J. R. Carpenter

Kirkstall Abbey was built in the 12th century from Millstone Grit, a coarse-grained sandstone, quarried across the river Aire from where the ruins of the Abbey still sit. 326 million years ago Leeds lay in equatorial regions beneath a shallow sea. sand, silt and mud, eroded mountains was carried south by rivers, eventually filling the sea with the sediment that compacted to form the stone from which Kirkstall Abbey is constructed. wind and rain is gradually turning the building into sand again.

Measures of Weather (Shearsman Books) is The Observer’s poetry book of the month! in the print edition Sunday, online today. thank you Jade Cuttle for this deep dive close read big picture. I feel seen and heard and all the other weathers. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/feb/11/measures-of-weather-by-jr-carpenter-review-shearsman-books

London friends — I’ll be reading from my new poetry collection, Measures of Weather (Shearsman Books), at Swedenborg Hall in Bloomsbury 11 February 7:30 FREE https://www.shearsman.com/shearsman-reading-events

I’m giving a free online craft talk 17 Jan hosted by If, Then: Technology and Poetics, a collaborative, public, and interdisciplinary virtual working group and workshop series promoting inclusivity and skills-building in creative computation. More info: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScoJ3eQ9rUeUVppQvRjLp7OWyYQ4BBHeBoxD3FXT314QTzEOQ/viewform

my new poetry collection, Measures of Weather, is now available for pre-order from Shearsman Books. (out in February 2025) https://www.shearsman.com/store/J-R-Carpenter-Measures-of-Weather-p686332264

what’s in your coat pocket?

340 million year old coral fossil, 150 million year old belemnite (squid) fossil, mesolithic scraper knapped approximately 8000 years ago from cretaceous flint, 1300 year old sherd of Saxon Shelly ware, plastic bead, stainless steel washer, house key, ammonite keychain

@nickmofo@mastodon.social thanks Nick. it should be out in february

behold the uncorrected proof copy of my next poetry collection, Measures of Weather, out with Shearsman Books in February 2025

Output: An Anthology of Computer-Generated Text, 1953–2023 edited by Lillian-Yvonne Bertram and Nick Montfort @nickmofo — out now from @mitpress :
https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262549813/output/

green leaves contain the colours of autumn within them. chlorophyll allows trees to absorb blue and yellow wavelengths from sunlight, but not green wavelengths. those are reflected back, so that’s what we see. until autumn. when the weather cools. and the leaves receive less sunlight. this triggers chlorophyll to break down. revealing the colourful pigments. the yellows and oranges. the xanthophylls and carotenoids. that have been there all along. waiting. underneath.

Wild Archaeologies: Historical inquiry and assembling the contemporary, interdisciplinary workshop and conversation with JR Carpenter, Knut Ebeling and Ido Govrin. Friday, 1 November 1 · 2:30 - 5:30pm UCL Institute of Advanced Studies, London https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/wild-archaeologies-historical-inquiry-and-assembling-the-contemporary-tickets-1046809333897

preparing a seminar on repetition in poetry. floored once again by Layli Long Soldier’s Obligations 2.

the grief the grief the grief the grief

morning. made of mist pouring. through cast iron. fence made of bright. and in the shade. the fruit. of fungal rot. and curtains. of gills sporing.

back in August I was photographed on the Thames foreshore and interviewed for TOAST magazine about my writing and research on water, weather, and colonialism, which involves mudlarking and fossil hunting as well as working in libraries and archives. the issue is out now.

oh just a belemnite rostrum (the remains of an extinct species of jurassic squid) fossilised in selenite crystals in the bedding of upper lias shale near Port Mulgrave, North Yorkshire #fossilhunting

the Earth will briefly have a second moon this autumn. a mini-moon. trapped in terrestrial orbit. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/sep/19/mini-moon-asteroid

big book news. my next poetry collection will be published by Shearsman in February 2025. it’s called Measures of Weather. the image is of the cover.

belemnite — an extinct cephalopod mollusc with a bullet-shaped internal shell. typically found as a fossil in marine deposits of the Jurassic. common in the shingle and in the bedrock at Whitby. the second photo shows a portion of deathbed. the last photo (from wikipedia) shows the soft anatomy. exceedingly rare.