| Calgary is no stranger to incorrect thinking, but over the past week, you may have noticed an unusual proliferation of "inkorrect thots." Posters of bill bissett’s famous poem, "inkorrect thots," have been plastered everywhere from Inglewood to the University of Calgary, from mailboxes to oil conventions, all in preparation for a landmark visit by its author.
"An incorrect thought is any thought that hasn’t been approved by the Ministry of Correct Thoughts," bissett explains. "If we do something ahead of the ministry, or behind the ministry, or that the ministry hasn’t thought of yet, it’s incorrect. Only a few years ago, it was very incorrect to believe in climate warming. Now it’s totally allowed as a correct thought, but it might be incorrect to do anything about it."
Born in 1939, bissett has lived more lives than most people even imagine. "When I was sent here from Lunaria, on one of the children’s shuttles, I imagined going to the little red schoolhouse on the MGM studio lot," he remembers. "I would go to school with Judy Garland and take diction and dance and elocution and drama, because they have all those schools on the set. That’s what I imagined in the interstellar module, but it never happened."
Instead, he was raised in Halifax until he ran away with a preacher’s son to join the circus and became a central figure in the 1960s Vancouver poetry scene. He founded blewointment press in 1963, that survives today as Nightwood Editions, and published his first pair of books in 1966: fires in the tempul OR th jinx ship n other trips and we sleep inside each other all. Since then, more than a few books have been added to his resumé. "I think 74, but I’ve never counted," says bissett. "I’ve heard people say 74 or 84, I don’t know."
His latest collection, ths is erth thees ar peopul, is on the verge of publication with Talonbooks. "It comes out in spring 2007, whenever spring is," says bissett. "It’s different in every province. In Ontario, it’s sort of May, depending on how the winter was. The past couple years have been warmer because of climate change. The Ministry accepts that the icecaps are melting, but it doesn’t want to stop fuel emissions just yet. It wasn’t something to be done by 2050, but I don’t think the Ministry realizes how far away that is. By 2050, we may not even have winter. Tiny Tim prophesized the icecaps melting in a song quite a few years ago, but no one believed it. They said ‘Ice is ice.’ Have they never dropped an ice cube in a glass and seen it melt?"
bill’s poetry is instantly recognizable for its quasi-phonetic spelling. "I always wanted the words on the paper to look the way they sound," he says. "Then the most astonishing thing happened: I realised that it’s only since the printing press that there’s been standardization of spelling, and considering all of history, that’s not so long ago. I thought that poetry, at least, is a milieu where no one’s going to mind." He laughs. "Of course, people do mind, but now I don’t mind that they mind." This approach to language is also the reason he doesn’t capitalize his name. "I only use capital letters if it’s loud."
Poetry isn’t the most lucrative profession, but bissett has kept himself financially afloat for years by selling his paintings. He has exhibited extensively at the Vancouver Art Gallery, and even co-founded a co-operative gallery in 1968, Th Mandan Ghetto. "Painting is connected to writing, because writing was originally pictographic," he says. "If the writing gets stuck somehow, painting can help take you to the next level, or vice-versa." Even though there’s the occasional financial worry, bissett doesn’t let it get him down. "On Lunaria, poetry is much more valuable, but I don’t mind because I’ve been here 300 years, Lunarian time – that’s an approximate – and I’ve seen a lot of stuff," he says. "I try not to have expectations. I really believe it helps the money come in. Although, if the money doesn’t come for months and months, I start to not believe it. It’s a really result-based philosophy. Why do something just because it works?"
This week is a busy one for bissett: for starters, his latest CD project, a collaboration with musician and composer Pete Dako, is being released by Calgary’s own Red Deer Press. Keep an eye out for hot-off-the-press copies of deth interrupts th dansing. But he’s also the subject of a massive tribute celebrating his life and work: th spektacular tribute 2 th brilliant bill bissett dansing in a hurrican uv stars. "We don’t always have the opportunity to tribute, honour and thank the artists who have come before us," says Sheri-D Wilson, artistic director of the Calgary Spoken Word Society and organizer of the tribute. "I feel it’s very important for the city to have this kind of tribute, for emerging local artists to see bill and learn about him. We have rare footage and interviews that they’ll never see anywhere else, and we’re bringing in nine remarkable artists."
Christian Bök, Seth-Adrian Harris, Adeena Karasick, Steve McCaffery, Susan Musgrave, Billeh Nickerson, Jamie Reid, Linda Rogers and Wilson herself converge from across the continent for a special tribute to bissett on November 18 (8:00 p.m., Big Secret Theatre, EPCOR Centre for the Performing Arts). Many of them were published in the 2004 anthology, radiant danse uv being, a collection of poems celebrating bissett. This reunion is accompanied by an extravagant multimedia show, including music, photos, paintings and video from bissett’s long career, and live musicians on stand-up bass and electric violin. "It’s going to be a one-off," says Wilson. "You’re not going to see many events like this in Calgary, ever. I’m really happy to be part of it."
If you can’t handle the anticipation, you can interact with bissett this week on his blog (www.calgaryspokenwordfestival.com/blog) where he’s posting updates on his adventures and answering questions. "I’ll have questions as well," he says, "because I’m not the person who knows everything. I don’t think there is such a person, but it’s not me, anyway." bissett has his rattle warmed up in preparation for his closing performance on Saturday night, though the whole thing still has him slightly flabbergasted. "I’m sure they’ve got the wrong person and there’s someone much better to honour," he laughs. "I just really like it. Everyone coming is excellent." |
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