Wilson, Timothy Leary and Brion Gysin. Keith Richards had to cancel last-minute, but Frank Zappa read extracts from Burroughs’ Naked Lunch instead. Howard Brookner had brought multiple camera crews to film the event, but most of the footage had been lost, only to have recently resurfaced and made into the film Nova ’78 (2025) written and directed by Howard’s nephew Aaron Brookner and co-directed by Rodrigo Areias.

https://giornopoetrysystems.org/222-bowery/events/nova-78
https://www.moma.org/calendar/events/11230#occurrences
https://www.pinballonline.co.uk/nova-78

Al Roulette di Brooklyn si raccoglie questa sera - gelo e tormente di neve newyorkesi permettendo - un'intera comunità di musicisti, amici e collaboratori per rendere omaggio al grande Guy Klucevsek (1947-2025) con una rassegna di sue musiche scritte ed eseguite nel corso degli anni e per varie occasioni. In sala, sul palco o in collegamento da remoto, tra saluti, ricordi, testimonianze e messaggi sono attesi tra gli altri Alan Bern, Erik Friedlander, Volker Goetze, Dave Hofstra, John King, il Relâche Ensemble e il Bachtopus Accordion Ensemble, Bill Ruyle, Doug Wieselman e Jenny Lin: Guy Klucevsek Memorial Concert-Comin' On Home.

Guy Klucevsek, a master accordionist, composer, collaborator, and fearless punster, passed away on May 22, 2025. To honor Guy’s legacy, a group of close friends - led by his wife, Jan Klucevsek - have organized a concert to celebrate his life and music, featuring works for ensembles, solo accordion, dance, and theater, performed by artists who knew him well, often as collaborators. The music and stories told by friends will reveal Guy’s wonderful sense of humor and humanity.

https://roulette.org/guy-klucevsek-memorial-concert-comin-on-home

E figure care, anzi carissime, si ritrovano nell'eccellente E is for Edward pubblicato l'anno scorso da Black Dog & Leventhal per celebrare il centenario della nascita di Edward Gorey (1925-2000). Ne ha curato l'edizione Gregory Hischak, super esperto di Gorey e affidatario - nonché lì residente - della casa-museo del Nostro a Yarmouth Port, Massachussetts, suddividendo il materiale selezionato in otto capitoli tematici: il primo si intitola Hapless Children, cosa che dice senz'altro molto anche agli estimatori di Michael Mantler (e a quelli di Robert Wyatt, naturalmente).

E is for Edward celebrates Gorey's capacity as author, illustrator, humorist, playwright, printmaker, fabric artist, and theatrical designer, and pokes around the vast array of material he created between 1953 and his death in 2000. Including both iconic as well as never-before-seen works, E is for Edward is organized by major themes and topics that characterize Gorey’s self-authored output, including unfortunate children, uncomfortable creatures, Dance, Fashion (both ill-fitting and to die for), the genres of Murder Mysteries and Nonsense, and the recurring motifs and latent symbolism that underlie these subjects. Writer Gregory Hischak (who also moonlights as Curator and Director of The Edward Gorey House) offers both a poet’s and a designer’s sensibility to Gorey’s art. Ensconced in the wake of ephemera that Edward left within the House, the author has had unfettered access to works, collections, and, via the indulgences of the Edward Gorey Charitable Trust, has had dozens of rarely viewed notebooks, manuscripts, and artwork made available for this volume.

https://edwardgoreyhouse.org/e-is-for-edward
https://ecmreviews.com/michael-mantler-the-hapless-child