Roy Kiyooka – The SoundBox Collection

Charles Olson Memorial Poetry Reading

On 14 March, 1970, poets and scholars gathered at St Anselm’s Anglican Church on the University of British Columbia’s campus in Vancouver, B.C., on Musqueam Territory, to mark the passing of the U.S.American poet Charles Olson (1910-1970). Following an introduction by Warren Tallman, and opening recitation from the Book of Revelation 1:4 by Robin Blaser, participants read in the following order: Judy Copithorne, Peter Quartermain, Lionel Kearns, Jim Brown, George Stanley (San Francisco), Stan Persky, Roy Cartlidge (England), Brian Fawcett, Scott Lawrence, Ralph Maud, Richard Sommer, Doug Walker, Maxine Gadd, Mark Cacchioni, Ebbe Borregaard (San Francisco), Roy Kiyooka, Roger Field, Jon Furburg, and Robin Blaser. Some sections of this recording are missing and may be found in SFU’s collection, as Megan Butchart (SpokenWeb RA) describes in her blog post about this tape, “In the Archive: The Charles Olson Memorial Reading” (2020). — Karis Shearer

Citation: “Charles Olson Memorial Poetry Reading,” 14 Mar 1970. 2012.002.006, Warren Tallman fonds. SoundBox Collection, AMP Lab at UBC Okanagan, Kelowna, B.C. https://soundbox.ok.ubc.ca/warren-tallman-fonds/

| Bibliography

Butchart, Megan. “In the Archive: The Charles Olson Memorial Reading.” The AMP Lab Blog. 25 May, 2020. Online: https://amplab.ok.ubc.ca/index.php/2020/05/25/in-the-archive-the-charles-olson-memorial-recording/

“Is Robin Here?” SoundBox Signals Podcast S1:E4, Karis Shearer, Nour Sallam, co-producers. 22 April, 2020. Online: https://soundbox.ok.ubc.ca/is-robin-here/

| Metadata

“Charles Olson Memorial Poetry Reading, St Anselm’s Church, Vancouver.” SpokenWeb Search Engine. https://search.spokenweb.ca/catalog/4548

At Yorktown and Merce of Egypt

This audio clip features Roy Kiyooka reading “At Yorktown” and “Merce of Egypt” at the Charles Olson memorial at St. Anselm’s church, Vancouver, 14 March 1970. In the full recording, which can be accessed here, he reads alongside 18 other poets and scholars, all intent on remembering and celebrating the late “Charlie Olson,” as Kiyooka calls him endearingly.—Klara du Plessis

Citation: Kiyooka, Roy. “At Yorktown” and “Merce of Egypt” at “Charles Olson Memorial Poetry Reading,” 14 Mar 1970. 2012.002.006, Warren Tallman fonds. SoundBox Collection, AMP Lab at UBC Okanagan, Kelowna, B.C. https://soundbox.ok.ubc.ca/roy-kiyooka/

| Metadata

“Charles Olson Memorial Poetry Reading.” SpokenWeb Search Engine. https://search.spokenweb.ca/catalog/4548

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The SoundBox collection is digitized, archived, and remediated on the traditional and unceded territory of the Syilx Okanagan Nation. The collection encompasses the thoughts and work of voices recorded across so-called British Columbia and so-called Canada, including on the traditional and unceded territories of the Syilx Okanagan Nation, Secwépemc, Tiohtià:ke (Montreal), xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) peoples.

Located on the ancestral and unceded lands of the Syilx Okanagan Nation. The collection is housed at The University of British Columbia (Okanagan) and loved by The AMP Lab.

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Kelowna, BC V1V 1V7