John M. Bennett

John M. Bennett (b. 1942, Chicago) is an American experimental text, sound, and visual poet.

As well as steadily producing and distributing his own work, Bennett, through "Luna Bisonte Prods", a small press founded in 1974, has published thousands of limited edition items by writers who compose visual poetry, word art, and other experimental fiction/art/poetry. Bennett's papers, and published works, as well as the results of his own publishing activities (including 30 years of "Lost & Found Times" magazine), are collected in several major institutions, including Washington University in St. Louis, SUNY Buffalo, The Ohio State University and The Museum of Modern Art.

Bennett has won the attention of critic Richard Kostelanetz and other commentators on the avant-garde.

Bennett himself is the curator of the "Avant Writing Collection", "The William S. Burroughs Collection", and "The Cervantes Collection" at the Ohio State University Libraries. More information about Bennett's career, publishing activities and artistic endeavors can be found at his website.

Bennett's collaborations with sound poet/performance artist Rod Summers began in the late 1970s.

Bennett has performed solo and worked together with numerous musicians (for instance Jorge Luiz Antonio, Jim Leftwich, Andrew Topel, Scott Helmes, Kommissar Hjuler and Mama Baer (both members of Boris Lurie's NO!Art Movement), Martín Gubbins, Ivan Argüelles, Tom Cassidy, F. A. Nettelbeck and other poets, often with the collaborative sound poetry group THE BE BLANK CONSORT, which has released a recording titled SOUND MESS. This group was founded as a result of a symposium organized by Richard Kostelanetz at the Atlantic Center for the Arts in 1999. The members of THE BE BLANK CONSORT include Scott Helmes, Carlos Luis, and Kathy Ernst, among others.

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