Reuben Gelley Newman
Since 2020, I've written poetry on Arthur Russell and Julius Eastman, musicians active in the New York avant-garde and downtown scenes during the 1970s and 80s. In these poems, I convey my love for their vibrant music and legacies, while orbiting themes of queerness, race, pandemics, and cultural legacy.
See my covers of Arthur Russell and performances of Western classical music pieces on my YouTube channel.
Here's a link (full recital or excerpt) to my senior recital from Swarthmore College Music, with soprano Hannah Cai Sobel, streamed on May 1, 2021.
My poetry manuscript HOMONYMPOTENCE, containing homophonic "translations" of classic poems, some of my more experimental Arthur Russell/Julius Eastman poems, a queering of Bach's Cello Suite No. 5 in C Minor, and more strange musics is ready for readers! Homophonic translations and more forthcoming in journals like Lana Turner, Tyger Quarterly, mercury firs, & Afternoon Visitor. In chap form, containing just the homophone poems, this ms is called IMAGINARY GARDENS WITH TEAL ROADS.