Sunday 8 December 2024, 2pm
Join Lanterne Records and Peninsula Press for the launch of A Cast of Flowers, a collaboration of poetry by CA Conrad and music by banjo instrumentalist Jacken Elswyth, alongside a celebration of CA Conrad’s new book, Advanced Elvis Course. The event will feature readings from CA Conrad, Oisín Roberts, and Isabel Waidner, with music by Jacken Elswyth. Limited editions of A Cast of Flowers and signed copies of Advanced Elvis Course will also be available.
CAConrad has worked with the ancient technologies of poetry and ritual for over 50 years. Their latest poetry collection is First Light (Wave Books / UK Penguin, 2027). They received the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize, a PEN award, a Creative Capital grant, and other awards. The Book of Frank is now available in a dozen languages, with a forthcoming Korean translation in 2027. They exhibit their poems as sculpture with recent shows in London, Edinburgh, Hamburg, Melbourne, Porto, Santander, and Chicago. They teach at Sandberg Art Institute and De Ateliers in Amsterdam, and at Bard College's MFA program. They live in Greenfield, Massachusetts. Please visit them at CAConrad.com
Jacken Elswyth is a London-based folk musician, banjo player, and instrument builder. In her music making she is focused on exploring traditional tunes, developing extrapolations on folk styles and techniques, and investigating drone, ambience, and improvisation within and beyond folk music. She plays and records solo and in collaboration - with Shovel Dance Collective, Sullow, and others. She also builds and repairs banjos and other instruments, with a focus on folk craft and vernacular styles. This practice and these instruments inform and facilitate her music making.
