Bob Cobbing (30 July 1920 - 29 September 2002) was a British sound, visual, concrete and performance poet who was a central figure in the British Poetry Revival. Events 1419 - First Defenestration of Prague. 1502 - Christopher Columbus lands at Guanaja in the Bay Islands off Year 1920 ( MCMXX) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display 1920 of the Gregorian calendar Events 522 BC - Darius I of Persia kills the Magian usurper Gaumâta securing his hold as king of the Persian Empire. See also 2002 (disambiguation Year 2002 ( MMII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. British literature refers to Literature associated with the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands as well as to literature Sound poetry is a form of literary or Musical composition in which the Phonetic aspects of Human speech are foregrounded at the expense of more conventional Visual poetry, is Poetry or Art in which the visual arrangement of text images and symbols is important in conveying the intended effect of the work Concrete poetry, pattern poetry or shape poetry is Poetry in which the typographical arrangement of words is as important in conveying the intended effect Performance poetry is Poetry that is specifically composed for or during performance before an audience A poet is a person who writes Poetry. Etymology From the Ancient greek: ποιέω, poieō: "I make or compose" The British Poetry Revival is the general name given to a loose poetic movement in Britain that took place in the 1960s and 1970s
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Early life
Cobbing was born in Enfield and grew up within the Plymouth Brethren. The Plymouth Brethren is a Conservative, Evangelical Christian movement, whose history can be traced to Dublin, Ireland He attended Enfield Grammar School and then trained as an accountant. Enfield Grammar School is a boys' Comprehensive school in Enfield Town in the London Borough of Enfield in north London. He later went to Bognor Training College to become a teacher. During the Second World War, he was a conscientious objector. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including A conscientious objector (CO is an individual who on religious moral or ethical grounds refuses to participate as a combatant in war or in some cases to take any role that would support
Early involvement with poetry and performance
His involvement with performance began with the Hendon Experimental Art Club and the Hendon-based magazine And in 1951. Hendon is a London suburban development situated 7 miles (113 km north west of Charing Cross. Year 1951 ( MCMLI) was a Common year starting on Monday. Events of 1951 January This led to his setting up Writers Forum, which began publishing in 1963. Writers Forum is a small publisher workshop and writers' network established by the late Bob Cobbing. Year 1963 ( MCMLXIII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. In 1964 he published ABC In Sound, a book that combined his interest in sound and concrete poetry in an exploration of the visual and auditory possibilities of the English alphabet. Year 1964 ( MCMLXIV) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the 1964 Gregorian calendar. The modern English alphabet consists of 26 letters derived from the Latin alphabet: History See also History of the He left teaching around this time and managed Better Books on Charing Cross Road, London. Charing Cross Road is a London street which runs immediately north of St Martin-in-the-Fields to St Giles' Circus (the intersection with Oxford Street London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. This shop was the venue for a number of events and happenings associated with what Cobbing's friend Jeff Nuttall termed the Bomb Culture, the British version of the 1960s counterculture. A happening is a performance event or situation meant to be considered as Art. Jeff Nuttall ( July 8, 1933 &ndash January 4, 2004) was an English Poet, publisher Actor, painter Counterculture (also " counter-culture " is a sociological term used to describe the values and norms of behavior of a Cultural group, or
The 1970s
During the first half of the 1970s, Cobbing was able to use the facilities of the Poetry Society to produce Writers Forum books. This article is about the Decade 1970-1979 For the Year 1970 see 1970. Established in 1909 the London -based Poetry Society is a membership organisation open to all Writers Forum is a small publisher workshop and writers' network established by the late Bob Cobbing. In all, the press published over 1,000 titles between 1963 and 2002. As well as fostering the younger poets of the British Poetry Revival, Writers Forum also published works by John Cage, Allen Ginsberg and Ian Hamilton Finlay. The British Poetry Revival is the general name given to a loose poetic movement in Britain that took place in the 1960s and 1970s Writers Forum is a small publisher workshop and writers' network established by the late Bob Cobbing. WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> John Milton Cage Jr Irwin Allen Ginsberg (ˈgɪnzbɝg (June 3 1926 &ndash April 5 1997 was an American Poet. Ian Hamilton Finlay, CBE, ( 28 October, 1925 - 27 March, 2006) was a Scottish Poet, Writer, Artist Writers Forum also ran a regular Saturday afternoon writers' workshop at which poets read and discussed each other's work. Writers Forum is a small publisher workshop and writers' network established by the late Bob Cobbing.
In the early 1970s the Poetry Society did not have any printing facilities. Cobbing had his own equipment elsewhere throughout the 40 years of his (largely solo) operation of Writers Forum. Writers Forum is a small publisher workshop and writers' network established by the late Bob Cobbing. In the mid-1970s, against tremendous opposition of the rump of the old guard on the Poetry Society General Council, Cobbing and others opened a public print shop on the society's premises. Cobbing brought in his own equipment and allowed it to be used by anyone wishing to print their own book of poetry. Later the society provided a desktop litho, plate-maker and golfball typewriter with a diversion of the funds allocated to Poetry Review which was henceforth, for some years, printed in house.
Cobbing also explored his interest in performance works for multiple voices and musical instruments in groups like Bird Yak and Konkrete Canticle, which included poets Paula Claire, Michael Chant and Bill Griffiths. Michael Chant is an English composer and political activist Born in 1945 he became politically active in the 1960s while associated with another composer Cornelius Cardew Bill Griffiths ( August 20, 1948 &ndash September 13, 2007) was a Poet and Anglo-Saxon scholar associated with the He was also co-founder of the Association of Little Presses, an organisation that promoted the work of small publishers in Britain and Ireland. The Association of Little Presses ( ALP) was an organisation dedicated to promoting small press publishing activity in Britain and Ireland.
Later life and work
Cobbing was a prolific writer and performer and continued to work right up to his death. He also used his teacher training to work on performances with school children. Much of his later work consists of visual texts, artist's books and markings that were used as notations or, more strictly speaking, jumping off points for performance. Artists' books are works of art realized in the form of a book He also worked on more directly collaborative works with other poets, such as the Domestic Ambient Noise project, a series of 300 booklets created with his friend and fellow Writers Forum editor Lawrence Upton. Writers Forum is a small publisher workshop and writers' network established by the late Bob Cobbing. Lawrence Upton (born 1949) is a Cornwall -based English Poet and Graphic artist currently editing Writers Forum Since Cobbing's death, Upton has carried on the work of running Writers Forum. Writers Forum is a small publisher workshop and writers' network established by the late Bob Cobbing.
External links
- Bob Cobbing at EPC
- Bob Cobbing at UBUWeb
- Writers Forum
- Bob Cobbing Solo
- Bob Cobbing at 'edition selene'
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