Rob Read
Biography
Rob Read (1978– ) grew up in rural Ontario, Canada, and has lived in Toronto since 1996, other than a year in the UK in 2002–2003. His most recent books are O Spam, Poams: Selected Daily Treated Spam (BookThug, 2005) and Atone Neither Overflowing Clause, a collaborative pair of novellas written with AEM (Produce Section Press, 2005). Read also publishes hand-made books through Produce Press.
Poet's Note
Writing in the evening I'm reminded that I typically don't. For several years my focus has gradually shifted to include almost exclusively the modification (through subtraction) of unwanted e-mail into poetry through something I call Daily Treated Spam. Since September 2003 I've done supposedly one per day, although days are sometimes missed for various reasons, and I take weekends off. The spams are written during the day, usually the morning, and act as both a flexing and relaxation of my mental bowels.
I write these notes in the evening—8:48 at this point. 8:57 at this one. I suppose constipation is not unusual when attempting to break one's bodily schedule.
Book of Sparrows, which I will be reading from at Test, was written while convalescing after a laparoscopic cholecystectomy (i.e., removal of gall bladder through a specific procedure including the usage of four small incisions and internal cameras). At the time I wrote it in 2004, it was the most lyrical and thematic book I had written to that point, although the lyricism was at least partially sabotaged—sabotage being something I consistently return to.
Daily Treated Spam also relies on sabotage—hacking away at the wreckage left over from indirect-direct marketing materials. Recycling. More information about Daily Treated Spam can be found at the links below.
Sample Work
"Daily Treated Spam, Selections from September 1st to October 11th, 2006"
External Links
Daily Treated Spam Audio Interview on Spoken Arts, WBFO 88.7 FM
Daily Treated Spam, TothWorld Podcast
BookThug/Apollinaire's Bookshop
Test Recording
23 October 2006
Rob Read (35:33, 34.1 MB, info.)
Souvankham Thammavongsa (25:03, 24.1 MB, info.)
Question and answer session (41:54, 40.2 MB, info.)