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About the Archive of the Now. The Archive of the Now is an electronic and print collection of poetry and text-based work. It is offered as a scholarly, aesthetic, social and political resource for writers and readers of innovative poetry. Based at Queen Mary, University of London in collaboration with the Centre for Contemporary Writing at Brunel University, West London, the Archive consists of sound recordings, printed material, and manuscripts. Andrea Brady, its Director, has been commissioning and collecting audio performances by poets since early 2005, which now form the basis of this website. The print archive, housed at the Brunel University library, includes small press publications, chapbooks, little magazines, manuscripts and correspondence. William Watkin is an advisor to both archives. Currently, the Archive focuses on innovative text-based work being produced in the UK. Designating any poet's practice as 'innovative' does involve a critical judgement which deserves to be debated. However, it is hoped that as site evolves, its ability to respond dynamically to the full range of poetic activity in the UK will take some of the pressure off of that critical judgement. In this way, the Archive may help to overcome the exclusions and partisanship which is often associated with poetic community formation. We are committed to supporting non-mainstream poetry which may be excluded from similar projects. Inspired by the on-line resources available particularly in the US such as UBUWeb and PennSound, we hope to represent the true diversity of poetic practice in the UK. This project complements such well-resourced online resources as the British Council's contemporary writers website and the Poetry Archive; but its domain is not predicted or enclosed by them. We are particularly dedicated to supporting emerging or under-recognised authors, providing a new distribution network and opportunities for collaboration and exchange. The website provides information on individual poets, with links to their publishers, online projects and other material, along with downloadable MP3 files of public recordings and commissioned performances. Use of the website is governed by the terms and conditions explained here. The print collection conserves work that may be vulnerable due to its limited distribution or unconventional formats. The site includes recordings, links to poetry resources, and lists of events. In future, we will add a section on performance, site-specific work; we also plan to move into video recordings. The Archive can also provide space for new online projects: please contact us if you would like to discuss this further, or if you would like to use or deposit material in the archive, or make suggestions about new poets who should be included here. We are eager to respond to your feedback on the project. Please use the links to the left to contact us.
Acknowledgements Special thanks to: Steven Sams, for designing the site and working through the bugs so patiently; Myrna Nader, for her care and diligence in editing the sound files; and William Watkin, for his assistance, advice and enthusiasm.
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