12 lettrs 2 kathleen

Lunarian born bill bissett is a Canada-based poet, lyricist, musician, visual artist and artist advocate. Founder of blewointment magazine and press, along with bpNichol, co-founded concrete poetry in canada; his sound poetry sampled by The Chemical Brothers, has been honoured by contemporary poets Leonard Cohen and Margaret Atwood and toured worldwide with Adeena Karasick. Currently based in Toronto and Mattawa, Ontario, bill bissett contributes to the programming of the Secret Handshake Gallery in Kensington Market, Toronto making space for up and coming poets alongside established poets Honey Novick, Hart Broudy, Helen Posno. bill bissett was awarded the George Woodcock LIfetime Achievement Award and Honorary Doctorate in Literature from Thompson Rivers University, decades after he was first discovered by Jack Kerouac who, when interviewed in the Paris Review 1968 and asked who the great poets are, said “Bill Bissett, or Bissonnette…he’s very original”. bill bissett’s website →

Kathleen Florence (Reichelt) has been writing and performing since the Coffin Factory days of the 90s (Union Theatre School Collective), working in visual art, film, television, music, poetry and theatre. Stardusting as sistersirreal, Phonetic Spring, Flodiggs with bands/sound projects Burning Iceberg, swimming, Bring Rebel, Florence is a romantic beat poet, founder of Garage Theatre Toronto, Co-Director of Thousand Islands Film & Stage, archivist of 253469, artist advocate, collaborator and dreamer. Kathleen Florence’s website →

You can read Kathleen Florence’s interview with bill bissett on Arteidolia here→