Poetry, Publishing, Performance at Opus 40

As the summer winds down, Opus 40 will host the second annual presentation of indie literary and performance event Verbatim on September 10.

“Verbatim is a small-press book fair that is more than a book fair,” explain the event’s organizers. “It’s a gathering of bookmakers, sound makers, poets, fabulists, DIY librarians, singers, and sprechstimmers [performers whose style moves between and across domains of text and noise].”

Performers set to appear at the outdoor event include Terence Arjoon, Lee Anne Brown, Billie Chernicoff, G Lucas Crane, Jared Daniel Fagen, David Grubbs (Gastr Del Sol, Squirrel Bait), James Ilgenfritz, Matt Motel, Crystal Penalosa, Ali Power, and many others.


Mini-market vendors will be set up at tables with poetry books, chapbooks, artist’s books, ephemera, art-edition tapes, and other rarities to browse or buy. Record labels and publishers offering their wares at the gathering include Notice Recordings, Infrequent Seams, Topos, Winds Measures, Black Sun Lit, 1080 Press, Future Fields, Belladona Collaborative, Station Hill, Model City Books, Lanesville Press, Shivastan Press, Pinsapo, Argos Books, Dispersed Holdings, and P.S. Hudson. For refreshments, there will be food available from Corners, coffee from Anonymous, and drinks from the Stockade bar cart.

Verbatim will take place at Opus 40 in Saugerties on September 10 from noon to 7pm. Admission is on a sliding scale. For further information, visit the Opus 40 website.