We are very saddened to hear about the passing of ruth weiss, the Berlin-born Austrian-American performance poet who pioneered jazz performance poetry, inspired Jack Kerouac’s experiments with Haiku, and whose delicate, abstract works defied easy definition.
weiss’ work has been central to the studies of several EBSN scholars, notably Estíbaliz Encarnación-Pinedo, Stefanie Pointl, and Thomas Antonic, whose interview with ruth can be found here, and his touching obituary here.
EBSN Board member Frida Forsgren also co-edited the 2015 book Out of the Shadows with Michael J. Prince, in which weiss’ work is featured.
Thomas and Estíbaliz are also the editors of a soon to be published collection of essays on weiss which also features work by several EBSN members including Benjamin J. Heal, Polina Mackay, Frida Forsgren, Chad Weidner, Lars Movin and Stefanie Pointl.
Also upcoming is Thomas’ feature length documentary film “ruth weiss: One More Step West Is The Sea” (2021), and a full biography of weiss’ life and works.
