Plug In Institute of Contemporary Art is pleased to present a reading by poet Colin Smith as part of a series of talks, performances, workshops and readings related to the exhibit Yesterday Was Once Tomorrow (or, A Brick is a Tool), an exhibition of Canadian art magazines from the 1990s curated by Kegan McFadden.

Colin Smith describes himself as an “ex-spore of the Kootenay School of Writing” (KSW) – an influential Canadian collective of poets who came to international attention during the 1990s. He will read a selection of recent writing as well as work published during his time in Vancouver as part of the KSW. Smith’s reading, which explores firsthand cultural politics and avant-garde writing, can be seen as a critical engagement with Plug In ICA’s current exhibition. KSW’s politics and poetics figure prominently within Boo, one of five magazines featured in Yesterday Was Once Tomorrow (or, Brick is a Tool).

Colin Smith is a Winnipeg-based writer, the author of four books. The latest, Multiple Bippies, edited by Donato Mancini, is a reissue of out-of-print writings with a selection of “uncollected prose yapping about poetry.” Smith’s bibliography also includes: Multiple Poses (Vancouver: Tsunami Editions, 1997); 8x8x7 (San Francisco: Krupskaya Books, 2008); and Carbonated Bippies! (Vancouver: Nomados Literary Publishers, 2012).