Review: "The Architecture of Chance" by Christodoulos Makris

Christodoulos Makris, The Architecture of Chance, (Wurm Press, 2015) 108 pages, poetry, $19.00 U.S.

Christodoulos Makris has established himself as one of the most important experimental poets working in Ireland today. The Architecture of Chance is his latest offering.

This is an exciting collection. Makris is fearless in his experimentation and is pushing poetry into whole new forms and realms of being. Most notable in this regard is "Chances Are", which he calls a mass collaboration poem. It appears in the collection as its HTML code. This poem can be found in application at 3am Magazine. It is a poem composed of every tweet that uses the word "chance" and updates in real time. Another boundary exploder is "From Something to Nothing" in which he took an informational text on the International Monetary Fund website and cycled it through several languages back and forth on Google Translate and turned the results into a poem that reveals much about the dynamics of language in the age of the internet. Given that Makris hails from Cyprus and has spent time in the United Kingdom while being based in Ireland, this experiment could be read as a commentary on the migrant experience.

Many of these poems are also political in nature. In "16 X 16" he writes: "I would have been a completely different person without the politics and a completely different writer." This is evident in poems like "Metro Herald's Advertorial Windbags Let Loose, 28-31 May & 4-7 June 2013"(which, as the title suggests, is a composition of adverts and editorials from Dublin's Metro Herald newspaper), "Civilisation's Golden Dawn: A Slideshow"(which contains pieces of speeches made by members of Greece's Golden Dawn party, whom Makris describes as neo-fascist), and "Public Announcement" (composed from the signs hanging in the Skerries public library on a certain day).

Others are slightly more domestic. Some are composed from emails or tweets sent back and forth in collaboration. One is composed from bits of conversations overheard around Dublin on a particular day. My personal favourite is "Heaney after Rauschenberg", which takes all the four letter words from Seamus Heaney's first collection Death of a Naturalist and places them in order of appearance. While soothingly familiar in vocabulary, it decenters Heaney's careful poetics almost completely, as if Heaney fell into a black hole when he died and this is all that is left of him in the universe. In that sense, it serves as an eerie, aching tribute of sorts - even as it seeks to shatter the comfortable traditionalism of  Heaney's legacy. Here is a brief excerpt:

"sick home hard blow baby pram when came hand tell they were away held hand hers with next went into room time left four foot four foot year

grey only from cows into like away iron gate into bank with from snug rise dead eyes used soon this they cock from left hand came came down this sake spat take your time more hole tree wild more said into mare hill back like that were that time ones that back when

dark fill dead cold like they line from some keep full tall soon back fish load from surf bend turf fear make they like clay seed shot seem they show good from bark feel roots pits live live wild land root died when lain days long clay with eyes died hard bird huts guts from like were with hope like land pits into sore stop they flop down take fill then cold

west mayo crew they from when with eyes like bone skin rose fell like they kept with beef men's then poor make food they like dogs that been hard when they with they were hope less next like dark once port ship free tart from good swim sink with zeal were

from that held arms came with have them word dead till"

This is definitely a book which requires the reader to "do the work" (Anna Strong), but the rewards are substantial. The break with Romanticism and traditional verse that began with the Modernist movement at the turn of the 20th century is spinning into free fall out of control as we become firmly entrenched in the 21st (much like society in general) and, like other experimental writers like him, Makris is making sure this is well represented in today's poetry. Only, he may be doing it better than most.

You can buy it at Amazon.

The Work of Christodoulos Makris

The following was originally published on Yahoo Voices on July 18, 2012.

Christodoulos Makris is quite the rising star in poetry. He has written three collections. The first one is a low-fi publication by Wurm Press in 2009 titled Round The Clock. It is now sold out. The second is a handsome little paperback titled Spitting Out The Mother Tongue from Wurm Press in 2011. The third is a limited edition, numbered art book of 100 copies total and is titled Muses Walk.  Makris was chosen to represent Cyprus in the gargantuan "Poetry Parnassus" festival which was organised in London to correspond with the 2012 Olympics. He lives in Ireland and blogs at http://yesbutisitpoetry.blogspot.com/. This is a review of Makris' three books.

Round The Clock is eclectic and doesn't really follow a theme. Standout poems are "The Impressionists", "Competitor Vassilaras", "Serving And F---ing" (censoring that word is my doing), and "Ginsberg in Fingal". "The Impressionists" is a timely statement on entertainment today and its effect on the artist (I use "artist" here broadly, to include all the arts). Impressionist painters are depicted as being on a reality show competition where the viewers vote for the one they like until all but one of them are dead. It forces meditation on just what art and artists are subjected to in the modern environment. The end result does and should make the reader uncomfortable. "Competitor Vassilaras" reads like a childhood memory of the poet's father and documents a shocking moment when the theatricality of wrestling was invaded by the all-too-real. "Serving And F---ing" is a statement on immigration and prejudice, exile and loneliness. "Ginsberg in Fingal" reflects an ambiguous feeling toward Ireland and perhaps offers a view of it that is clearer than those native to that country can see for themselves. In the U.S., this kind of poem from an immigrant is cliche, but in Ireland it must have been a small revelation. What Ginsberg would think about his increasing cameos in 21st century poems is anyone's guess.

Spitting Out The Mother Tongue is better organised. As the title suggests, it revolves around the experience of a Cypriot immigrant in Western Europe. It is much harder to pick out particular poems in this volume because the poems support each other like paragraphs in a novel. Makris' language is almost unpoetic. There is no attempt at music here and rhythm, while present, does not immediately soothe the ear. The wording is plain and simple, as if the reader was listening to some average Joe on the street describing his surroundings. Sometimes it is that very quality which makes it powerful. Many of the poems focus on adolescence and young adulthood. There are moments when the reader gets the feeling that it's all been said before. But then a phrase or image will smack the reader back into poetic reverie. The best poems in Spitting Out The Mother Tongue are "Muses Walk" and "Nicosia Journal".

Muses Walk the book (versus the poem) is extraordinary. It represents - it is - Makris' best work to date. As part of the "Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts in Dublin" initiative, Makris took "Muses Walk" the poem (which is an attempt to snapshot, so to speak, a particular street in Nicosia) and dissected it to create this little art book. He took each line of the original poem and used it for the title of a poem based on that line until he had done so with every line of "Muses Walk". The result is more than a snapshot of a street. Now it is a full album representing the people of that street, their lives, and their cultures. This little book is a true treasure. With it, one begins to see that Makris is an important poet, not just for sleepy Ireland, but perhaps for the world.

You are not here
and I cup my hands
to gather snowflakes.
I preserve them
for as long as I can;
then blow them back
into the infant summer.

- from "Nicosia Journal".

Up and Coming: More Reviews and a New E-zine

It's been quiet on this blog, but busy in the background.

Up and coming:

 -- Reviews of three poetry collections procured at the Appalachian Writers Workshop at Hindman Settlement School.

-- Launch of new e-Zine for the most groundbreaking avant garde in Appalachia and the world.

I've been working on this one since the middle of September 2015 when the idea fully crystalised. My involvement with Wurm im Apfel Press in Ireland since 2010 has demonstrated to me how valuable, even vital, experimentation and the avant garde are to any healthy, living literary scene. The Wurm poets infuse Ireland with a dose of much needed excitement and energy, challenging the established modes of expression and pushing poetry into entirely new territories (Christodoulos Makris' Twitter poem "Chances Are...", anyone?). Then in July 2015 I had the opportunity to attend the prestigious Appalachian Writers Workshop at Hindman Settlement School. There I found a good reception to my work, but generally a resistance to avant garde and indy publishing. Although the literary landscape of Central Appalachia is maturing once again into a more united, supportive community than it was 20 years ago, with a much more contemporary pulse, there do still tend to be certain conventions and traditions too "sacred" to be challenged. As far as I know, there is no publication that directly supports and encourages full experimentation, where rules exist to be broken and made new. Many editors of literary journals and presses told me at the Workshop that "there is a lot of work (they) must reject because it is too avant garde." I determined to create a home for that avant garde.

Introducing: "AvantAppal(achia)"

As you will see, the website has not launched yet. Web design is nearly complete. I may soon have a co-editor to help me with sorting submissions. We meet next week, hopefully, to hammer out the last few details before launch can take place. But it is coming soon! The Kin-folk - Ed(itor)s - at AvantAppal(achia) are proud to fill this gap in the literary scene of Central Appalachia, bring you earth-shattering new work by Appalachia's finest and around the world, and welcome you as Kin. Watch this space for more information!

The Virtual Blog Tour , I'm a Joining

I've been asked to join the "Virtual Blog Tour" by answering the following questions.

 1. What are you currently working on?

My poetry manuscript "Linger To Look" is currently in production stage. I'm trying to get it ironed out for eventual publication. I would like to have it released in time for the 2015 Spring book buying season, but, if not, I'll aim for the 2016 Spring season (I'll keep everyone updated). "Linger To Look" is my most experimental poetry yet. It draws heavily on Middle Eastern history and influences and blends them with Appalachia.

 I'm also finishing a songwriting collaboration with Kevin Mallory. The song will be called "Solitary One". I am reading four books for review. I'm also meant to interview Lia Parisyan for this space - watch for that. A local ACT Theatre has recruited my colleagues and I to design and build the set and costumes for its upcoming production of "Alice in Wonderland". It is up to me to find a visiting artist for the annual main event at Raging Rapid Art Gallery. I am also preparing to take a Modern and Contemporary poetry class starting in September. My plate is full!

2. How does your work differ from others of its genre?

I attempt to honour the Appalachian tradition while updating it with the contemporary and influences from around the world with a touch of the experimental. Appalachia is a land of great change right now. I try to reflect that in my writing. Therefore, it isn't what you would expect of an Appalachian poet by any means. My work falls firmly within the school, if you will, of the Appalachian Renaissance, but is still its own.

3. Why do you write what you do?

Firstly, because I love words in a sensual way. The way each one sounds, feels in the mouth, echoes off surfaces, and the shades of meaning and connotation. I love what I do. Secondly, to shatter stereotypes: Appalachian stereotypes obviously, but also others. I love to erase boundaries and strive for the supranational. All cultures are my culture and my culture is all cultures. The variety and colors that make up mankind is more beautiful and infinite than all the variety of flowers. Why not celebrate it for what it is: when harmonious, the most glorious creation of all God's creations. It is no surprise, therefore, that love tends to be a dominant theme.

4. How does your writing process work?

Every work comes about differently and I generally let them grow as individuals - like children. But a method that has been successful more than once is to write one phrase or stanza at a time and later organise it, so that the final poem is a collage, a patchwork quilt greater than the sum of its parts. It can be a very long process. Patience is vital. And humility. I have to get out of the poem's way. My job is to jostle the words around until they tell me where they need to be. That's all. The best work emerges when you take yourself out of it.

The key to this blog tour is to keep it going, so here are the three writers I'm tagging:

Michael O'Dea, a poet who draws from rural Ireland, County Roscommon mostly, for simple but profound and beautiful verses.
Christodoulos Makris, a very busy poet currently practicing in Ireland and the U.K. His work is heavily experimental, opening up exciting new avenues for the poetry of the area. He even made a poem that continually updates itself via Twitter!
Artemis Blithe, a poet who excels at spoken word and performance and who is also bringing Appalachian poetry to the 21st century.