Department of Art History

Rebecca Kosick will discuss archives and translation as both methods and outcomes of academic research. She will address her experiences working with personal and institutional archives, reflecting on practicalities (such as permissions and record-keeping) as well as bigger questions about how translation and archival work can shape critical writing. Kosick is Senior Lecturer in Comparative Poetry and Poetics and Co-Director of the Bristol Poetry Institute at the University of Bristol (UK). She is the editor-translator of Hélio Oiticica: Secret Poetics (Soberscove and Winter Editions 2023), a book that introduces never-before-published poetry written by the Brazilian artist in the mid-1960s, previously available only in an obscure digital archive. She is also the author of three books, including the forthcoming monograph, Detroit's Alternative Press: Dispatches from the Avant-Garage (Wayne State 2025). This book brings to light a massive archival collection of print ephemera published between 1969-99, including one-of-a-kind poetry postcards by contributors such as Robert Creeley and Alice Notley. From 2019-2021, Kosick was a fellow at the British Library's Eccles Centre for American Studies conducting archival research into their Latin American artist book collection.

This event is in person and on Zoom.

Zoom Link:

https://uchicago.zoom.us/j/91865136854?pwd=bDM4ZlZHSWJQenY3NjR4dWYxbGk0dz09