Monday, February 16, 2009

Happy 100th, Abraham


This year, were he still alive, AM Klein, one of Canada's most significant and verbally inventive poets would have turned one hundred. Two days ago, I believe. I love a lot of Klein poems, but none so much as "Heirloom."

Hear me read it:


2 comments:

B. Glen Rotchin said...

Just in the nick of time Zach (though, to be precise you're two days late.) I was about to give you a severe electronic tongue-lashing for missing this one. In old Abe's honour I listened to the Folkways recording I have from the late 50s of Klein reading his bi-lingual classic "Montréal" in a basso-profundo at McGill. Heirloom's nice, but let me hear you try that one!

Zachariah Wells said...

I've been meaning to do the recording for a couple of days, but figured it would sound better without the random vocalizings of my son as backup; had a couple of hours in the house by myself today.

I'd love to do "Montreal," but there doesn't seem to be a text of it on-line and my copy of Klein's collected is in an attic on the other coast. Technically, the poem's more macaronic than bilingual. 'Tis a bilinguefaction!