Bio and Contact + Listings

e:  billy@billycancelpoetry.com
i:  billycancelpoetry
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t:  @billycancel
tiktok: @billycancel

billy cancel is a Brooklyn based poet/performer & sound /collage artist. His 2nd full length collection BUTTERCUP TANTRUM MUTTON ENCORE is out this September through Broadstone Books. His debut full-length collection MOCK TROUGH RASPING CROW was released by BlazeVOX [books] in 2018 & included in LitHub’s end of year 2017 “my favorite poetry” list. cancel’s poetry has been widely published, appearing in Blackbox Manifold, Bombay Gin, Boston Review, FOLDER, Horseless, Lungfull, PEN America,  Pouch, Westwind Review & 6x6 (Ugly Ducking Press) amongst many others.

His visual poetry artwork has been recently published most recently in Map Literary, Word For/Word, Dear Sir! (Berlin) & Maintenant,. In September of 2017 cancel contributed 25 minutes of audio to a collaborative recording of the poem “Flow Chart” in dedication to John Ashbery which was featured in Poetry Foundation & is now archived at PennSound. 

In July 2017 cancel read as part of the Dial-A-Poem John Giorno Marathon at Red Bull Arts New York. billy cancel also self-publishes & distributes his chapbooks through Hidden House Press, most recently Psycho’clock, which was released in 2016. He performs his poetry regularly (both as readings and costumed / propped performance pieces) and is a member of the Poetry Project, where he has attended workshops & read at the New Year Marathon in 2010 & 2015. In December 2019 cancel and his poetry were featured in London fashion / culture magazine HERO under the article title of “New York’s new poetic voice: Billy Cancel.” In April 2021 billy cancel was poet in resident on the vessel Mary A Whalen in Red Brooklyn as part of the Poets Afloat reading series.

billy also utilizes his poetry practices into multi-disciplinary & performances contexts & with his wife Thursday Fernworthy (Lauds) he performs as the noise-poetry duo Tidal Channel (Bronson Records 2018.) In November 2019 Tidal Channel performed their noise poetry sequence BUTTERCUP TANTRUM MUTTON ENCORE at Ravenna Museum of Art, Italy as part of Transmissions 12 Festival’s Off series. In Summer 2017 Tidal Channel wrote & performed “Upon A Wooden Horse In Rode Headless Multi-“a 15 minute noise/poetry piece for the opening & closing of the Eotechnic Sensorium sculpture exhibition at Widow Jane Mine, Rosendale, New York. In fall 2013 cancel wrote & performed a significant role in Marianne Vitale’s ‘The Missing Book Of Spurs’ which ran for 5 nights & was a commissioned work presented as part of Performa13.

In 2014 his video poem “you beat all round the bush for electronic crop” was used by Rutgers English lecturer Dr. Michael Leong in his course Introduction To Multi-Media Composition. In Autumn 2015, cancel performed at RECESS Gallery as part of the Poet Transmit series - a live taping & transmission of manipulated video feed curated by the experimental mobile television studio, ESP-TV. Later that year ESP-TV showed 2 of cancel & Fernworthy’s video poems as part of their broadcast at the 2015 Marfa film festival.  As part of the 2016 Liverpool Provocations Art Festival cancel also contributed to ‘4 WORDS’ where a short poetic statement of his was broadcast across Lime Street Station, on Europe’s largest motion digital screen. In October 2018 cancel’s collaboration with VJ Jim Tuite “rockaBILLY whole world gone CANCELed” was included and shown as part of the 12th Druid Underground Film Festival.