Writing in Residence

My Works, Ye Mighty expands upon the conceptual literature of Christian Bök, particularly his ongoing project, entitled The Xenotext. Based upon work conducted during his tenure as the Writer-in-Residence at Athabasca University, this essay addresses the concept of "scale" in poetry, meditating on this topic with an abundance of imagery; moreover, his essay appears, alongside an epic poem, especially written by him for this publication. My Works, Ye Mighty expands upon the conceptual literature of Christian Bök, particularly his ongoing project, entitled The Xenotext. Based upon work conducted during his tenure as the Writer-in-Residence at Athabasca University, this essay and poem address the concept of "scale" in poetry, meditating on this topic with an abundance of imagery. In My Works, Ye Mighty, Christian Bök presents two blitzkrieg blasts in defence of his poetics of scale. The first blast is an epic boast, an Ozymandian collage, a cabinet of curious limit-cases. The riddle is that these are all artistic accomplishments, already made by other artists. The second blast is an essay that links all these achievements: a manifesto for attending to scale. Leave behind the dull and the quotidian, he cajoles, and embrace both the subtle mysteries of the micro and the impossible enormity of the macro. How far artists have already gone is genuinely dizzying-implying, too, how far there is yet to go. Bök, here, sets the stage for his own genetic infusion into the poetics of scale, an epigraph of sorts for The Xenotext. -Gregory Betts, Professor, English Language & Literature, Brock University