conceptual writing / escritura conceptual / scrittura concettualeINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL

11

Crux Desperationis 11 - december 2018

director Riccardo Boglioneeditorial staff RB, Georgina Torello

journal header Paolo Argerijournal design Massimo Alacca

Images taken from Emile-Bayard, Les Arts de la Femme, Paris, Librairie Ch. Delagrave, 1904 (after Boutet de Monvel)

cc by-nc-nd

gegen, Montevideo 2018

gegen.mvd@gmail.com

DIVYA VICTOR

Croniamantal

AURÉLIE NOURY

Cinque autoritratti

MICHELE GRANZOTTO

Song of Myself (excerpt):ELISABETH TONNARD

Edgar Allan Poe likes his own link.

Emily Dickinson updated their

cover photo.

Ralph Waldo Emerson shared Walt

Whitman’s post.

Henry David Thoreau added a new

photo to the album: Walden; or,

Life in the Woods.

“I would prefer not to”

(Being all the sentences containing the text “I would prefer not to” in Bartleby, the Scrivener, A Story of Wall

Street, by Herman Melville, arranged in chronological order.)

***

But in quite as clear a one came the previous reply, “I would prefer not to.”

“I would prefer not to,” said he.

“I would prefer not to,” he said, and gently disappeared behind the screen.

“I would prefer not to.”

“I would prefer not to.”

“I would prefer not to.”

“I would prefer not to.”

“I would prefer not to.”

“At present I would prefer not to be a little reasonable,” was his mildly cadaverous reply.

“No; I would prefer not to make any change.”

“I would prefer not to take a clerkship,” he rejoined, as if to settle that little item at once.

“No: at present I would prefer not to make any change at all.”

I would prefer no to

SIMON BROWN

RICHARD KOSTELANETZ

PREFACE

I initially thought of adding tags explaining why each of these lumi- nous monuments has been so important for

me, each of them weighty enough to merit its own page; but then I decided to leave enough blank space for

readers to inscribe their own comments that they are wel- come, if they wish, to send to me for possible further

use, thanks.

Less interested in defining a canon than recording my own great enthusiasms, may I hope that each new entry

comes to the reader as a surprise.

Richard Kostelanetz, FarEast BushWick, NY, 14 May 2017

Works I wish were made by me (excerpt):

Miguel De Cervantes

Don Quixote

Jorge Luis Borges

Collected Stories

Ramón Gómez de la Serna

Greguerías

Frank Lloyd Wright

Guggenheim Museum

Ambrose Bierce

A Devil ’s Dictionary

Simon Rodia

The Watts Towers

Jean Paul Sartre

The Wall

Emma Goldman

My Disi l lusionment With Russia

James Joyce

Finnegans Wake

Ralph Ellison

Invisible Man

W. A. Mozart

Requiem

L. Moholy-Nagy

Vision in Motion

[name redacted] was born and raised in beautiful New Hampshire, but now spends her days in

sunny Santa Monica, California. She recently completed her master's degree in English and Cre-

ative Writing from Southern New Hampshire University and is pursuing her goal of becoming a

professor. [name redacted] lives next to a dusty cactus in Tucson, Arizona. He writes mostly poetry

and nonfiction. Recent publications can be found in [name redacted], [name redacted], [name

redacted], and [name redacted]. Say hello at [website redacted]. [name redacted] recently left

teaching to write full-time. You can find her work in [name redacted], [name redacted], and [name

redacted], as well as online at [website redacted]. [name redacted] was born and raised in Tampa,

Florida. She graduated from the University of Nebraska, earning an MFA in poetry, and currently

teaches English at the University of Nebraska at Omaha and is a mentor for the nonprofit organi-

zation, The Seven Doctors Project. Her poetry and short fiction have been published by [name

redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted],

[name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], and

[name redacted]. Recent work by [name redacted] has appeared or is forthcoming in [name

redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], and [name redacted]. Her chapbook [name

redacted] is forthcoming from [name redacted] (2015). Her website: [name redacted]. [name

redacted] is a poet, visual artist, and soon-to-be librarian living in Boston, Massachusetts. His pre-

vious works have appeared in [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], and as an oc-

casional contributor to [website redacted] and [website redacted]. He maintains a blog of recent

work at [website redacted]. [name redacted] is currently co-editor-in-chief for [name redacted]. She

also curates [name redacted] at [website redacted], where poets write about music. Her chap-

book [name redacted] is forthcoming from [name redacted]. She lives in Jersey City and blogs oc-

casionally at [website redacted]. [name redacted] holds a B.A. in English and a Writing Certificate

from Kent State University and an M.A. in English from Cleveland State University. She has been

published in [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], [name

redacted], [name redacted], and [name redacted]. Together with fellow Ohio poet, [name

redacted], she has co-self-published a chapbook entitled [name redacted]. [name redacted] was

born in Toronto, Ontario, but her adult years have all been spent in Waterloo, where she recently

completed a degree in Political Science and English Literature, and in Victoria, BC. Her poetry has

appeared in [name redacted] and [name redacted]; her fiction at [name redacted]. In 2009 she

won a 24-hour playwright competition with [name redacted]. [name redacted] is a poet and chil-

dren's author from Edmonton. She has published poetry in [name redacted], [name redacted] and

has also published a children's story with a CD. [name redacted] is a poet – poems he has written

have appeared on [name redacted], [name redacted], & in his spare time he is an amateur hermit.

[name redacted]’s poetry and prose has appeared or is forthcoming in [name redacted], [name

redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted] and elsewhere. She teaches writing

at the University of Pittsburgh, where she received an MFA in poetry and MA in Literature. [name

redacted]’s first book, [name redacted], is forthcoming from [name redacted]. [name redacted], a

chapbook, will appear from [name redacted] in 2006. Recent poems appear in [name

redacted], [name redacted], and [name redacted]. He lives in Fayetteville, Arkansas and co-

edits [name redacted]. [name redacted] is a poet currently residing in Dumfries, Virginia. He

serves as a staff writer/reviewer for [name redacted], and his poems have appeared or are forth-

coming in [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], and elsewhere. [name redacted] is

Associate Professor of English and World Comparative Literature, National Taipei University of

Technology. His full-length book of poetry, [name redacted], was published by [name redacted] in

2008. Poems and stories have appeared, most recently, in [name redacted]; [name redacted];

[name redacted]; [name redacted]; [name redacted]; [name redacted]; [name redacted]; and

[name redacted]. Scholarly articles have appeared in [name redacted]; [name redacted]; [name

redacted]; [name redacted]; and [name redacted]. [name redacted] is also a performance artist,

Sites of Contemporary Meat (excerpt)

theatrical magician and singer-songwriter. His original album [name redacted] was produced by

[name redacted] in 2013. [name redacted] lives in Mobile, Alabama. She is an English instructor at

the University of South Alabama. [name redacted] is currently working on a chapbook of modernist

sermons as poetry. [name redacted] was raised in Haynesville, Louisiana. His work includes the

novels [name redacted] ([name redacted]) and [name redacted] ([name redacted]). Non-fiction and

poetry have appeared under his name in [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], and

other publications. A schoolteacher by trade, he currently lives with his wife on a mountain in rural

northwest Arkansas. [name redacted] is from a leviathan corporation that moved her family every

two years. Her work has appeared in: [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], [name

redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted],

and [name redacted]. Honors and awards include: [name redacted], [name redacted]; [name

redacted], U of Utah; [name redacted], Semifinalist; [name redacted], [name redacted], Poetry;

[name redacted], Fiction, UNCW; [name redacted], Fiction; [name redacted], Poetry; [name

redacted], Poetry. More at [website redacted] [name redacted], 30 yrs old, Israeli. Of melancholic

temperament. An anti-capitalist working endless hours as a rough laborer. A tribalist renting an

open apartment alone, with a ginger bitch. Post-psychedelic, affectionate, musical, post-new-age.

He dreams of one day being a hipper, hippier version of [name redacted]. [name redacted] lives in

Somerville, Mass., with her husband, daughter, and two cats. In 2005, her poem "[name redacted]"

was included in U.S. Poet Laureate [name redacted]'s [name redacted] project. [name

redacted] just completed a one year [name redacted] in Wesleyan University's Writing Program

and currently lives in Brooklyn. She is an editorial assistant at [name redacted], a fiction reader

for [name redacted], and also works for [name redacted]. Her recent poems have been published

or are forthcoming in [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], [name

redacted], and [name redacted]. Feel free to email her at [email redacted]. [name redacted] is a

writer, reader, listener, watcher and lover of all things gothic, weird and obscure. She comes from

the land of kitsch vampires and cheap alcohol, though she is currently based in the UK. On a day-

to-day basis, she keeps impending madness at bay by striving to maintain the fragile balance be-

tween her research, her teaching, her writing and the slightly less exciting parts of her life. [name

redacted] is an author of poetry and short fiction currently living in St. Catharines Ontario. His work

has appeared in issues of [name redacted] and the anthology [name redacted], as well as upcom-

ing issues of [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], and elsewhere. [name

redacted]’s chapbook, [name redacted], was published by [name redacted] in April of 2012. You

can follow [name redacted] on Twitter, @[name redacted]. [name redacted] is a Brooklyn, NY-

based writer of poetry and fiction. He is the founder and publisher of [name redacted], a literary

journal/website built on the promise of helping emerging writers gain exposure. [name redacted]’s

work has been featured in [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], and [name

redacted], among other publications. [name redacted] has published widely in journals such

as [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], [name

redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], and [name redacted]. Awards include two [name

redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], and a [name redacted]. She was a finalist in the

[name redacted] (2007), [name redacted] (2009, 2012), and received honorable mentions in

the [name redacted]’s [name redacted] (2008, 2010). She is the editor of [name redacted], and

lives on a small horse farm in Northern Illinois. She has published 11 books including [name

redacted] ([name redacted]), [name redacted] ([name redacted]) and [name redacted] from [name

redacted]. [name redacted] received the 2013 [name redacted]. [name redacted] was published in

spring of 2014 by [name redacted] ([name redacted]). Two chapbooks are forthcoming in

2014; [name redacted] ([name redacted]) and [name redacted] ([name redacted]). [name redacted]

is also an associate editor of [name redacted] and [name redacted]. [name redacted], b. 1970, is

an artist, writer and public servant based in the South Pennines. [name redacted] has enjoyed a

varied career that has included roles as diverse as video producer, script writer, lecturer, project

manager and landscape painter. [name redacted]’s poetry has been accepted for publication in a

number of journals and anthologies including [name redacted], [name redacted], and [name

redacted]. [name redacted] is a regular contributor to [name redacted] poetry performance nights.

He lives in [name redacted] with his wife and three children. [name redacted] lives and creates in

Huntsville, AL, where she’s a writer, editor, and visual artist. She’s the Interviews Editor for [name

redacted] and the Editor of [name redacted]. Her work is forthcoming or has recently appeared

in [name redacted] and [name redacted]. You can find more of her work at [website redacted].

[name redacted] lives and works in Kentucky, and recently graduated from the University of

Louisville, where he studied philosophy. When he’s not writing, he spends his time hiking, climb-

ing, fishing and generally spending as much time outdoors as possible. He has had recent work

appear in [name redacted], [name redacted] and [name redacted]. [name redacted]: "Poetry of

mine has appeared recently in [name redacted], [name redacted] and [name redacted]. Other of

my work has been published in the [name redacted] anthology ([website redacted]), [name

redacted], [name redacted], and [name redacted]. My work has appeared in numerous other liter-

ary journals, including [name redacted] (a [name redacted] nominee), [name redacted] (also a

[name redacted] nominee), [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], and [name

redacted]. A one-act play of mine was a finalist in the [name redacted] and was produced in Seat-

tle." [name redacted] was born in Edmonton, Alberta and grew up in Kamloops, BC. He has taught

ESL in China and is a graduate of the [name redacted]. [name redacted] is currently writing and

filming in Kamloops. [name redacted], former college English instructor, writes in the Texas Hill

Country. Both a juried and featured poet at the [name redacted], she’s also won a Japanese haiku

contest. Her poetry and fiction have been nominated for a [name redacted]. She also writes es-

says and plays. [name redacted] is a French translator living in Paris. Her poems have appeared

in [name redacted], the [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted]

and [name redacted], among others. [name redacted] is a graduate of Kalamazoo College, the

Warren Wilson College MFA Program for Writers, and Drew University, where he completed an

MA in British and American Literatures. He teaches creative and expository writing in the Paul

McGhee Division, a liberal arts college within New York University. His work has appeared previ-

ously in [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted],

[name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], and will also be included in

upcoming issues of [name redacted], and [name redacted]. He lives in Mamaroneck, New York,

with his wife, [name redacted]. [name redacted] I am a twenty year old from Ireland who works in

the office of a catering company and seeks to become a full time writer. [name redacted] has writ-

ten a novel called [name redacted], which is forthcoming from [name redacted]. She has work pub-

lished in [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], and [name redacted], among others,

and a chapbook of poetry, [name redacted], available from [name redacted]. She homegirls it up at

[website redacted]. [name redacted] is a poet, scholar and educator from Buffalo, NY. His poems

appear in a number of literary magazines and academic journals, most recently [name redacted]

and [name redacted]. His scholarship appears in refereed academic journals. An article entitled

"[name redacted]" will appear in [name redacted] this spring. He also is a frequent contributor to

the online music magazine, [website redacted]. Poetic interests include: the beats, [name

redacted], French symbolism, the Language poets, and hip-hop. [name redacted] was born in the

South Bronx, NYC and raised in Carruzos, Carolina, Puerto Rico. He is a graduate of DeWitt Clin-

ton high school and has studied at Hudson Valley Community College; Fordham University (Rose

Hill); University of Kentucky and Pace University (NYC). He holds a bachelor’s degree in Spanish

Literature and Latin American Studies, and a Master in Secondary Education. He is a doctoral stu-

dent in the Education Policy and Evaluation program at the University of Kentucky and lives in

Bowling Green, Kentucky where he is the director of the Office of Diversity Programs for Western

Kentucky University. As an undergraduate student he co-founded the [name redacted]— a group

of friends who have dedicated the last 20 years of their writing careers, to the aesthetic of making

the invisible visible. Look for [name redacted]'s poems in the [name redacted], [name redacted],

[name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], [name

redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted] and on his website at [website redacted]. [name

redacted] is a professional writing/editing major at Youngstown State University. He has been pub-

lished at [name redacted], where he works as a slush reader. [name redacted] lives in San Fran-

cisco, CA where runs a workshop on poetics and edits [name redacted]. His work is forthcoming or

has appeared online at [name redacted] and [name redacted] and in print in [name

redacted], [name redacted], and [name redacted]. In 2007, his poem "[name redacted]" received

the [name redacted] and [name redacted] awards at the Pennsylvania State University. Currently

he is pursuing his MFA in Writing at California College of the Arts and working on a book, a re-cu-

ration, of text found in the 75th Anniversary Show at the [name redacted].

SACHA ARCHER

MICHALIS PICHLERMigration #31

Poema Existencial

BELÉN GACHEtipografía disponible en http://belengache.net/ratona/

Claudia Schiefer laying between two couchesA magician doing a levitation trickA piece of metal held up highReligious iconographyA fashion model without bodyA parachute A piece of fabric blown by the windA piece of fabric and a fruit stuck in the corner of a couchA prismatic three dimensional structure made out of thin metalA paper kiteExotic fruits cut in exotic shapesA folded napkinSemiplume feathersTwo hands, open �ngersHand cut handsA face in a bowlZoom of a single noodleKids doing gymnasticsA black woman holding her leg high, forming an archHenri Moore Two young girl contortionists Reclining �gureA human body underneath silver latexDetail of cut shapes on a dressA girl wearing a cardboard maskA View-MasterAn abstract playgroundCut circles on cardboardA hole showing the back of a ladyA naked backUpholsteryA folded jacketPeruvian sculpturesGabriel KuriA landscapeLady GagaMagnets and powderLady GagaPierre Huyghe, UntitledAn Olmec headA stone headA Transparent crystalA marbled columnYaacov AgamA falling curtain in a circular shapeA sculpture wrapped in cloth�ree ghostsFolded feltRobert MorrisA hole in a mountainSticks and plastic forming a tipi-like constructionErnst CaramelleA modernistic haircut A half naked man making an archFranz West Wire like chips on a plateTwisted cottonBraided hairstyleA porous organic shapeCoralsA stone with eyes and mouthAn ancient maskA boy wearing a hoodie with holes in itAn abstract faceA brick with noseA face made out of cardboardSomething upon a teenagers nose�e pro�le of a clip on a girls noseA melted ice-cream cone on the �oorA stone A piece of marbled cakeA champignonFolded sheet as head decorationA dress blown by the windA circular structure made of woodA mechanical gameNeon lightsCubes of iron forming a sculptureStrings and glassA cageA net with cansA re�ection upon a platter

An ancient maskA boy wearing a hoodie with holes in itAn abstract faceA brick with noseA face made out of cardboardSomething upon a teenagers nose�e pro�le of a clip on a girls noseA melted ice-cream cone on the �oorA stone A piece of marbled cakeA champignonFolded sheet as head decorationA dress blown by the windA circular structure made of woodA mechanical gameNeon lightsCubes of iron forming a sculptureStrings and glassA cageA net with cansA re�ection upon a platterDiamond shaped screenA windowSol LewittSolar Panel A metal bedA metal rail and stairsA grid on fabricTwo balls on a chairTwo boys wearing paper masksA paper maskA blindfolded kidLady JusticeA hand holdng something transparentMelting iceA hand grabbing something watteryA water fallA brides veilA chi�on dressCurtains blown by the windA mosquito netA human underneath a netA �sherman’s netA de�ated plastic domeA bunch of plastic bagsTwo guys huggingA head inside a full shopping cartBreaking bricks with the heada karate moveA fanA white peacock A coralA Bismark palmA folded napkin in shape of a fanA braided circular hair-doA hand holding a paper folded structureAn A dressClayA transparen jelly �sh�e bottom of a champignonA coralA gray hair swirlA swirl in the ocean�e zoom of a �nger printA distorted faceA handcra�ed cardboard maskA blown up latex glove�e back of a headCotton candyA wooden model of a headClay on a stick�e pro�le of a sculptureHead massageHand on bustA man wearing a turtle neckCrowd sur�ngA crowd reaching out Lord Shiva’s poseAn organ cactusA human poseSynchronized swimmingA man opening his mouth

An ancient maskA boy wearing a hoodie with holes in itAn abstract faceA brick with noseA face made out of cardboardSomething upon a teenagers nose�e pro�le of a clip on a girls noseA melted ice-cream cone on the �oorA stone A piece of marbled cakeA champignonFolded sheet as head decorationA dress blown by the windA circular structure made of woodA mechanical gameNeon lightsCubes of iron forming a sculptureStrings and glassA cageA net with cansA re�ection upon a platterDiamond shaped screenA windowSol LewittSolar Panel A metal bedA metal rail and stairsA grid on fabricTwo balls on a chairTwo boys wearing paper masksA paper maskA blindfolded kidLady JusticeA hand holdng something transparentMelting iceA hand grabbing something watteryA water fallA brides veilA chi�on dressCurtains blown by the windA mosquito netA human underneath a netA �sherman’s netA de�ated plastic domeA bunch of plastic bagsTwo guys huggingA head inside a full shopping cartBreaking bricks with the heada karate moveA fanA white peacock A coralA Bismark palmA folded napkin in shape of a fanA braided circular hair-doA hand holding a paper folded structureAn A dressClayA transparen jelly �sh�e bottom of a champignonA coralA gray hair swirlA swirl in the ocean�e zoom of a �nger printA distorted faceA handcra�ed cardboard maskA blown up latex glove�e back of a headCotton candyA wooden model of a headClay on a stick�e pro�le of a sculptureHead massageHand on bustA man wearing a turtle neckCrowd sur�ngA crowd reaching out Lord Shiva’s poseAn organ cactusA human poseSynchronized swimmingA man opening his mouth

CLAUDIA DE LA TORRE

Small Comfort (cover)

Eleven