Solid Quarter

New Orleans Press: Fell Swoop Interview & Goodness

2012-03-10T16:50:00.000-08:00

Poet Camille Martin has an excellent interview with poet and editor of Fell Swoop, the indefatigable Joel Dailey. I reviewed Dailey's last chapbook, Surprised by French Fries here.

Martin's interview has a great chapbook cover display as well showcasing some unique Swoop covers. We have quite a collection of Swoops here at Casa Brinks/ Burns. Read the full review here.

This is my new chapbook fresh from the Fell Swoop factory. Cover by Tracey McTague.

Poems based on the Surrealist Game of Questions: Irrational Knowledge of the Object

Comment or email me: meganaburns@aol.com

for a copy: 5.00 (plus S&H)

Fell Swoop also just released the single author issue from Clark Coolidge: The Human Bond: Some New James Bond Sonnets

Clark Coolidge and Joel Dailey will be reading at the 17 Poets! Literary and Performance Series

May 17th, 8PM

www.17poets.com

Review of Niyi Osundare's City Without People

2012-03-03T05:55:00.000-08:00

Review: Niyi Osundare's City Without People (Black Widow Press, 2011)

Note: This review was originally published in Entrepôt (Vol. 2, Oct 2011).

Dr. Niyi Osundare will be the featured reader Tuesday, March 6, 2012 at the 1718 Series held at the Columns Hotel. The series begins rather promptly at 7 and is usually SRO, so get there early for a seat. The readings are usually followed by a Q & A with the author.

http://1718aneworleansreadingseries.blogspot.com/

City Without People: The Katrina Poems by Niyi Osundare

(Black Widow press, 2011) 137 Pgs.

Reviewed by Megan Burns

Niyi Osundare’s CityWithout People: The Katrina Poems is a narrative journey from the firstmoments that the water breached the levees to the traumatic experience of theauthor and his wife trapped in their attic to the slow journey back to somesense of normalcy. Instead of a straightshot chronologically though, these poems vacillate from the first terriblehours followed by the one year anniversary and then back to earlierexperiences. In this way, they capture the way memory holds a seemingly endlessamount of hours and experiences in a brief recollected interlude. This movementin time as well reflects the book’s attempt to capture the ebb and flow of fearand anger as well as passion and hope in the years following Katrina. These poems then are arranged strongly aroundthe tone and the emotion expressed in each section. It allows the poet to notonly examine the various reactions to this event, but it also plumbs the depthsof the poet’s personal experience as survivor, evacuee, displaced professor,New Orleans citizen, and as part of a Nigerian community in New Orleans that isdisplaced after the storm. Osundare’s Nigerian background and cultural milieuallow him the opportunity to translate this event through his African heritage.In cultural signals and codes, Osundare brings his own particular blend ofNigerian influence to this historical New Orleans event. It’s this blending ofcultures, this looking back to the familiar in the midst of chaos, that bringssuch a unique voice to this topic. In addition, Osundare’s ability to range fromanger to quiet desperation amid heartbreaking images and then soar back to suchheights of optimism and resilience makes this book one of the most importantbooks to emerge from the Katrina debacle. Unlike earlier books, this collectionbenefits from the author’s deliberate need to process and collect his thoughtsand responses. The reader receives not one overwhelming sense of raw or heatedemotions, but instead passes through the ever-changing sense of response andrecovery that takes years to really name and comprehend.

The initialsection to this collection “WATER, WATER!...” opens with the subtle line, “It all began as a whisper among/The leaves.” The poem titled “The Lake Came to My House” is just the beginningof several difficult poems in this section that recount the disastrous damagethat the water inflicted upon the city of New Orleans. The poem ends with the samesubtle tone that belies the vast trauma embedded within the lines: “The day theLake came down my street/ And took my house away.” Osundare easily moves from narrativelyrics to stark lines that have imagistic overtones and then to more formallyrhymed and metered lines. His penchant for song is evident in poems like“Katrina Anthem” which begins “Ka ka Katrina” and then continues out inquatrains composed of rhymed couplets beating out a rhythm as tense and pitchedas the misery and distress that forms the subject:

Blood on yourhands, skulls in your fridge

Youswamp the river and swallow the bridge

Inyour crowded kitchen a foul fleshfeast

Fitfor the monster and the hellish beast

In stark contrast to this melodic, albeit dark poem, is the poemthat is the title piece for the book, “City Without People.” Here Osundaredelivers a straight punch, no rhyme or song, but instead the bleak report fromthe voice of the witness: “The trees are dead/ The birds are gone/The grass isscorched” and later, the questions: “Tell me/ What do you call a house/ Withoutwalls?” One of the powerful aspects of this book is Osundare’s ability toreturn again and again in various forms and tones to this subject. In one poemwhere the reader finds despair; there will be another that sings of rebirth.It’s an inconstancy that perfectly reflects the chaotic nature of respondingand surviving a catastrophe. In the midst of resilience, the author findshimself angry and distraught and then in the next moment, “the sexy serenade ofthe sax-o-phone” rises breathing new hope into the lines.

Osundare’s poems as well cover vast topics brought about bythe disaster from the negative response of outsiders who loudly criticized thecity’s rebuilding to the “Katrina refugee” moniker to the disaster tours thatdescended into destroyed neighborhoods for tourists; this book in a sensebecomes a catalogue, a reminder of not only the city’s event but the falloutfrom that event and how the nation responded. As the unacknowledged legislator, Osundare pokes fun of these notionswhile also cutting to the quick of the issue. In “Disastourism” he warns:“Careful now,/ Dear Tourist/ Mind the bristling bones/ Beneath your sole.” Inother words, take care where you walk for in these empty hulls are the souls ofa city, and what does it say of your own heart to drive by in a bus pointing acamera at this destruction. Osundarepoints out that to uncap the lens of our own view would mean accepting thatthis could have been prevented and that any region protected by levees could beanother “New Orleans” story.

The book ends with a poignant interview between Niyi Osundareand Rebecca Antoine, which was collected in Antoine’s Voices Rising II: More Stories from the Katrina Narrative Project. It’sincredible after reading these poems, which attempt to encapsulate a series ofswirling emotions and responses to disaster, to read this interview thatclearly recounts Osunadare’s experience from the moment the levees broke to thepoint where he returns to New Orleans almost a year later. People from poems inthe book acquire new depths as Osundare relates with wonder and appreciationall of the people who helped him and his family not only survive theirharrowing entrapment in their flooded house but who continued to help them longafter the water had receded and the city had become a fading news story.Osundare opens up a world interconnected by scholars and university colleagueswho came to his aid as well as Nigerian community members and friends both herein America and in Africa who helped support him and his family at this time.Osudare’s ties to Nigeria and to the country of his childhood are largelyrepresented in this book that talks of his new home. In song and in references,in the call and response and in the chant, there are, in the bones of thesepoems, beliefs in homes that span oceans and in communities not bound bygeography. From the preface, Osundare says, “I sing of a city which insists onits own right to life, liberty, and thepursuit of happiness.” This is abook about people: People filled with the need to raise their voices againstthe silence.

New Orleans Recipes: Big Easy BBQ Shrimp

2012-03-01T15:26:00.000-08:00

Easy BBQ Shrimp:

There's no BBQ in New Orleans BBQ Shrimp. It is super fattening and delicious for dipping copious amounts of french bread in.

Take about 1-2 lbs of shrimp, pull off the heads but leave the shell and tails on, rinse under water

In a separate bowl, melt 3 sticks butter

add about 2 tablespoons of Worcestershire Sauce

about 2/3 of Abita Amber Beer or another beer that's got a good flavor

For this dish, I added Prudhomme's Seafood Magic

Lots of Black Pepper

and a dash of Mexican Vanilla

Season to taste as you like

(You can also add Hot Sauce, garlic, paprika, cayenne)

You can let the shrimp soak in the liquid for a bit.

I just toss the shrimp in the pan, pour the sauce over and cover with tin foil.

Bake at 300 in the oven.

Be careful not to overcook. It dries out the shrimp and makes it hard to peel. The shrimp should look pink and not have any more translucent flesh parts under the shell.

Yum. Peel to eat shrimp and dip bread in all the sauce.

Also, here's a shot of some fresh broccoli and cauliflower from our garden, so you can eat your shrimp

and get your good veggies too.

Readings: Nicole Peyrafitte and Pierre Joris

2012-02-25T07:29:00.000-08:00

Nicole Peyrafitte and Pierre Joris read Thursday, February 23rd at the Gold Mine Saloon as part of the 17 Poets! Literary and Performance Series.

It was a touching reunion of poet and place as last time both poets were here in New Orleans was in 2005 just months after the storm. Scheduled to read in late August '05 with our series, Nicole and Pierre instead came in November of '05 to perform and to document and bear witness to the damage caused to the New Orleans community. Along with their son, Miles Joris-Peyrafitte (now an accomplished young film maker) they took to the decimated streets of New Orleans recording and photographing and most importantly talking to people about their experiences in post Katrina New Orleans. They traveled to the "white goods" dump far out in New Orleans east and spoke to workers and captured astonishing video of the mass destruction of a city's appliances. View video here.

Their return to Louisiana marks a continuation of their dedication to interviewing, recording, and doing the work of the poet in the form of giving voice and bearing witness to the trauma in the world. They will be spending the rest of their trip traveling through southern Louisiana speaking to residents affected by the Gulf Oil Spill and BP's clean up efforts. Here in New Orleans they began this task by interviewing Buras activist Kindra Arnesen, mother and wife to a commercial fisherman who was one of the first to speak out about BP's insidious way of handling the spill and the community. Even in the wake of her family's sickness and need to be detoxed, including her two young children, she continues to fight and speak out about BP's blatant destruction of the coast, its waters and animals, and its communities.

As I sat there watching Nicole and Pierre interview Kindra, I remembered the feeling of having someone listen and the urgency of the world outside of our sphere of residents and those affected to be privy to what we knew on the "inside" living as we were in the wake of destruction. This is what poetry does: it is the lifeline that continues to speak up long after the people who fight grow weary. It is the living document that roots itself into consciousness in the wake of seemingly endless lies fueled by corruption and greed. In the end, it thwarts silence and the death of what we seem to be screaming into the abyss.

Nicole Peyrafitte performing excerpts from her Bi-Continental Chowder at 17 Poets!

This is going to be one hell of a text to engage with, hopefully sooner than later!

Nicole's humor shines through as she creates a sacred song in the long tradition of oral poets who sang the glories of the body and celebrated the mysteries of fertility and life. Peyrafitte creates a stage presence that travels from sandy shores to tramp about in Olson's words to refute Freud and then asks the audience to laugh, to poke fun at in the highest gesture of understanding: that we embrace and get comfortable in our skins, that we understand the deep mystery and the long history that we wade into when we use (& misuse) language.

Pierre Joris' long poem weaving a line in the sand across continents and amid questions

from war to the inability to decipher the knowledge that is parceled out via the media

to the empathy sprung from embracing the language and the geography of the "other"

and the mirages we struggle against.

I've been deeply intrigued with a new collection of essays about Joris and his poetry and poetics ever since he put the book in my hand. Cartographies of the In-Between is a comprehensive examination of a life in letters from translator to poet to bridge between various schools of poetry emanating in a Nomadic poetics to anthologist and mentor. I've just finished the first section "Filiations" which includes an essay by Jennifer Moxley which takes a close look at Canto Diurno #1 as well as Joris' relationship with "hearth" and "home" in his poetry. I was moved to return his Canto Diurno in its entirety as I have it in his Selected Poems: Poasis. Instead of looking back at the patriarchal influences as this essay does, (and quite thoroughly), I find myself interested in looking forward to how this poem manifests itself in future poems: the idea of capturing a day of poetry as we see in later works like Bernadette Mayer's Midwinter Day or in an expanded length of time such as the experimental diaryesque prose of Lyn Heijinian's My Life. I wonder how we could trace forward a matrilineal line emerging from Joris' "shaking off the fathers." Franca Bellarsi has an informative essay drawing parallels as well as divergent paths in the works of the Beats, some translated by Joris, and Joris' own work and future poetics practice. Christopher Rizzo examines the use of culture in both Olson and Joris' poems ( and to some degree Duncan, as well) and how Joris' poetics is influenced by, but in many ways not contained by Olson's declarations of projection and "page as field" poetics. Rizzo also examines how his role of translator informs his poetics reinforcing the view of the vernacular and language at any level as the "rhizomatic" force that enters the body and spreads out navigated by experience and place rather than by any steady teleological movement. Dale Smith looks at Joris' book A Single Minded Bestiary: Common Fox using this text as a springboard to examine Joris' use of the totem animal, the function of translation and self in between countries, the influences of Dorn and Creeley, and Joris' role as a "social imaginary." This first section ends with an interview between Joris and editor Peter Cockelbergh which helps to clarify and ground some of the previous essays. In this form, we get to hear from the poet, some of his thoughts on lineage especially in regards to early influences as well as his emphasis on "breath" and how this informs his use of the term "rhizomatic" in terms of his poetics.

Cartographies of the In-Between

Contributors:
Louis Armand, Tony Baker, Franca Bellarsi, Mohammed Bennis, Charles Bernstein, Nicole Brossard, Geert Buelens, Clive Bush, Corina Ciocarlie, Peter Cockelbergh, Clayton Eshleman, Allen Fisher, Christine Hume, Robert Kelly, Abdelwahab Meddeb, Jennifer Moxley, Carrie Noland, Alice Notley, Marjorie Perloff, Nicole Peyrafitte, Jean Portante, Christopher Rizzo, Jerome Rothenberg, Dale Smith, Habib Tengour.

About the editor:
Writer, scholar and translator, Peter Cockelbergh studied at the universities of Antwerp and Leuven (Belgium), at the EHESS in Paris, and is currently working on a Ph.D. at the Technische Universitat Darmstadt (Germany). For a number of years, he has been reading, writing on and translating Pierre Joris's poetry and essays (into Dutch, French & English), and has recently worked on the author's papers and archives.

Reading Danielle Vogel’s Narrative & Nest

2012-02-18T19:24:00.000-08:00

Reading Danielle Vogel’s Narrative & Nest: Pre-NatalArchitectures and Narrative Rituals

I read it in the bathtub. The children are away for thenight and my husband is working. The dog sits on the mat next to the tub. Thewater is scented. I read it in the bathtub, submerged naked body –under waterscloudy.

I read every word from the first page, rights reserved,sculptures by, design and typesetting. I believe the voice talking to me fromthe page. I have to move from the pictures to the voice. I have to havesomething to hold on to. The voice as I imagine Danielle’s voice but also notDanielle’s voice as if she were talking to me disembodied as the voice isdisembodied, as I am not hearing a sound, but it has the shape of sound. In myhead, it has the curve of sound, it has the weight of safety, and it has thefeel of a place I trust. I have the need to hear the voice tell me aboutwriting, I have the need and maybe because I know nothing. Do I know nothing?What do I know?

“This is what happen when the book is not yet possible”(Vogel 2).

I hear the voice ask its own questions, did I have thequestions or did the voice prepare me to have the questions. I’m thinking abouttactile, about fingers, about the edge and the slip. I think about the past. Ithink about bones, why here it feels like muscles and tendons, like a slipperysinew but in my page, in my voice, it’s all bone. It’s hard. I think I don’twant to hear the voice, I think I don’t want to believe the voice; if the voicecan’t be believed, if then... maybe there is too much water. I feel the anxietyof failing. Is it my failure or is language failing?

“that in trauma, the floor is pulled out from under thevoice” (Vogel 6)

You think it’s not there, but it’s always there. And in thiscase, I am in and always in the water.

“the tight, but ductile gloss” (Vogel 7)

I don’t think of birds when I look at the pictures. I thinkof vomit. I think of something being forced out, the helplessness and thepanic. I think of breasts full of milk, so full that the nipple emits a streamhigh into the air that peaks and then whimpers out. I think about bodiesexcreting babies and shit and I think about bodies being forced to take in,being filled. I think about openings and what exits and enters. But I don’tthink about birds. I read about nests, the voice tells me about nests, abouthow they are built and sizes and distances. I don’t feel bird-like. I feelrobbed of the language on the torn paper, as if they hold a clue, as if theybridge the space between the nest and the body littered with its holes, thatcan’t be shut up, that complicate…but I can’t piece them together, they’ve beentorn out, they’ve been torn from me and then I can’t reach them. They justdangle there. I think about how they feel falling out. I think about pulling.

Pg 8 is a colorphotograph of a dozen empty vessels, their mouths are empty and ragged. Notsmooth like a clay pitcher, they’re pinched like ripped paper, they’re poppedopen like aliens have emerged, they’re like balloons with the air leaked outand frozen at the moment when the latex bursts under the pressure. I think ofwombs.

I put the book down on the seat next to the tub now. I lookat those bare, naked vessels with their needy mouths and I think about wombscut open to let babies out and then sewn back. I think about my body with itsscars and how I say when I say I had a C-section, again, and again, and again,how I feel the need to justify it, how I feel somewhere what is that, likeshame. But it makes no sense. The body does what it does, and the terrible lovepulled out there, it’s complicated. The body eats and eats sorrow, it swallowslove in days that flee from me. And then I put the book down because I can’tread anymore.

And then I think, as I’m crying, about the narrative of how Iwould write what is happening and then language is there to put the boat right,to pull the stopper and to step away. I am thinking about how the voice isnarrating and how I am narrating and how this living voice at this moment isnarrating its own thoughts and how I inhabit this stopped voice and thedistance between us and about mud and clay and the shapes of letters. I think Ihave never looked for clay. I think I’ve spent many days as a child underbridges near canals. I remember the duck shit but never the nests.

“Every nest, like the body and manuscript, has a problem itmust move through: functionability “ (Vogel 16). I think about rituals, I’vebeen thinking about ritual, public and communal rituals. Going to the river andwriting an exquisite corpse and throwing it in the river in the vessel of anempty wine bottle. I thought about writing Danielle a letter, a privateconfession. But it felt like a trick, in the face of the honesty of the text,in the place of the vulnerability of the text. Where was I failing? Could I bethere too?

“the contortion” (Vogel 19)

I get out of the tub after I finish the book and I takepictures of the rituals I have set for myself. To bathe, to rest, to drink hottea, to be in the hour in language, like a sea you wave out on, who finds youand to where. I always feel like a fraud, like an interloper. I can’t stop comingto language but I think it’s laughing behind my back. I think I could fallbetter, maybe now in the thread of this, I can unclench. It means something to me to be in the worldwith this voice, the voice that makes and takes the time to say these things.It means something to know that there are eyes and hands and bodies in thespaces here, near and far, and they are watching and thinking, dear keepers ofthe sacred spaces where we lie down and say: this is what I have to offer.

2/18/12

I’ve been investigating the book as an architecture of the body—and the body as an architecture for the book. This collection explores a manuscript, pre-completion. Each ceramic swallow-like nest, pod, and hive performs as a dwelling for excerpts from my manuscripts-in-progress.
—Danielle Vogel

Order Danielle Vogel's Narrative & Nest

Poets at "The Mardi Gras": A retro"spectacle"

2012-02-18T06:47:00.000-08:00

Poet Paul Chasse (who left us too soon) with wife Beth Chasse

Poets Jonathan Kline and Gina Ferrara

Poets Skip Fox and Christian Bök

How'd they get all those beads?

Another Gina Ferrara pic from a later year and Nancy Dixon

Tony Torn and Poet Lee Ann Brown

Poets Ed Sanders and Dave Brinks at Zulu hashing out their plan for coconut success

Poet Bill Myers

Poet Bill Lavender

Happy Mardi Gras, Ya'll

Poems via Post & Twitter

2012-02-16T07:18:00.001-08:00

The wonderful editors over at Ugly Duckling Presse have sent me some beautiful new letterpress chapbooks including Lev Rubinstein's Thirty Five New Pages, Corina Copp's Pro Magenta and Michael Ford's Where We Expect to See You Soon.

Ugly Duckling Presse not only makes gorgeous chaps, but they have one of the sweetest sites for literary presses on the web. You should check it out, and they are now streaming podcasts of readings. In fact, I'm listening to one now as I type this, which isn't working out so well as I can't concentrate on the poems. I like the idea of poetry just streaming through the brain synapses.

Look for a review of Michael Ford's chapbook in the March Issue (issue 7) of

Entrepôt. Michael Ford's second collection Olympia Street is available from Trembling Pillow Press.

Also, Poet Carrie Murphy, a poet I only know through the medium of Twitter, and I are currently writing a collaborative poem via email to celebrate February poetry month. Carrie has a food blog over at Plums in the Icebox and you can follow her on Twitter where she is currently linking a poem a day until March 8th @carriemurph.

When we finish this little experiment, I'll post the fruits of our labors here.

Tonight at 17 Poets! Join us to celebrate the life and legacy of Eluard Burt with performances from Eric Burt, Dave Brinks, Felice Guimont, Cyril and Gayneille Neville, and many others. Show starts shortly after 8.

www.17poets.com

17 Poets! Upcoming Events

2012-02-08T12:23:00.000-08:00

Upcoming Events At 17 Poets! Literary and Performance Series

Gold Mine Saloon, 701 Dauphine, New Orleans, LA

Poetry in the French Quarter Since 2003

Every Thursday, 8PM

www.17poets.com

Poets Dave Brinks and Bill Lavender, Mardi Gras, 2008

February 9: Bill Lavender signs and reads from his new book Memory Wing 
(Black Widow Press, 2011)

Flautist Eluard Burt, March 2006

February 16th: Musical Performances and Tributes to flautist and mentor Eluard Burt,

with readings and performances by Kichea Burt, Dave Brinks, Lee Meitzen Grue,

Eric Burt, Cyril Neville, Gayneille Neville, and

more.

Nicole Peyrafitte, 2005

Pierre Joris, 2005

John Sinclair, 2006

February 23: John Sinclair performs with his Blues Scholars, Performance by

Albany poets Pierre Joris and Nicole Peyrafitte

March 1: Poet Rodger Kamenetz

March 8: Poets Arturo Pfister and Valentine Pierce

March 15th: NYC Poet Bill Zavatsky and  Dr. Jerry Ward, Jr.

March 22: TBA

March 29: Fiction Writer Moira Crone reads and signs her new book from 
UNO Press, The Not Yet

April 5: jazz beat poet ruth weiss

April 12: Bruce Andrews

April 19th: Baton Rouge Poet Chris Shipman reads and signs his new book

 along with poet Vincent Celluci

April 26: Maxine Cassin Tribute

More Dates Coming Soon. All features followed by the open mic.

All images copyright 17 Poets! Literary and Performance Series and Megan Burns.

Poetry Readings, Rivers, & Memory's Passage

2012-01-30T13:31:00.000-08:00

Dave and I will be reading tomorrow night over in Baton Rouge.

Details: River Writers presents poets DAVE BRINKS and MEGAN BURNS at 8pm on Tuesday January 31st at Boudreaux and Thibodeaux’s downtown Baton Rouge! Boudreaux & Thibodeaux's 214 3rd St # 2D, 8PM

In other news:
17 Poets! Literary and Performance Series starts back up Feb. 9th with a reading and book signing by Bill Lavender from his new book Memory Wing (Black Widow Press).

www.17poets.com

We have a fantastic line up of poets coming to read this season at 17 Poets! Dave will be sending out the announcement for the season via our email list soon. If you want to join our list, you can go to our website and fill out the join our email list form.

The next issue of Entrepôt, a double issue, will also be available Feb. 9 at 17 Poets!

as well as available online from tremblingpillowpress.com

and at select book stores.

And here is my book recommendation of the day: Richard Froude's newest collection The Passenger from Skylight Press came in the mail. Not only does it have one of the best covers of 2012, but right in line with Froude's previous collection Fabric, this book weaves lines, words and time round and round into a skein of complex memories and remembrances, some yours, some Froude's. The title refers to you, and Froude is your guide taking you into the field of mathematical impossibilities and traipsing into the auras of those once inhabited by the likes of Prévert and Artaud. It's a fantastic journey: you will need to wing your eyes and hold on tight.

Review of Joel Dailey's Surprised by French Fries (Ugly Duckling)

2012-01-08T07:36:00.000-08:00

This review was first published in the print monthly Entrepôt (Sept. 2011) published in New Orleans from Trembling Pillow Press.

Surprised by FrenchFries by Joel Dailey

(Ugly Duckling Presse, 2011) $10.00

500 Limited Edition

Letterpress and Hand Bound

With poems set on an Olympiatypewriter (1971 edition), Joel Dailey delivers thirteen poems and one letterthat bemuse, ridicule, and occasionally poignantly deliver returns oncontemporary society and its popular preoccupations. Surprised by French Fries embodies a voice and a tone that subtlyundercuts the everyday state of disaster that most of American is awash in byemploying that age-old double punch of clever pun and wit to strip away theveil without leaving anyone uncomfortably abashed. Dailey’s balance in hisrepertoire allows the reader to feel as though they are part of the “club,” agroup who not only can volley his political innuendo but who also are able tomaneuver through Entertainment Weekly shout-out, “I know why Vince left Jen”and advertisement pitches “Extend your outdoor living space” (The 3:10 toYuma). In the opening poem “What’s Wrong with Lou Dobbs? or Feel More at Homein the Islands With Instant Hawaiian,” Dailey delivers his characteristic rapidsuccession of hard hitting lines stacked up to carry (or push) you from imageto image, from geographic point to metaphorical conclusion: a commercial, aphone message on your voicemail, Wall Street closing, an overheardconversation, the Internet, writing students. The whole poem turns on themaking of poems and Dailey pulls the rug out, always having the last laugh:“Ladies & G’s, the next generation of foam,” Echoed in the last word isform, and rereading the poem the subject seems to align into an ars poetica or perhaps it’s a nod to poethical wagers, in direct contrast to Wall Street and economicsustainability on the eve of America’s first 21^st centurydepression.

“The Ear Wax Removal System”promises personal hygiene as it mocks the nation’s favorite past time: “I’vegone from Facebook to Assbook.” The poet assures us, “I’ve purchased the EarWax Removal System/ So I’d be sure to hear the Muse.” Again at first glance,these poems seem funny, self-deprecating even, but the underpinnings point toour seemingly nonchalant attitude of being inundated with information andtechnology. The removal system points directly to a much-needed nationalcleanse, one in which the poet can hear the Muses now being drowned out bypromises of sex appeal and “sudden relief.” Some of Dailey’s poems read likecode, if you can break the cipher, you win the prize. A poem like “4 Things AllGuys Keep Private” has a title reminiscent of a ten thousand times rehashedCosmo article, but Dailey does deliver 4 things and quite possibly solving thispuzzle will finally put an end to gender disparity.

“30 Things to Put You in A GoodMood” is another one that will feel familiar, riffing as it does on society’sever increasing need for easy steps to happiness and in collusion with the bitesize portions that the media has trained us to fetch. Couched in this poem are references to NewOrleans political scandals, “Never take a bribe from a guy nicknamed ‘Pampy,’”in addition to language borrowed from the latest Victoria’s Secret catalogue.Normally, you would ask yourself what these things have in common, but Dailey’sstomping ground is surprise, the surprise of language, the quirkiness ofcontrast and juxtaposition and like all good poets, he turns language on itshead in order to shock us out of our stasis so we can join him in:“anticipating (eagerly) the post consumer environment.”

Dailey assures us, “Whatever you’re used to this ain’t it.” And that’s exactly why itworks.

175 Poets for 2011 or Unhand Me, Vendler (part 3: 112-175)

2011-12-05T15:18:00.001-08:00

"No century in the evolution of poetry in English ever had 175 poets worth reading, so why are we being asked to sample so many poets of little or no lasting value?" -H. Vendler, reviewing Penguin's Anthology of Twentieth-Century American Poetry, ed. by Rita Dove

I've had to really dig into my piles of books and memory for the latter portion of this list, mostly poets still living and writing today. As before, this list is not ranked. It's a list of poets that I've read or heard this year that strike me as praiseworthy. Who knows what lasting value they will have, and who cares. I enjoy them and maybe you will too, in the here and now. I want to open with two anthologies that I enjoyed this year; two amazing collections filled with poetry, essays and personal testimonies.

Thanks for playing. Crack a book, hit play, and go listen to some live poetry before 2011 escapes.

112) Jennifer Bartlett, Sheila Black, and Michael Northen (editors), Beauty is a Verb: The New Poetry of Disability
113) Susan Deer Cloud, editor, I was Indian: An Anthology of Indigenous Poetry
114) Paulette Swatrzfager, Years of Dust
115) Anselm Hollo, everything, (well, you should read everything...anyway)
116) Michael Ford, forthcoming from Ugly Duckling, Where We Expect to See you Soon
117) Dr. Jerry Ward, Jr., The Katrina Papers (probably the best book published about the Katrina and New Orleans)
118) Dennis Formento, Looking for an Out Place
119) Jim Gustafson, Virtue and Annihilation
120) Norman Shapiro, trans and ed. Preversities: A Jacques Prevert Sampler
121) Sunnylyn Thibodeaux, Palm to Pine
122) Michael Palmer, Thread
123) Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, Exilee/ Temps Morts: Selected Works
124) Ron Padgett, How Long
125) Ingeborg Bachmann, Darkness Spoke: The Collected Poems (I haven't read all of this, it's about 650 pages)
126) Bill Berkson, Darkness and Light
127) Bone Bouquet, Vol. 2, Issue 2 with contributors: Shira Dentz, Gina Myers, Eileen Myles, Deborah Poe and more, (whole issue, excellent)
128) Jim Brody, Fleeing Madly South (Dave said this is hard to find, read this, so I did. I had to return it immediately to the Brinks' archives or pay a fine)
129) Jeffrey Young, Ed. Birds & Beasts & Sea: Nature Poems from New Directions (Bernadette gifted this to us on our visit; it's pretty sweet. )
130) Al Young, ed. Something about the Blues (another fun anthology)
131) Lisa Pasold, Betting on the Horses
132) ruth weiss, Desert Journal
133) Unica Zurn, Dark Spring (I probably read this every year as I love Zurn)
134) Jackson MacLow, Thing of Beauty (This is a great collection of MacLow's work)
135) Ed Dorn, Gunslinger, (I'm including this as I listened to the recordings this year on Penn Sound: http://writing.upenn.edu/pennsound/x/Dorn.php)
136) Everette Maddox, I hope it's not over and good-by and Umpteen Ways of Looking of at a Possum
137) Bob Cass, Special Edition Broadside in Entrepot, issues 3 & 4
138) Bob Kaufman, Ancient Rain
139) Hank Lazer, Days

Poets Heard this year:

140) Nicole Peyrafitte (via the phone speakers in Bernadette Mayer's living room)
141) Jimmy Ross (our indefatigable host at 17 Poets! Literary and Performance Series)
142) Kalamu Ya Salaam
143) Mark Folse
144) Kim Vodicka
145) Geoff Munsterman, editor-in-chief of Entrepot
146) Michael Ruby
147) Phil Johnson
148) Kataalyst Alcindor
149) Lenny Emmanuel
150) Vincent Farnworth
151) Gwendolyn Albert
152) Felice Guimont
153) Herbert Kearney, forthcoming chapbook from Trembling Pillow Press, Water Speak
154) Nanette Morin
155) James Nola, Higher Ground, (not poetry, but he is a poet and this latest novel is another great post-K New Orleans book)
156) Sam Jasper
157) Dario Suchkova
158) Kelly Clayton
159) Ange Mlinko (Penn Sound recordings on Bernadette Mayer: http://writing.upenn.edu/pennsound/x/Mlinko.php

160) Jean-Mark Sens

161) Kathryn Schaeppi, Video of Dusie reading c/o Deborah Poe: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGMah7udK10&feature=related

162) Jonathan Kline

163) Jamba Dunn, American Dust on Ubuweb: http://www.ubu.com/ubu/unpub/Unpub_011_Dunn_American.pdf

164) Vanessa Place, Statements of Facts, Ubuweb: http://www.ubu.com/ubu/unpub/Unpub_042_Place.pdf

165) Vincent Katz, Shopping for Oliver's Chil, Ubuweb: http://www.ubu.com/ubu/unpub/Unpub_041_Katz.pdf

166) Sunday Shae Parker

167) Patrice Melnick, director of Festival of Words in Grand Coteau, LA
168) Janine Pommy Vega: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiEuNVasZk4

video break brought to you by Deborah Poe. Please watch this before we complete our list: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84UuV0ZhuIk&feature=relmfu

I'm going to end with some books that I want to read and/ or finish reading before the year turns over:

169) Joseph Lease, Testify (reading this right now, and it's wonderful)

170) Carrie Hunter, The Incompossible
171) Kate Schapira, The Bounty, Four Addresses and How We Saved the City
172) Renee Gladman, Event Factory and The Activist
173) Sommer Browning, Either Way I'm Celebrating
174) Joshua Edwards, Campeche
175) Arielle Guy, Three Geographies

And 'tis the season

Video via UBUWEB:
William Burrough's The Junky's Christmas (1993)
http://www.ubu.com/film/burroughs_xmas.html

175 Poets for Pleasure or Vendler's Constraint (Part two, 59-111)

2011-12-04T09:31:00.001-08:00

"No century in the evolution of poetry in English ever had 175 poets worth reading, so why are we being asked to sample so many poets of little or no lasting value?" -H. Vendler, reviewing Penguin's Anthology of Twentieth-Century American Poetry, ed. by Rita Dove

Continuation of my 175 poets and editors of poetry from books/ chapbooks I've read this year or last. The list is not ranked, it's in the order that I think/ remember what I've read. I've tried to stick to living poets who I've read this year, with only slight fudging when necessary. I thought listing books was getting too boring, so I've included some variations as well. Thanks for playing.

Hope some people enjoy the list and add some new names and titles to their rotation.

59) Penelope Rosemont, (ed) Surrealist Women: An International Anthology
60) Thaddeus Conti, Listen Loud, Listen Long
62) Chris Pusateri, Molecularity
63) Michelle Naka Pierce, Symptom of Color
64) j/j hastain and Marthe Reed, Lafayette a Lafayette
65) Sara Rosenthal, The Animal
66) John Pluecker, Undone and Routes into Texas
67) Michalle Gould, 100 Untitled Works in Mill Aluminum and 15 Untitled Works in Concrete
68) Sara Mangold, An Antenna Called the Body
69) Dawn Pendergast, Leaves Fall Leaves
70) Johannes Goransson, entrance to a colonial pageant in which we are all beginning to intricate
71) Mary Ann Caws and Nancy Kline, trans Furor & Mystery and Other Poems by Rene Char
72) Marilyn Kallet, trans. The Big Game by Benjamin Peret
73) Andrei Codrescu, Whatever Gets You Through the Night, (OK, it's not poetry, but he is a poet and this is a kick ass book.)
74) Julie Carr, 100 Notes on Violence
75) Jonathan Cott, Dylan on Dylan (Not poetry, but by a poet about someone often referred to as a poet.)
76) Sandra Simonds, I've Lived in So Many Apartments
77) Jennifer Dick, Tracery
78) Susan Lewis, Some Assembly Required
79) Julia Cohen and Brandon Shimoda, Samaritan
80) Kristen Sanders, Orthorexia
81) Sarah J. Sloat, Excuse Me While I Wring this long swim out of my hair
82) Inger Christenson, It, Alphabet and Light, Grass and Letter in April
83) Laura Mullen, Dark Archive
84) Robert Duncan, The H.D. Book, (ok, they are both dead, but the book was just published and it's a must read)

This part of the list constitutes books read in 2010 that still stand out to me:
85) Allison Cobb, Green-Wood ( I would really like to see another Cobb book in 2012)
86) David Rowe, Unsolicited Poems
87) Karen Weiser, To Light Out
88) Christine Hume, SHOT
89) Ruxandra Cesereanu, Crusader Woman
90) Brenda Hillman, Practical Water
91) Moose Jackson, Loup Garou
92) Cynthia Hogue, When the Water Came

Poetics:
93) Pierre Joris, Justifying the Margins

Online or Print Journals,
94) Megan Levad, from You are Where you Live (Fence, fall 2011)
95) Tyler Flynn Dorholt, from Nightmare Directed by Ingmar Bergman, (Horseless Review 8)
96) Rachel Marston, The Signal for Instant Action, (Diagram, 11.1)
97) Cara Benson, [The first man...] from Summer Stock, 5

This part of the list is made up of poets that I've heard read this year, and for various reasons have not read a book of theirs this year, but who still deserve mentioning:

98) Brenda Coultas (Brenda, please, you're killing me, I need another Coultas book STAT)
99) Tracey McTague (long overdue for a collection in my opinion)
100) Jen Tynes (reading from an exquisite long poem that will be a book soon, I hope)
101) Gina Ferrara
102) Mona Lisa Saloy
103) Quess
104) Simon Pettet
105) Bill Zavatsky
106) Lewis Warsh
107) Shafer Hall
108) Kelly Harris
109) Andrea Boll
110) Rodger Kamenetz
111) Brendan Lorber (who probably deserves his own category as I've heard him read poetry both in person this year and on his acculorber reports, which are their own poetry, so he would be under poets I've heard via video stream)

Poets Worth Reading: 175 in 2011, Part One (1-58)

2011-12-03T05:54:00.001-08:00

"No century in the evolution of poetry in English ever had 175 poets worth reading, so why are we being asked to sample so many poets of little or no lasting value?" -H. Vendler, reviewing Penguin's Anthology of Twentieth-Century American Poetry, ed. by Rita Dove

Since I apparently read way too many poets not worth reading according to Vendler, I thought I would further the torment by sharing all the wonderful books and poets that I have read in the last year. It didn't even take me a century to read 175 interesting poets, so you can probably dismiss this list entirely if you agree with the above statement.

I'll start with what I've read most recently and branch out including only living poets writing in this decade, in a further effort to point out the viability and importance of poetry being written NOW. I read a lot of dead poets too, so don't worry Vendler. I even cracked the Cantos again this year. I'm sure reading Mina Loy's short stories and plays makes that last gesture null and void in Vendler's eyes, but what can you do? I also may have published and/ or may be married to poets mentioned, but unless anyone becomes a millionaire or exceedingly famous from this list, who cares?

If you're not on this list, either I didn't read you this year or I've never read you and you can remedy that by sending me a book that I may or may not read next year.

Let's play:

1) Ed Sanders, Fug You
While not a book of poetry, it outlines Sanders' long commitment to poetry and revolution, and since I learned most of what I know about the 60s and all of what I know about investigative poetics from Sanders' verse, he gets top spot.

2) Bernadette Mayer, Ethics of Sleep and Studying Hunger Journals
It's a good year when you get two Mayer's to challenge and thwart your knowledge and understanding of the written word.

3) Alice Notley, Culture of One and Reason and Other Women
Reason is an older book, but I love the complicated narrative and read it often this year.

4) Anne Waldman, Soldatesque/ Soldiering with Dreams of Wartime (with Noah Saterstrom)
Waldman continues to plunge into the depths of political inquiry and social justice accompanied with beautiful half page images scrolling across the top of the book's pages.

5) Jack Collom Second Nature (unpublished) This is an as yet uncollected manuscript of Collom's life long commitment to nature and poetry; invaluable, experimental and, of course, humorous.

6) Bill Lavender Memory Wing
Poetic memoir trumping through life and the afterlife, new from Black Widow Press

7) Philip Good, Untitled Writings from a Member of the Blank Generation
Long awaited first collection from a poet long on the scene of poetry happenings over the last several decades

8) rob mclennan, C
Small chunks of syllabic beauty caught in the sparse form and space of this chapbook.

9) Deborah Poe, Elements
Examining the invisible architecture of the world through the lens of association and inference

10) Claire Hero, Sing, Mongrel
Strange, bestial, and hard to look away from--

I'm going to stop commenting on the books only because I will start repeating myself, if it's on the list, I'm saying it's worth reading:

11) Bei Dao, Endure (trans. by Clayton Eshleman and Lucas Klein)

12) Jennifer Denrow, California

13) Alison Pelegrin, Hurricane Party

14) Jenny Bouly, Not Merely Because of the Unknown Stalking Toward Them

15) HR Hegnauer, Sir

16) Jen Hofer, slide rule and one

17) Susana Gardner, Herso, An Heirship in Waves

18) Dara Wier, A Civilian's Journal of the War Years

19) Sergio Medeiros, Vegetal Sex (trans by Raymond Bianchi)

20) Niyi Osundare, City Without People

21) Mairead Byrne, Lucky

22) Jimmy Lo, A Reduction

23) Dave Brinks, (forthcoming) The Secret Brain: Collected Poems

24) John Sinclair Song of Praise Homage to John Coltrane

25) Lee Meitzen Grue, DOWNTOWN

26) Danielle Pafunda, Iatrogenic, Their Testimonies

27) Laynie Browne, Roseate Points of Light

28) Kate Eichhorn, Fieldnotes, a forensics

29) Richard Froude, Fabric

30) Eileen Myles, Sappho's Boat: Poems and Pencil Poems (OK, Sappho's Boat is an older book (and I also read Inferno: A Poet's Novel), but it's a great book that I reread this year)

31)Annie Finch, Among the Goddesses

32) Elizabeth Willis, Address

33) Jamey Jones, Blue Rain Morning

34) Joel Dailey, Surprised by French Fries

35) Travis Cebula, Jamaica

36) Julie Kane, Jazz Funeral

37) Daniele Vogel, lit

38) Brad Richard, Motion Studies

39) Arielle Greenberg and Rachel Zucker, Home/ Birth

40) Kim Rosenfield, Trama

41) Camille Dungy, ed. Black Nature

42) Anne Tardo, The Dik Dik's Solitude

43) Joan Retallack, Procedural Elegies/ Western Civ Cont'd

44) Dodie Bellamy, The Buddhist

45) Susan Howe, That This

46) Carmen Gimenez Smith, Can We Talk Here

47) Cecilia Vicuna, beforehand

48) Benjamin Morris, Coronary

49) Brett Evans, Pisa Can

50) Brenda Iijima, If Not Metaphoric

51) Peter Gizzi, Threshold Songs

52) Julia Cohen, The History of a Lake Never Drowns

53) Emma Bolden, The Sad Epistles

54) Daniel Kerwick, Attach It To The Earth

55) Kirsten Jorgenson, Deseret

56) Brooklyn Copeland, Laked, Fielded, Blanked

57) Nathan Hauke, SEWN

58) Darrell Bourque, In Ordinary Light

Poetic Space

2011-11-13T07:20:00.001-08:00

I've been reading Gaston Bachelard's the Poetics of Space. It's interesting; I find I'll totally blank out while reading huge chunks and then suddenly something will come into focus. Does everyone read like this sometimes, I wonder?

Here's some bits I jotted down:

"To read poetry is essentially to daydream."

"Space is everything."

"Was the room a large one? Was the garret cluttered up? Was the nook warm? How was it lighted? How, too, in these fragments of space, did the human being achieve silence?"

"When two strange images meet, two images that are the work of two poets pursuing separate dreams, they apparently strengthen each other."

"slow sonorities"

"dream upon their name"

And some things that came up around the text: a remedy of words, value of intimacy/ scattered/ where they feel along the wall/ in darkness/ remains

I guess, too, a product of its time (?) as "they" say, there is a huge chunk of text that romanticizes the woman's place in the house, pointing out that her attention to dusting and waxing the furniture is akin to communing with angels. I often feel this way myself when doing housework; I really look forward to my angelic face poised over a sink full of dirty dishes and some time for me to compose a beatific picture of domestic happiness over the frothiness of caked on grime while visions of sugar plums dance through my mostly empty head. *Sigh*

For further reading: Frances Yates, The Art of Memory

I'm a huge Wilkie Collins fan and intrigued by this book.

Elizabeth Robinson's Three Novels

Check out the review over at Jacket:

http://jacket2.org/reviews/point-contact-they-create

Black Widow Salon at Crescent City Books

2011-11-11T06:12:00.001-08:00

This Monday marks the return of Crescent City Books' Black Widow Salon hosted by Michael Zell. At 7:00 PM, join poet, publisher and author of the newly released Memory Wing, Bill Lavender

as he reads from and discusses this work.

The Black WidowSalon, sponsored by Joe Phillips and Susan Wood of Black Widow Press and hostedby Michael Allen Zell, is a monthly Monday event, existing to dig deeper intothe literary arts. November 14^th:Bill Lavender. December 5^th:Josephine Sacabo. Crescent City Books at230 Chartres St. from 7-9 p.m. Seatingis limited. RSVP’s preferred. More information at crescentcitybooks.com

Memory Wing by Bill Lavender

A memoir in verse that explores the outer reaches of truth: of memory, language and art. Loosely based on the tripartite structure of The Divine Comedy, this poem appears as a simple memoir in lyrical and immediately accessible language, yet it works by accumulation to question the very fact of memory and the foundations of truth and identity. This is a poem that reads as easily as a memoir but which is as dense with allusion as one of The Cantos. As Andrei Codrescu has said of it: "This is a grand American long poem Doc Williams would be proud of."

Advance comments on Memory Wing:
Delving with brilliant image precision into the power of the past, and chanting in plain lyric to the ghosts of his mother and father & the futurity of his sons, Bill Lavender takes us back, down, deep into a psychological Arkansas and New Orleans that resonate with Dante's three part journey. In the vast field of felt memory, he guides us into subtle territories of torment, recognition and reconciliation that are Lavender's contemporary equivalents of Dante's inferno, purgatory and paradise. Bill Lavender's Memory Wing is a contemporary autobiographical masterpiece.
-Rodger Kamenetz

The poet's mother lives, dies in an Alzheimer's wing. The poet takes wing, remembering more because his mother remembers so little. He takes his past-and some of hers-under his wing. There is no waiting in the wings here; everything's laid out on memory's stage, surreal as the Roman memory exercises ordained. The poet may be left wing, but he steps out from under the wing of Arkansas, Blake-like tragedy, and Dante, into the elegiac present, where parents cede to children and in all their dreams come responsibilities and their evasions. The OED's 12th definition best defines wing as "part of a spectral line where the intensity tails off to nothing at either side of it," but that fails to describe the utter intensity of the flight between points in Lavender's book. This non-fiction epic poem flies through past, present, and hallucinated futures at the speed of unpunctuated sound.
-Susan M. Schultz

What a grand concerto! Read this epic eulogy and weep! Lavender is a resplendent Virgil traversing the woods of his memory, which coincides at unexpected places with our own. I'm happy to see the terse minimal suitcase of his lyrical self unpacked and overflowing. This is a grand American long poem Doc Williams would be proud of.
-Andrei Codrescu

Bill Lavender shifts language in rare combinations that unsettle the reader. Memory Wing is no different except that it takes a lifetime to inhabit, but lets us dip into that proper distance between knowing and learning where we hold down our own memories for comparison and where we sit in the same tragedy and splendor….
-Megan Burns

Bill Lavender is a poet, editor, and teacher living in New Orleans. He is the publisher of Lavender Ink, a small press devoted to contemporary poetry, and he is Managing Editor of UNO Press at the University of New Orleans. Besides his dozen books published to date his poems have appeared in numerous print and web journals and anthologies, and his essays and theoretical writings have been published in Contemporary Literature andPoetics Today, among many others.

Coming in November 2011
ISBN13: 978-0-9837079-0-5
219 pages $19.95

NOLA SATURDAY: Poetry Reading Throwdown

2011-11-04T08:50:00.000-07:00

Jarret Lofstead of NOLAFugees Press and the People Say Project and Megan Burns of Trembling Pillow Press and 17 Poets! Literary and Performance Series are issuing a poetry reading challenge to celebrate the three all-day poetry readings happening this Saturday, Nov. 5th.

How often, New Orleans, do you get the chance to attend three readings in one day where each reading features a host of local poets as well as visiting poets for two amazing literary events: Ladyfest New Orleans and the NOLA Bookfair

Answer the call to attend all three and you can win the POETRY AWESOMENESS PACKAGE:

CHALLENGE:

Attend all three readings (listed below) and document your attendance, so we know you were there. Don't just jump in and out, but listen and let us hear what you liked, what inspired you, what made you jump up and down. We want active listeners and participants to share with us their experiences at these events.

Once you complete your challenge, make your way over to the Maison at 6:00PM for the Printer's Ball, the date on the image below should read Nov. 5th, and find Megan Burns. The first 5 to complete this challenge will be awarded their certificate of Poetic Awesomeness as well as the prize package:

1 Book from NOLAFugees

This is Megan Burns.

1 Book from Trembling Pillow Press
1 20.00 Bar tab at Handsome Willy's
1 personally dedicated poem written to you by Megan Burns

Come on, New Orleans, we know you love a challenge. Show some love for your poets this Saturday and score a little lagniappe for yourself.

Readings:

Ladyfest New Orleans:

Poetry Book Signing
Maple Street Bookstore, Healing Center (2372 St. Claude Ave), 11am-2 pmFeaturing: Valentine Pierce, Lee Grue, Omaira Falcon, and Gina Ferrara

Poetry Corner
Café Istanbul, Healing Center, 1:45 pm-6pm
Hosted by: Megan Harris
Ikon, 1:45
Sam Jasper, 2pm
Laura Mattingly, 2:15 pm
Sandra Johnson, 2:30 pm
Roselyn Leonard, 3pm
Leeandra Nolting, 3:30 pm
Biljana Obradovic, 3:45pm
Laurie Williams, 4pm
Kelly Harris, 4:15 pm
Gina Ferrara, 4:30 pm
Allison Pelegrin, 4:45 pm
MonaLisa Saloy, 5:00pm
Beverly Rainbolt, 5:15 pm
Sunday Parker, 5:30 pm
Valentine Pierce, 5:45pm
Lee Grue, 6pm

Apple Barrel (NOLA Bookfair)

Hosted by:
J.S. Makkos
Apple Barrel: All Day Readings @ the 2011NOLA Book Fair

Noon-1: Dead Poets Evocation

1:00 Laura Mattingly
1:10 Marlo Barrera
1:20 Megan Harris
1:30 Jamie Bernstein
1:40 Gina Ferrara
1:50 Sandra Grace Johnson
2:00 Jonathan Kline
2:10 Jenna Mae
2:20 Benjamin S. Lowenkron
2:30 Tara Jill Ciccarone
2:40 Angus Woodward (of Baton Rouge)
2:50 Mary Griggs
3:00 Wendy Taylor Carlisle (of Texarkana)
3:10 Michael Harold (of Shreveport)
3:20 Kristina Marshall (of Lafayette)
3:30 Jonathan Penton (of Acadiana, formerly of El Paso, Texas)
3:40 Clare L. Martin (of Acadiana)
3:50 Frankie Metro (of Albuquerque, formerly of Tampa, Florida)
4:00 Jenn Marie Nunes
4:10 Mel Coyle
4:20 Mac Taylor
4:30 J.S. Makkos
4:40 Sean Munro
4:50 Thaddeus Conti
5:00 Jonathan Walters
5:10 Ben Kopel
5:20 Jim Tascio
5:30 Danny Kerwick
5:40 Adam O'Conner
5:50 Joseph Bienvenu

Maison readings (NOLA Bookfair)

NOLA and Brooklyn Poets Collabs and Readings

2011-10-30T07:04:00.000-07:00

Happy to have with us all week the amazing poet Tracey McTague, poet-mama, curator of all growing things at the Mother Ship, editor at Lungfull Magazine and one of the curators of the Zinc reading series. She joined us Thursday night at 17 Poets! Literary and Performance Series to read from a collaboration done with NOLA poet (Bucktown representin') Brett Evans. The collaboration began as a project for the Boston Poetry Festival but it continues to flourish under the right circumstances, and we were happy to hear the two performing it live for our enjoyment. One of the constraints (joys?) of long distance collaborations other than the time delay in mailing (emailing) words across space is the lack of opportunity to hear the voice of the person you are working with: does the fictional voice you respond to parallel the flesh voice of the poem, and how does the work change when that intimate space of sharing and creating is breached and brought out into the public sphere?

The dynamic duo of Brett Evans and Tracey McTague were reunited again in under 24 hours to participate in the new series Left of the Dial hosted by poet Ben Kopel and housed at Euclid Records in the Bywater. Standing room only among LPs and waves of nostalgia, Brett Evans delivered his usual punch of wit, cynicism, and lyrical delight scraping the detritus of verbal spoofs, twists, and tongue twisters with comedic timing and surprising juxtapositions. Take for instance a series of poems titled "Versus Verses" which is both exactly what it implies with technicolor Evans panache:

"drunk tank vs. Panzer/ weeping willow vs Sword of Damocles/ emergency milk vs. needed ade/ Imaginary Friend vs. Bride of Mother-in-Law handshake/ Cross the Rubicon vs. Jump the Shark..."

From that surrealist game play, Evans turns towards a complicated invented form that involves a sonnet crossed with a cinquain crossed with Evans particular mode of transmitting the image along a play of word exchanges. "XIII" ends (in the sonnet form): "like I told you once in Oahu/ Suzanne Vega turned 50 today carbon dating/ reveals how long I've loved you"

Poet Tracey McTague celebrated her birthday in style by stepping up to the mic to share her blend of words and syllabic gymnastics to her soon-to-become new fans as well as the old. McTague's poems are like waterfalls, you have to just sit back and let them fall over you and just as your poetry eyes are lured into a slightly relaxed squint, the rainbows appear. McTague eschews narrative for the lightning connections made on the cerebral & subconscious levels allowing syllables and synapses to guide the jumps and ducks around the swirl of her language. Poems are filled with concrete nouns stacked up to create tumbling blocks of images as she sweeps around the puns and delicately trips among the catches and consonants that sing us our familiar sounds like a nursery rhyme. Suddenly, Shelley is standing mid-watered in his sea changed grave, a levee is made for breaching, a cup is turned over and your future falls out: That is the poetry of Tracey McTague.

If these rock stars should grace a poetry venue in a town near you or perhaps you should wake up in the middle of the night with the sweet sound of WHAM wafting through your walls: know you're in good hands. This review might be slightly biased as I adore WHAM, but who doesn't?

(photo by Michael Dominici)

Also, it's Ezra Pound's B-day.

From Canto LXXXI

But to have done instead of not doing This is not vanityTo have, with decency, knockedThat a Blunt should open To have gathered from the air a live traditionor from a fine old eye the unconquered flamethis is not vanity. Here error is all in the not done,all in the diffidence that faltered . . .

Dylan Symposium at UPenn

2011-10-23T11:03:00.000-07:00

In celebration of Dylan's 70th birthday, PennSound presents a Dylan symposium by some self-proclaimed Dylanologists. I was a bit surprised Jonathan Cott wasn't included, as I would name him one of the top Dylanologists of our day. If you're a huge fan, this is probably both fascinating and horrifying. And the video is both, as poets and fans try to pin down the elusive aesthetic of a legend as well as present some examinations of an occasionally off-Dylan in the 80s. It concludes with a sing-along of "I Will be Released," which is both endearing and a bit hard to watch. What the participants don't lack is enthusiasm and, in some cases, bold insights into the language of Dylan. The irony, of course, is trying to package, in the university, talks on such a character. These discussions and talks, as well as these sing-a- longs in all their vulnerable glory, should happen in smoky bars and at late night parties when everyone is feeling quite mellow. So, the medium is a bit forced and a bit awkward, but the intention is true. And for any Dylan fan, the enjoyment is real. At about 90 minutes, this video is certainly worth a watch if Dylan lyrics have been spinning through your head most of your life.
Dave and I saw Dylan here in New Orleans right after he turned 70, and the concert he gave was the liveliest I've ever seen him. So, enjoy PennSound's Dylan Symposium:

http://writing.upenn.edu/wh/multimedia/tv/reruns/watch/119028

Live Painting and Poetry at the Healing Center: Saturday, Oct. 22

2011-10-21T15:32:00.000-07:00

Fatoush Restaurant, Coffee Shop, and Juice Bar in the Healing Center, (at St. Claude and St. Roch) hosts a live painting and poetry reading this Saturday, October 22 at 6PM.

Painter and Poet Herbert Kearney will be putting the finishing touches on the wall mural: "All Mothers are Boats" which is the image on the cover of Dr. Jerry Ward's The Katrina Papers (UNO Press). Dr. Ward will read from his book as Kearney paints. Kearney and Poet Megan Burns (yep, that's me) will read from their water healing collaboration poem written and first performed at 17 Poets! in March 2011. Dave Brinks will also read and there will be music from John Spuzzillo.

Please join us for a tribute to water and healing in the aptly named Healing Center.

Artist Herbert Kearney

The Katrina Papers: A Journal of Trauma and Recovery by Dr. Jerry Ward, Jr.

Dr. Jerry Ward

Thursday, Oct. 20: 17 Poets! Dara Wier, Jen Tynes and Jen Denrow

2011-10-18T11:28:00.000-07:00

This Thursday, 17 Poets! welcomes back fantastic poet Dara Wier. There is a beautiful interview with Dara by Cynthia Arrieu-King in the (old layout) Jacket Magazine (2010). Dara says: "Imagination is something that you’re supposedly able to own yourself. It’s your imagination. If anybody starts telling you what you should be imagining or what would be appropriate or good or just to imagine, or necessary or required to imagine, you better be suspicious of that."

Excellent advice. And she will probably be laying so more wisdom pearls out among her wonderful verse, so don't miss her.

Also, super excited to have first-time-with-us readers Jen Tynes and Jen Denrow both of Horse Less Press. Here's a great interview with Jen Tynes from over at the infamous rob mclennan blog. Horse Less press not only puts out a wonderful review in .pdf format for your viewing pleasure stocked full of amazing poets but they just recently started publishing full length books including Richard Froude's Fabric, which I reviewed over at Tarpaulin Sky. 2012 books include: Daniela Olszewska’s cloudfang : : cake dirt and Kate Schapira’s The Soft Place.

Jen Denrow has a great interview here with Thermos about the publication of her first book, California (Four Way Books).

I'm super excited about this line up this Thursday at 8:00 (www.17poets.com).

These poets are gonna rock your world.

Free Speech Orchestra at 17 Poets!, Oct. 13th

2011-10-13T06:20:00.000-07:00

This coming Thursday, October 13, 7:30pm will be a very special evening indeed for 17 Poets! Literary & Performance Series at the Gold Mine Saloon, 701 Dauphine.

It's been a long time coming.

After several years of hiatus, THE FREE SPEECH ORCHESTRA is returning.

Join us for this inaugural event.

This edition of The Free Speech Orchestra will feature a Jazz Poetry Session celebrating the Living Memory of our co-founder and spiritual mentor, New Orleans flute player ELUARD A. BURT II (Feb. 15, 1937 - Aug. 5, 2007).

This performance will feature musicians and poets:

Mike Mito-reeds
John Spuzillo-percussion
Marcus Bronson-bass
Jonathan Warren-flute
Felice Guimont-poet
Lee Meitzen Grue-poet
Moose Jackson-poet
Dave Brinks-poet
As always, our feature will be followed by OPEN MIC hosted by Jimmy Ross (Sign-Up for Open Mic begins at 7:30pm).
GOLD MINE SALOON
701 Dauphine Street
Thursday, October 13, 2011
7:30pm
A Brief History of THE FREE SPEECH ORCHESTRA
The Free Speech Orchestra was co-founded by Eluard Burt and Dave Brinks in 1997. It's primary mission is to provide an improvisatory, synergetic space for musicians and poets to collaborate and explore side-by-side the cultural spirit & essence of the New Orleans' community through Jazz and Poetry.
Every performance by The Free Speech Orchestra is unique since the founding vision is to represent a rotating group of musicians and poets at various venues throughout the city, thus providing an opportunity for all to participate and contribute their dear gifts, talents, and passions in celebration of the New Orleans community.
A brief list of musicians and poets featured over the years includes: co-founder Eluard Burt-flute, Harry Sterling-guitar, Roger Poche-bass, Uganda-pecussion, Richard Theodore-bass clarinet, Hart McNee-bass flute, Earle Brown-tenor sax, Kevin O'Day-percussion, Michael Skinkus-percussion, Kufaro-percussion, John Sinclair-poet,Yolanda Harris-poet, Felice Guimont-poet, Valentine Pierce-poet,
Dennis Formento-poet, Paul Chasse-poet, Tom LeBlanc-poet, and co-founder Dave Brinks-poet.

(from lft to rt) Eluard A. Burt II, Tom LeBlanc, Valentine Pierce

FOR MORE INFO:

www.17poets.com

Chapbooks: Collection Tales

2011-10-10T19:54:00.000-07:00

The photo on the left is a small collection of chaps that I've amassed over the last two months. About a dozen of them are DUSIE Kollectiv chaps mailed to me from people all over the country who were generous enough to mail their handmade chaps. There are about a dozen Belldonna series chaps in there as well. The photo below is a chap I received in the mail last week from Deborah Poe. I love how the postcard matches the chap, so they got a shot together.

I tell you these things because all of those chaps on the left were on my desk and my husband somehow managed to spill an entire cup of coffee on my desk-- an entire freshly poured cup, my friends.

In some kind of chapbook miracle, only one chap actually was dripping. There were a handful of other items covered in coffee, including by some weird karmic fate Dave's forthcoming manuscript from Black Widow Press.

So, the chap below is the one that got the coffee. It's called Turning 25 by Chantel Langlinais from poet Marthe Reed's small press Nous-Zot. In an interesting turn of events, it created this abstract fade throughout the book. It almost looks like the rib cage of the book is now peeking through, and in an eerie coincidence the subject of the book is death and loss. Formally, the author pares down and extracts from poems, pulling the bones out as it were and then rearranging them so we get these sifted bits that in turn create new poems, albeit sparser echoes of their originals. From the introduction, the author states: "For each text, I turned the book to page twenty-five. The title of each poem corresponds to the 2nd and 5th word that appears on that page, and the poems are created from the words that fall down the left-hand side." Each poem has its own title and then beneath it says to "the poet" from whom the words are borrowed.

Here's a beautiful example from a Plath poem:

Years Familiar

to Plath

twenty years bred water
waiting in the authentic
fantastic
we waver from ever

the shape intrudes
is closed
is glittering

yet the fabrication is such
that each day disguises many greens
sprouting

like icebergs
on arms that navigate
breaking us
among sacred shatters

I'm a big fan of borrowing as it were and rearranging. I think what we do as poets is see well and "see well again" how to shape and reshape words. I think words work in one poem in one particular way, but the amazing thing about them is that you can try them on and roll them out like your own little dough and then they fit you too. In this chapbook, Langlinais looks at not just poems, but the poems that have shaped her writing. She fits them on to her grief, to her loss, to her sense of how forms change as we change in the world. It turns out that what you need you have and yet you have to take it and make it your own. I'm awed that a book about borrowing and taking then took a bit of the liquid magic that fuels my every morning and made it work as well. It made me look between stains at each word more closely; life is strange.

Little Red Leaves: Textile Series, Edited by Dawn Pendergast

2011-10-08T20:24:00.000-07:00

Dawn Pendegast sent me these chapbooks a few weeks ago in the mail to review. I am blown away by how lovely they are and just wanted to take a moment to show some images from the books. This first one is A Reduction by Jimmy Lo.

This is an interior shot of the text of Dawn Pendergast's chap Leavesfallleaves made with the
Dusie Kollectiv chapbook series.

This is an interior shot of the images and text in Lucky by Mairead Byrne with illustrations by Abigail Lingford.

This is an exterior shot of all three showing their textile sewn exteriors.

For the full review please visit Galatea Resurrects here.

You can get your own Textile Series chaps here.

Break

2011-10-03T07:51:00.000-07:00

Thinking about the eye tooth
the first break
the song before
emerging

Poetry Buffet Reading: Joel Dailey, Brett Evans, and Murray Shugars

2011-10-02T07:26:00.000-07:00

Here's a poem from Joel Dailey who read yesterday at the Poetry Buffet held every first Saturday of the month at the Latter Library. Joel Dailey publishes the infamous Fell Swoop Journal in old school pseudo-mimeograph style. He has a new chapbook Surprised by French Fries, (Ugly Duckling Presse) that gets a review in the October issue of Entrepot. When Joel is not trying to spread internet viruses in order to shut down social networks, he can be found giving a poetry reading every five years before bursting into flames. As I can't even find a picture of Joel Dailey on the internetz, I'm not really sure he exists. His daughter has been babysitting our 3 kids for about 8 years now, so I forgive him all proclivities.

Joining Mr. Dailey was poet Brett Evans who let me run off with a copy of his Pisa Can 74 (Fell Swoop, #109). Basically, as Evans describes, it's a shucking away of the interior guts of the Pisan Cantos (by Pound, do I need to say that?) as one would a mirliton in order to stuff it with delicious seafoody centers. In this case, the seafood stuffing is a mix of New Orleans history, tragedy, obscure references a la Poundian influence and a bit of raunchy flair as in the opening line:
"symbols and tits/ enormous tragedy of the wild country dream/ punc'd by Milano heels/ heels to the ceiling/ where in history's hide and seek/ will you find it?"

I love the dovetailing of the New Orleans imagery:

"lunch of: po-boy paper spread
on flipped lid

Of the pick-up truck
tailgating with platonic oysters
soldiers taking their clothes off
Quick n Dirty boat building content"

Covers done by the amazing collagist, Tracey McTague. Let's hope this series continues, and I'd like to see the various New Orleans dialects and spoken languages creep in about the edges as well. Evans is also hard at work on a never ending project about how much he loves this American Life.

You can catch both Brett Evans and Tracey McTague reading a new collaboration they wrote this summer at 17 Poets! Literary and Performance Series, October 27th along with features Lewis Warsh and Marilyn Kallet.

(Brett reading at 17 Poets, 2004)

Rounding out the Poetry Buffet offering yesterday, Vicksburg poet Murray Shugars reading from his book, Songs My Mother Never Taught Me (Dos Madres Press). He will be reading at the Maple Leaf today. Host of the Poetry Buffet, Gina Ferrara is a big fan of Shugars' collection and brought him to New Orleans to share his work with us. Be sure to check out November's Poetry Buffet on the first Saturday, Nov. 5th with special guest host Jonathan Kline.

Gina Ferrara will be over at the Healing Center signing books as part of the annual Ladyfest New Orleans along with poets Lee Meitzen Grue and Valentine Pierce at the new Maple Street Bookstore Branch in the Healing Center 11-2pm.

Reviews, Chapbooks, Readings, and Book Prizes

2011-09-16T15:09:00.000-07:00

My review of Kate Eichhorn's Fieldnotes, a forensic is in the new issue of Rain Taxi (Fall 2011).

I've been ecstatic about receiving in packages of two or three a day a collection of Dusie Kollective Chaps. The author's have been so generous, and I love their notes as much as I do their willingness to share their chapbooks with me. I'm having to collect all the notes, chaps and envelopes together, so I can keep them as I discovered them from the mailbox.

Black Widow press has just released Niyi Osundare's City Without People, and I have been reading and rereading it for an upcoming review in October's issue of Entrepôt.

We also had a wonderful reading by Louisiana Poet Laureate Julie Kane last night at 17 Poets! She read a beautiful crown of sonnets (sonnet corona) for artist and coffee shop owner Bob Borsodi. He was quite a remarkable person, and Nathaniel Turner has a wonderful collection of tributes to him here.

Trembling Pillow Press has just opened its first Bob Kaufman Book Prize in poetry. Submissions are open now through Nov. 15th with judge poet Bernadette Mayer. You can find out more and enter here.

A note from 17 Poets!

2011-09-09T06:07:00.000-07:00

AMAZING HISTORI-CITIES...New Orleans e-ART-h Community News

EXTRA! EXTRA!...A LOOK BACK!

Read all about it further below under DIDYA KNOW?

* * *

Dear Friends,

As Louis Armstrong says, "Everything I've ever done is dedicated to the cause of HAPPINESS!"

And so we tip our hats to you, and to the fine spirit of Louis' credo, and thank you dearly for your vibrant support in celebrating New Orleans culture!

Please join hands with us at 17 Poets! Literary & Performance Series. Be a part of our first ever fundraiser! You can help us continue to provide FREE world class POETRY EVENTS in the New Orleans community; go here:http://www.indiegogo.com/17-Poets-Literary-and-Performance-Series

We have succesfully raised $295; however, this is well short of our goal.

We only have (7) DAYS LEFT to the conclusion of this fundraising campaign.

DIDYA KNOW?

The host venue for 17 Poets! Literary & Performance Series, the Gold Mine Saloon, is an essential part of the French Quarter's cultural tradition of Poetry & Jazz reaching back over FIFTY YEARS. In an earlier period, at the very same location (705 Dauphine Street), the establishment was called The Tunnel Bar. One of the more memorable JAZZ POETRY sessions took place at 3:00pm, Sunday, December 21, 1958. The event was produced and hosted by New Orleans' cultural visionary and poet BOB "Rainey" CASS featuring performances by poets JACK MICHELINE, celebrating his first book of poetry (RIVER OF RED WINE, Troubadour Press 1958), and RAINEY CASS accompanied by the ALEX "DUKE" BURRELL TRIO. Admission for that show was $1!

ABOUT US

17 Poets! Literary & Performance Series is a vital center for poets, artists and musicians to share their works in New Orleans community, www.17poets.com.

We are entering the eighth year of the program. Please support our continuing efforts however generously you can.

Our weekly Thursday night program is an important locus for visiting poets worldwide and for emerging voices of our region.

100% your proceeds are SHARED honorariums given to each featured poet for their performance and reading.

---FALL 2011 season will include featured programs---

Thurs, Sept 15: Louisiana Poet Laureate JULIE KANE

Thurs, Sept 22: poets JOHN SINCLAIR and SIMON PETTET

Thurs, Sept 29: poets MARK FOLSE

Thurs, Oct 6: poet ANNA RABINOWITZ

Thurs, Oct 13: JAZZ POETRY SESSION featuring LEE GRUE, FELICE GUIMONT et al

Thurs, OCT 20: poets DARA WIER, JEN TYNES and JEN DUNROW

Thurs, Oct 27: poets LEWIS WARSH and MARILYN KALLET

Thurs, Nov 3: poet NIYI OSUNDARE

Thurs, Nov 10: poet ALISON PELEGRIN and KRISTIN SANDERS

Thurs, Nov 17: poets BERNADETTE MAYER and PHILIP GOOD

Thurs, Dec 8: TULI KUPFERBERG: A Celebration of His Life & Works

Thurs, Dec 15: poets JULIAN SEMILIAN, LAURA SEMILIAN and ANDY FOREST

John Sinclair in New Orleans this weekend

2011-09-07T12:21:00.000-07:00

John Sinclair's SONG OF PRAISE Homage to John Coltrane
Available now for digital download from CDBaby, but the album or download songs.

Download the album or songs.

John also has a new book by the same name from Trembling Pillow press, available through SPD books or Amazon or visit: www.tremblingpillowpress.com

Flying in from Amsterdam, John Sinclair will be here this weekend. He has a bevy of appearances over the next two weeks, including this one on Saturday.

John will be playing this Saturday, Sept. 10th at the Big Top with Carlo Ditta
9:30 PM-12:30PM

The Big Top 3 Ring Circus

1638 Clio St. 1 block off St. Charles Ave.

New Orleans, LA

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/johnsinclairandthebluess2

2011-09-05T16:34:00.000-07:00

I'm spending Tropical Storm Lee's constant and yet not consistent rain storms deep in contemplation about a little chapbook called Surprised by French Fries. The next issue of Entrepôt will have a review of this chapbook. You can get your copy here:
Ugly Duckling Presse

Entrepôt is now available at Crescent City Books if you're in New Orleans and we'll have a subscription link up soon over at Trembling Pillow Press.

Thanks, TS Lee, it took me three days to write and post this.

In other news, Michael Tod Edgerton is over at the Truck blog asking some serious questions for a really interesting project: http://halvard-johnson.blogspot.com/

Solid Quarter, Issue 1: Free Download

2011-09-03T13:30:00.000-07:00

VisitIssue one of Solid Quarter (Summer, 2006) published by Trembling Pillow press in New Orleans, edited by Megan Burns is now available as a free download:
http://issuu.com/tremblingpillowpress/docs/solidquarter1

Poets:

Noelle Levy
Thaddeus Conti
Kim Csizmazia
Bill Myers

Cover art by Dave Brinks

Visit Trembling Pillow Press for information on current issues and submission information.

Entrepôt: New Orleans' Newest Literary Monthly

2011-09-02T16:06:00.000-07:00

Entrepôt is New Orleans' newest literary monthly featuring contributing articles from Dr. Jerry Ward, Jr., Bill Lavender, John Sinclair, and Dennis Formento as well as contributions from Publisher Dave Brinks, book reviews by Megan Burns and edited under the helm of Editor-In-Chief Geoff Munsterman. Articles discuss New Orleans history in poetry and publishing including a look at journals such as Climax, Les Cenelles, and publications from Loujon Press, such as their Outsider journal. John Sinclair examines the history of music in New Orleans looking at early jazz contributors including Buddy Bolden and Edward 'Kid' Ory.

Information about Trembling Pillow Press' first Bob Kaufman Book Prize in Poetry can also be found in Entrepôt as well as online at Trembling Pillow Press.

More information on Entrepôt including ordering information and submissions of article ideas can be found at the Trembling Pillow press website: www.tremblingpillowpress.com

17 Poets! Fall 2011: Poetry in New Orleans Celebration

2011-09-01T08:30:00.000-07:00

17 Poets! Presents its fall 2011 season celebration

Doors open early at 7:00 PM for viewing and discussion

"Magazines have come and gone, people have come and gone, and so much of what we were intensely into has become only a flickering memory."

-- Tom Dent

Thursday, September 1, 2011 at 7:00PM, the GOLD MINE SALOON and 17 Poets! Literary & Performance Series will host an OPEN DISCUSSION and EXHIBIT featuring dozens of "original" NEW ORLEANS LITERARY publications (books, magazines & other epherma) relating to the Crescent City's HISTORICAL contributions to ARTS & LETTERS.

Discussion Participants Include: KALAMU YA SALAAM, LEE MEITZEN GRUE, DENNIS FORMENTO, DR. JERRY W. WARD, RODGER KAMENETZ, MONA LISA SALOY, JOHN CLARK, NANCY HARRIS, JOHN TRAVIS, RALPH ADAMO, BILL LAVENDER, NANCY DIXON, JIM CASS and many others from the New Orleans community.

This event will be followed by a poetry reading featuring GINA FERRARA (celebrating her b-day!) and OPEN MIC hosted by Jimmy Ross.

Also, fresh off the presses: New Orleans' newest literary monthly newspaper:

Entrepôt featuring articles by contributing editors Dr. Jerry Ward, Jr, Bill Lavender, John Sinclair, Dennis Formento, as well as book reviews by Megan Burns and essays from publisher Dave Brinks. For more info: www.tremblingpillowpress.com

---Some of the NEW ORLEANS RELATED PUBLICATIONS featured in this EXHIBIT will include:

NOLA (1840's)

CREOLE VOICES ed. by Edward Maceo Coleman, 1945; A Centennial Edition celebrating LES CENELLES, the first African-American anthology of poetry published in New Orleans in 1845, ed. by Armand Lanusse.

NOLA (1850's)

Mysteries of New Orleans by Baron Ludwig von Reizenstein, 1854-55.

NOLA (1870's)

Old Creole Days by George Washington Cable, 1879.

The New Orleans of Lafcadio Hearn featuring illustrated sketches from the Daily City Item.

NOLA (1880's)

Gombo Zhebes by Lafcadio Hearn, 1885.

Chita, A Memory of last Island by Lafcadio Hearn, 1888.

NOLA (1890's)

The Goodness of St. Rocque and Other Stories by Alice Dunbar, 1899.

The Grandissimes by George Washington Cable, 1899.

NOLA (1910's)

KRAZY KAT: The Comic Art of George Herriman, 1913.

NOLA (1920's)

Double Dealer, Issue 2; ed. by Julius Weis Friend and Basil Thompson, 1921.

NOLA (1930's)

Blues: A Bisexual Monthly ed. by Parker Tyler and Charles Henri Ford, 1933.

NOLA (1940's)

Iconograph, Issue 3 and Supplement; ed. by Kenneth L. Beaudoin, 1946.

NOLA (1950's)

Old French Quarter News ed. by Bruce Lippincott, 1950.

New Orleans Poetry Journal Press ed. by Maxine Cassin, various titles 1954-1982.

CLIMAX: A Creative Review in the Jazz Spirit, Issues 1 and 2; ed. by Robert Cass, 1955-56.

NOLA (1960's)

Outsider, Issues 1, 2, 3 and 4/5; ed. by John and Louise Webb, 1961-63, 1968-69.

A Touch of Recognition by Maxine Cassin, 1962.

Order and Chaos by Henry Miller, Loujon Press, 1966.

No Big Thing ed. by Eugene "Yictove" M. Turk, 1967.

The Free Southern Theater ed. by Tom Dent, Richard Schechner and Gilbert Moses, 1969.

NOLA EXPRESS ed. by Darlen Fife and Robert Head, 1969.

After Word Comes Weird by Darlene Fife and Robert Head, 1969.

Dancing by Al Young, 1969.

Groove, Bang, And Jive Around by Steve Cannon, 1969.

New Laurel Review founded by Alice Claudel and ed. by Lee Meitzen Grue, 1960's to present.

NOLA (1970's)

Insomnia or The Devil at Large by Henry Miller, Loujon Press, 1970.

Magnolia Street by Tom Dent, 1972.

The Black Collegian ed. by Kalamu ya Salaam, 1974.

nkombo, Issue 9; ed. by Kalamu ya Salaam and Tom Dent, 1974.

Why I Live in the Forest by James Nolan, 1974.

Barataria, Issues 1-4; ed. by Louis Gallo and Ralph Adamo, 1974.

Distaff: Forum for Southern Women ed. by Mary Gehman, 1975.

Sadness at the Private University by Ralph Adamo, 1977.

French Quarter Poems by Lee Meitzen Grue, 1979.

NOLA (1980's)

Southern Black Cultural Newsletter, Issue 1; ed. by Tom Dent, 1980.

What Moves Is Not the Wind by James Nolan, 1980.

Quilt, Issue 1; ed. by Al Young and Ishmael Reed, 1981.

Blue Lights and Other River Songs by Tom Dent, 1982.

Fell Swoop ed. by Joel Dailey, 1983 to present.

Songbook by Everette Maddox, 1982.

NIGHTSEASONS by Peter Cooley, 1983.

Charlemagne: A Song of Gestures by John Gery, 1983.

Exquisite Corpse ed. by Andrei Codrescu, 1987-2005.

Maple Leaf Rag Anthology ed. by John Travis, 1980 to present.

Autopsy by Kay Murphy, 1985.

BODY AND SOUL by Julie Kane, 1987.

Contours for Ritual by Martha McFerren, 1988.

A History of Women and New Orleans ed. by Mary Gehman and Nancy Ries, 1988.

Blue Print by Yictove, 1989.

The Ape Woman Story by Nancy Harris, 1989.

Portals Press ed. by John Travis, various titles, 1989 to present.

Mesechabe: A Journal of Surregionalism ed. by John Clark and Dennis Formento, 1980-90's.

NOLA (1990's)

Word Up: Black Poetry of the 80's from the Deep South ed. by Kalamu ya Salaam, 1990.

The Missing Jew by Rodger Kamenetz, 1992.

Magic City by Yusef Komunyakaa, 1992.

WOMEN IN CARS by Martha McFerren, 1992.

The Jew in the Lotus by Rodger Kamenetz, 1994.

Poet-Chief: The Native American Poetics of Waly Whitman and Pablo Neruda by James Nolan, 1994.

New Orleans Review: The Other South vol. 25, no.1-2; ed. by Ralph Adamo, 1995.

The Free People of Color of New Orleans: An Introduction by Mary Gehman, 1996.

New Orleans Review: An Other South vol. 21, no.2 ed. by Ralph Adamo, 1999.

Rogue Wave ed. by Beth McCormack, 1996-2004.

Southern Journey: A Return to the Civil Rights Movement by Tom Dent, 1997.

Trouble the Water: 250 Years of African American Poetry ed. by Jerry W. Ward, 1997.

All Saints: New and Selected Poems by Brenda Marie Osbey, 1997.

Ain't No Spring Chicken: Selected Poems by Ahmos Zu-Bolton, 1998.

360 Degrees, A Revolution of Black Poets ed. by Kalamu ya Salaam, 1998.

From a Bend in the River: 100 New Orleans Poets, ed. by Kalamu ya Salaam, 1998.

Belief Blues by Kay Murphy, 1998.

rogue embryo by Camille Martin, 1999.

I Am New Orleans and Other Poems by Marcus B. Christian; ed. by Rudolph Lewis and Amin Sharif, 1999.

Lower 48 by Joel Dailey, 1999.

Lavender Ink ed. by Bill Lavender, various titles, 1990's to present.

NOLA (2000's)

Frozen Embraces by Biljana Obradovic, bilingual, English and Serbian, 2000.

Fattening Frogs for Snakes by John Sinclair, 2002.

Another South: Experimental Writing in the South, ed. by Bill Lavender and Hank Lazer, 2002.

Pages from the Book of the Sun: New and Selected Poems by Niyi Osundare, 2002.

Rhythm & Booze by Julie Kane, 2003.

All Fires the Fire by Andy Young, 2003.

Words of Fire: An Anthology of the Dragon's Den Poetry Night, ed. by Heidi Peite, 2003.

The Altar of This Moment by beverly Rainbolt, 2003.

If Books Were Bricks by Jimmy Ross, 2003.

Jayne Mansfield's Dog by Alex Rawls, 2004.

YAWP: A Journal of Poetry & Art ed. by Dave Brinks, 2004 to present.

Appetite by Jean-Mark Sens,, 2004.

Red Beans And Ricely Yours: Poems by Mona Lisa Saloy, 2005.

Xavier Review vol. 25, no. 2; ed. by Richard Collins, 2005.

MEENA: A Bilingual Literary Magazine, Arabic and English, Issues 1-3; ed. by Andy Young and Khaled Hegazzi, 2005 to present.

New Orleans Review vol. 31, no. 2; ed. by Christopher Chambers, 2006.

Blind Visionz by Michael "Quess" Moore, 2006.

What Gets Into Us by Moira Crone, 2006.

Simpatico Press ed. by Daniel Kerwick, 2006 to present.

Solid Quarter ed. by Megan Burns, 2006 to present.

Geometry of the Heart by Valentine Pierce, 2007.

Roach Opera by Christian Champagne, 2007.

University of New Orleans Press, ed. by Bill Lavender, various titles, 2007 to present.

All Mothers Are Boats by Herbert Kearney, 2008.

aepoetics by Thaddeus Conti, 2008.

Memorial + Sight Lines by Megan Burns, 2008.

Constance, Issues 1-2; ed. by Patrick Strange and Eric Kiesewetter, 2006, 2008.

The Katrina Papers by Jerry W. Ward, 2008.

Olympia Street by Michael Ford, 2008

The Richard Wright Encyclopedia ed. by Jerry W. Ward and Robert J. Butler, 2008.

Spherical Woman: Collected Poems by Kysha Brown Robinson, 2009.

The Caveat Onus by Dave Brinks, 2009.

The Parade Goes On Without You by Andrea Boll, 2009.

TRANSFIXION by Bill Lavender, 2009.

My Name Is New Orleans: 40 Years of Poetry and Other Jazz by Arturo Pfister, 2009.

Slosh Models by Brett Evans, 2009.

Etheral Avalanche by Gina Ferrara, 2009.

The Loup Garou by Moose Jackson, 2009.

NOLA (2010's)

What Can't Be Lost ed. by Lee Barclay, 2010.

Unsolicited Poems by David Rowe, 2010.

Dorado, Issue 1; ed. by Peter Anderson, 2009 to present.

A Howling in the Wires ed. by Sam Jasper and Mark Folse, 2010.

According to the Drunken Elders of My Past by Geoff Munstermann, 2010.

Downtown by Lee Meitzen Grue, 2011.

SONG OF PRAISE: Homage To John Coltrane by John Sinclair, 2011.

The War of the Pews: A Personal Account of St. Augustine Church in New Orleans by Rev. Jerome G LeDoux, S.V.D., Margaret Media, 2011.

100 Thousand Poets for Change: New Orleans

2011-08-31T12:43:00.001-07:00

Poets, Musicians, Artists, and People for Change join this worldwide event in New Orleans

Location: Alcee Fortier Park on Esplanade and Grand Rte. St. John

Date and Time: September 24, 4 PM

Organized by Dennis Formento

Event page on 17 Poets! Literary and Performance Series website:

http://17POETS.COM/Poets_for_Change.html

New from Trembling Pillow Press: John Sinclair's SONG OF PRAISE

2011-08-20T06:01:00.000-07:00

Pre-Order at Trembling Pillow Press

Available September 10th:

John Sinclair's newest collection SONG OF PRAISE Homage to John Coltrane

134 pgs, $19.95

ISBN-13: 978-0-9790702-59

CD also available: ($15.00) featuring verse and music by John Sinclair and His Blues Scholars (Kosmic Cow Productions)

John Sinclair pays poetic tribute to jazz musician John Coltrane in a collection of Sinclair's poems along with jazz album reviews and concert reviews from the 60s as well as edited and refined earlier works spanning decades of Sinclair meditating and reflecting on the influence of Coltrane and his music. As stated in the afterword by poet Dennis Formento, this collection reveals Sinclair to be in the lineage of the great Beat poets who were moved by the culture and the influence of Jazz in the 60s.

It can truly be said that John Sinclair has walked the talk. He was THERE, in the middle of the Rev, not standing and nodding on the side, but there in the forefront. Part scholar, part encourager, part organizer, part Activist, part poet, part chronicler— John Sinclair looms tall and vibrant and strong in the centuries he straddles, demanding that we KNOW, that we DO RIGHT, and that we PRESERVE OUR CULTURE, and somehow, at the same time, CONFRONT the depredations of poverty, racism, lack-love, cruelty and the "creeping meatball." All hail, John Sinclair, and his book of praise for John Coltrane! - Ed Sanders

John Sinclair’s writing about “The Music” has always been well informed and inspiring, from his early Detroit-hip days. So it’s important to gather this writing to show where he and we have been, and the great period of American Classical Music we lived through and particularly the marvelous revelation that John Coltrane provided everybody who could hear. –Amiri Baraka

Poet, activist, major jazz head, John Sinclair’s SONG OF PRAISE is a wild outward/ inward ride through time like any of Trane’s great solos. It’s a surge of time travel from the ‘60s breakthroughs & breakdowns as reflected in the revolutionary free jazz awakening as well as in the political uprisings of that time that changed the world.

–David Meltzer

Trembling Pillow Press Books are available through SPD Books and Amazon. CDs are available through Amazon and digital downloads are available through CDBaby and iTunes.

Five from Dancing Girl Press (Part Two)

2011-08-19T07:11:00.000-07:00

{Part two of a look at five chapbooks I bought this summer from Dancing Girl Press: Dancing Girl Press, edited by Kristy Bowen was founded in 2004 and publishes several handmade chapbooks a year by female poets in limited editions of 100 or so.}

The History of a Lake Never Drowns by Julia Cohen (2008) with cover art by Alexandra Brokalakis offers nine poems brimming with stark images and a curious pairing of the natural world wound round the human body. The initial poem begins: "If I had two cell walls it could be easy/ I so snuggly fit in your back/ Hiking away from the saintly glass vacuum" Is the speaker in this case amoebic? Amorphous? References to the body and its structure tumble around language referring to the natural world with the final synopsis: "I think I was a body-shaped hole in the clouds" Cohen continues to collect images and throw them up against references to flesh, fists, feet in dazzling combinations that create a cacophony of aural delights: "Capillary action, it is nothing like cold rain" The body is excised from nature, lined up against it and called out in its disparity; the "I"of these poems is tinged as well with a sense of longing: "I'll widow, I'll always form a body to mourn" Line after line, Cohen cuts to the quick with surprising comparisons and passionate reflections boldly declared by the speaker of these poems.

Check out Julia Cohen's other works and enjoy her "poetic" banter and intriguing photographs at her blog: http://onthemessiersideofneat.blogspot.com/

The Calculus of Owls by Sarah J. Gardner (2009) with a cover by Elisabeth Pellathy is the second chapbook DGP has published by this author. How to Study Birds was released in 2006. I remember reading it two summers ago, but my impression from this chapbook was much stronger. The cover is probably, in my opinion, one of the best covers in my DGP collection. Here, Sarah Gardner presents 22 poems in three sections. These poems are largely narrative, clear in their descriptions and structurally coherent on the page. Gardner's gift lies in her word choice, stunning pairings and striking collisions occur as she dredges the word pool to populate her poems with phrases like: "rutted hinges of leaves" or "purse-heads of grasses." Visually, she piles up images to inhabit nebulous emotions as in the poem "An Explication of Loneliness" where we are told "Because a train is long sentence with a single verb." This litany reveals to us in layers and from different angles the facets of loneliness ending with the conclusion that, "none knows as the heart knows/ the difference between nectar and venom" Birds haunt this text, the wise owl, the symbolic feather that wraps the speaker and even the crow who has lost its voice; often the subject is tempered by the natural world as the speaker grasps to wrestle with complex emotions by returning to contemplate nature's quiet response: "What/ is most needed you have often seen: a field/ a single tree at center, a question/ that even leafless does not shrink from answer"

Check out all the chapbooks from Dancing Girl Press here: http://www.dancinggirlpress.com/

Five from Dancing Girl Press (Part One)

2011-08-16T15:38:00.001-07:00

Dancing Girl Press, edited by Kristy Bowen, has been publishing chapbooks since 2004 in handmade editions of about 100; each chapbook features a female poet. Every summer, you can stock up on some of these well-made chaps during their summer sale.

This summer I got Danielle Vogel's Lit (2008), [picture above]. The deep brown cover with the simple line drawing belies the dense language and music hidden between the pages of this slim chap. The author notes that this is part one of an "exploration in dislocation." And yet, from the first page, the poems begin to pile up in images and inquiries; the "i" of the poem searching and redefining that which should be familiar. Within this extended meditation, the speaker examines stillness and back of that, all the movements within that stillness, every day words takes on new shapes: "where the edges are not sharp yhell o mm hoon sspire hull and as the sounds touch the shape i can see the image of these things for the first time" These prose poems have an inner intensity as they push and pull their way through understanding and assembling what it means to be conscious, what it means to be bodied, what it means to be rounded and formed by sound and letters. Lit is a beautiful jumping off into a discovery that I want to see more of from this author.

Claire Hero's Cabinet begins with a curious poem called "A Note on the Collection." It provides an interesting subtext for the following poems in that it neither reveals the author's intent per say nor does it fall short in its exotic array of images thrown together to elicit a catalogue of mystery and surprise. All of Hero's poems do this; they mystify and they surprise as they try on words and craft juxtapositions with the light handed tone of one laying out patterns for some grand scheme. We've been invited to the fitting, but the pieces are in process, being assembled before our eyes: "a hoard of doorknobs from each emptied room,/ a skin rough-cut by every last touch. Later,/a city turning to sand, a mouldering eagle gorgeous with prey." In this collection, items emerge in numbered titles, doors open to reveal the smallest bones of the ear or a fairy tale swerves: "But O!/ the voyage, the voyager" Hero's poems never let you down; they marvel in the fantastic, the fetish, the furious conjunctions that tempt and torment us.

Emma Bolden's The Sad Epistles has a striking cover image also by the author. This chapbook consists of ten epistles between an unknown sender and receiver. The epistles establish an intimate dialogue as they attempt to explain and defend precarious emotions such as "Epistle III An Answer to the Question Why Are You Shaking": "Because I'll search to destroy, spider slicing its web, duck peeking its warm nest of eggs/ I would weave nests for you. I would hatch myself whole." "Epistle VIII" begins more objective, reading as an equation but it quickly dissolves into a searing confession. Promises to adhere to a certain standard are thrown out and in all these epistles, there is the sense of fleeing a burning building. The metaphoric heart is caught chest-deep, a cage of its own making perhaps or a stopping place before the bird flies through the bones.

Two New Chapbooks from Horseless Press

2011-08-13T07:34:00.000-07:00

Horseless Press has released two new chapbooks Deseret by Kirsten Jorgensen and SEWN by Nathan Hauke, and they are beautifully done. They both have cover art by Michael Sikkema, which involves these strange juxtapositions and collisions. The chaps themselves are made on thick paper with a nice font, stapled and bound with a thick cover. Jorgensen's poems are grounded in some cases with these ethereal shapes hovering just at the edges of the words. The effect mimics the subject of these poems, mostly inspired by the landscape (Utah), but one of the images also reminded me of hurricane shapes out in the Gulf. I guess in some ways rock and water collide and speak in similar tones. The text too recalls that dismal McCarthy post-apocalyptic story, but I couldn't even watch the movie version while I greedily devoured Jorgensen's text: "I'd dig a tunnel/ through my bones to yours/ wide kind palms pressing into the floor"

Where Deseret is shaped by land, SEWN is shaped by psychological distances. Lines are displayed and then crossed out, Rowlandson's captivity narrative echoes her unyielding faith, and the grain of the table thrums. Nature is relayed as both trapped and alive with activity, a nice metaphorical parallel to the nod to Rowlandson: snow catches, leaves shake on the edge of dropping and the sparrow is mute. It's the moment before movement caught in these lines recorded and caught on the "tape," forever stilled in their momentum: "It's thirty degrees near the maple tree/ While I concentrate on a brown leaf shaking on its branch/ With a little terror in my throat- some kind of hesitation" The text also draws from Stanley Cavell's The Senses of Walden, a book I am not familiar with, but nature is easily the pivotal point upon which this text turns.

Get both chapbooks here: http://horselesspress.com/

New Online Edition of Summer Stock

2011-08-07T06:24:00.000-07:00

Check out the premier issue of Summer Stock available online now for your reading pleasure.

There is a beautiful introductory tribute to Akilah Oliver by Jai Arun Ravine.

I particularly love a series of collages by Kathrin Schaeppi.

There is a plethora of amazing writers collected in this edition including the haunting tones of Danielle Vogel, lyrical rearrangements of Elizabeth Guthrie, erasures and letters of Abbey Pleviak and the illegible translated tales of Ella Longpre. I'm thrilled to be included with this stunning group of writers, and I hope everyone savors their opportunity to dive into this delicious collection so wonderfully weaved together by the summer stock editors.

Check it out here:

http://www.summerstockjournal.com/

Reading John Sinclair

2011-07-29T17:26:00.001-07:00

Trembling Pillow Press is set to release the newest collection from John Sinclair, hailed by his contemporaries as the "hardest working poet in show business." His new collection SONG OF PRAISE: Homage to John Coltrane is a collection of poems as well as reviews of albums and concerts all written in response to the force that was John Coltrane and his musicians opening up the field of jazz in a way that mirrored the opening up and expansion of cultural norms and views throughout the sixties. Sinclair was there in the audience and he captured all of those moments in this work in order to continue doing what he does best, which is to be the container for the histories and the stories behind the music.

If you're not familiar with John Sinclair, shame on you. Remedy that immediately. But even if you think you know him or his works, there is a lot to this living legend. I won't try to pin down all his works, but I can lead you to places where you can educate yourself, as they say. A full listing of his collected writings and recordings can be found in the back of his newest collection, SONG OF PRAISE: Homage to John Coltrane due out in September from Trembling Pillow Press (www.tremblingpillowpress.com).

You can start by checking out John's site: http://johnsinclair.us/

Here's a great collection: Fattening Frogs for Snakes: Delta Sound Suite (Surregional Press, 2002) 15.00

Nearly 200 page of John doing what he does best: capturing the legends of blues and rehashing the myths, the stories, the inspiration, and he does it all with his sincere amazement and joy at being allowed ears to hear such wonders

The back of this book contains a great cross reference sections for the reader who wants to explore further as well as a discography if you would prefer to listen further. It also contains a fantastic intro. by Amiri Baraka, who proclaims how rare and necessary John is, "Especially, if you know that many people think JS is, no shit, WHYTE!"

It's All Good: A John Sinclair Reader (HeadPress, 2008)

This is a great collection of John's poetry as well as essays, as he states in the beginning of the book: "forty-four years as an American poet and journalist." It includes, for example, John interviewing Irma Thomas, Dr. John as well as a discussion about the Mardi Gras Indians. His New Orleans roots shine through in this collection as brightly as his poems on Monk and Coltrane. As with many Sinclair collections, there is CD that accompanies this text, so you can hear Sinclair in all his passion tell you how the blues was born.

Guitar Army: Street Writings/ Prison Writings

Originally published in 1972, this collection features John's early writing for the Ann Arbor Argus and Detroit Sun among others as well as writings he did while imprisoned on his "ten year for two joints" charge including transcripts from the trial, letters to his wife and an interview he gave while imprisoned. This is a brightly colored array of manifestos, protests, and revolutionary writings as well as intimate insights into Sinclair's thinking as he sits behind bars thinking about freedom and activism. It ends with a reading and listening list. It's an incredible snapshot of this period.

Also, check out John Sinclair's Documentary:

20 to Life: Life and Times of John Sinclair (2007)

Dancing Girl Press Chapbook Sale

2011-07-16T05:55:00.000-07:00

Dancing Girl Press is having a chapbook sale: Get 5 books for 25.00.

I jumped on it last night and they have a generous title list. I snagged:

Claire Hero's Cabinet,

danielle vogel's lit, (cover pictured here)

Emma Bolden's The Sad Epistle,

Sarah Gardner's The Calculus of Owls and

Julia Cohen's The History of a Lake.

There are another 5 I want to go back and get as well. Kristy Bowen who edits Dancing Girl Press has this beautiful gift for the visual, both her website and her blog are so visually appealing. I love to look at the images that catch her eye and check in to see what new projects she is in the midst of making.

Support DGP for their many years of putting out great chapbooks with this great sale.

http://www.dancinggirlpress.com/

Another Beautiful Tsatsawassa Poetry Reading

2011-07-04T14:24:00.000-07:00

We've just returned from the annual Tsatsawassa Poetry Reading at Bernadette Mayer and Phil Good's house. It was a smashing success, and we brought our 18 month old Issa. And while US Airways tried to put a damper on all things lovely by rerouting us for a third layover in Charlotte (U Suck US Airways!) we did make it back to New Orleans in one piece. And later, around midnight our bag full of poetry books made it home via courier service.

Some people who called in to read at the Annual Poetry Reading:

Ed Sanders from Woodstock

Andrei Codrescu from the Ozarks

Nicole Peyrafitte and Pierre Joris from France

Rodger Kamenetz from New Orleans

And live in person, hosted by Poet Dave Brinks:

Poets included Bernadette Mayer, Phil Good, Brenda Coultas, Phil Johnson, Megan Burns, Brendan Lorber, Tracey McTague, Peter Gizzi, Tom Gizzi, Dara Wier, Shafer Hall, Paulette Swatzfager, Susan Deer Cloud, Geronimo, John Roche, Michael Ruby, Deborah Poe and others who I either can't remember at the moment or I missed as I chased Issa around the house and through the yard. My apologies if you are not here, just comment and correct me. It was fabulous, and I will upload pictures once I transfer them from one device to the other.

In addition to Poetry, Bernadette took Dave and I to see the Cohoes falls. We also ate at a fancy Italian Restaurant called Gregory's House or La Perla. And the weather was much more friendly than the 100+ degrees that we returned to in New Orleans.

Horse Less Review #9

2011-06-08T07:16:00.000-07:00

Do yourself a favor and read the new Horse Less Review online here:

http://horselesspress.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/hlr9.pdf

It's full of great poems, but some of my favorite pieces include Carrie Olivia Adams's from Operating Theater, Brooklyn Copeland's Rivalry, and Tony Mancus's Lens Cap. It's not only incredibly cool to be published next to so much great work, but it is always fun to discover new writers. They did a great job on this issue, so check it out.

Launching a Fundraising Campaign for our fall 2011 Season

2011-06-01T14:31:00.000-07:00

17 Poets! Literary and Performance Series is launching a fundraising campaign to fund the fall 2011 Season. We have a great line up of performers and poets coming and we need your help to aid in defraying the cost of transportation and housing for our artists. We hope you will support us in our endeavor. We promise to always keep 17 Poets! free to the community.

Thanks,

Megan Burns

Event Coordinator 17 Poets!

Visit our campaign on IndieGoGo:

http://www.indiegogo.com/17-Poets-Literary-and-Performance-Series

Tom Stoppard's Arcadia

2011-04-28T08:24:00.000-07:00

Dave and I went to NYC Tuesday to see Tom Stoppard's Arcadia at the Barrymore theater. It was phenomenal, but I can see how it would appeal to certain type of theater crowd. The entire first half I felt like my mind was crowded with so many ideas from algorithms to theories of heat to sexual escapades and poetry that I wasn't sure what to think. Stoppard somehow cleverly weaves all of his disparate threads together, and he is not only witty but extremely charming in his ultimate plan. His characters are romantics even as they throw around their banter and their academic theorems. In the end, they are vulnerable to the whimsy of their hearts, and I think that is what makes his play so interesting. He can be completely cerebral without losing that human vulnerability. It was a wonderful experience; I got goosebumps listening to the characters talk about the "march of life" in which we don't get to reach the end, but the march continues without us so that nothing is lost. Someone will pick up what we leave behind in much the same way that we pick up what is left to us. And the talk on the triviality of the experiment or the writing or any project in relation to the passion to do it while we are here and alive. Stoppard is truly a poet in his ability to capture that struggle to create, that urgent draw to engage in creating art (for what purpose?); he so wonderfully elucidates what is important.

Eileen Myles comes to New Orleans

2011-04-23T18:53:00.000-07:00

Eileen Myles will be reading at the 17 Poets! Literary and Performance Series this Thursday, April 28th, 7:30 PM. www.17poets.com

She will be giving a book chat for a small audience above the Gold Mine Saloon on Thursday, April 28 from 6-7. Cost is 20.00 (15.00/ students) and includes a copy of her new book, Inferno (a poet's novel). Space is limited. RSVP to meganaburns@aol.com

BookShelf Discovery: Horseless press chapbook by Erika Howsare

2011-03-29T10:45:00.000-07:00

Dave has been shelving all of my books onto these new bookshelves we had built in my office. Issa is promptly removing and sifting through them as she can now reach the lower ones. She dismantled Anne Sexton as her first choice and then moved up to the Ts. For some reason, she then had this handmade chapbook in her hand by Erika Howsare. I love when you discover a book you have forgotten about. It's a tall (11x3) chapbook, saddle stitched on one side with a brown cover with a long rectangle on the front enclosing parts of the title Elect June Grooms and the author's name. Made by horseless press (2004) in a limited number of 500; it's number 5.

Here's poem 2 from the section Geography:

Small alphabet of hieroglyphs

Here is my button, here

is your thread

which finds its place on the page

You eye each like the body you can

live without

Sudden licks of bright commerce, like chords

in static or bits

of cornstalk through snow

As if someone hung a scarf or a parrot

from the whitebones of the woods

That "whitebones of the woods" is stunning, so stark and silent. I remember when horseless press first started putting out their online review, and now they are putting out perfect bound books like FABRIC: Preludes to the Last American Book by Richard Froude, which I haven't read yet, but I'm a big fan of Froude's work. Here's their website for all up and coming adventures: http://horselesspress.com/books-chapbooks/

How can I create a baby gate to keep the toddler off the last two bookshelves? Should I sprinkle hot sauce around the area?

Anselm Hollo

2011-03-26T18:56:00.000-07:00

From Guests of Space (Coffeehouse Press) 2007

I don't know why his name is spelled wrong in the label, and the video is not very impressive, but the sound is good enough to hear the poem.

Poetry Books I'm Loving

2011-03-25T14:26:00.000-07:00

Kate Eichhorn's Fieldnotes, a forensics (BookThug, 2010)

It makes me happy just to know that someone else is out there thinking about the things that I sometimes think about and thinking I should write poetry about these thoughts. I had one of those moments before reading this book when I didn't want to read it, because then it would be over. It was delicious. I think I might write a review on this, so I'm still sifting through all my thoughts.

Home/ Birth (1913 Press) by Arielle Greenberg and Rachel Zucker took me by surprise. The information was mostly familiar to me. The way they lay out and respond to each other flows nicely and makes it easy to digest all the facts and stories. But then the book just sweeps you off your feet, and you realize you're not just reading a fanstastic project taken up by two great writers but you're holding in your hands that 1/100th of life that poetry attempts to capture. It's such a brave, honest endeavor that these two women allow the reader to follow them through, and it changed me reading this text. You can't just go back to being who you were in the world before you read this.

17 Poets! Special Double Feature Sponsored by Poets and Writers, Inc

2011-03-15T10:15:00.000-07:00

March 24 at the Gold Mine Saloon, 7:30 PM (www.17poets.com)

Special Double Feature Sponsored by Poets & Writers

Louisiana Poet Laureate Darrell Bourqueand New York Poet and Translator Bill Zavatsky

Darrell Bourque is Professor Emeritus in English at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, where he served as director of the Creative Writing and Interdisciplinary Humanities programs. His poetry books include Plainsongs, The Doors Between Us, Burnt Water Suite and The Blue Boat, and his poems from Plainsongs are featured in the Where Land Meets Sky, a catalog of the works of artist Elemore Morgan, Jr.
He continues to work as poetry workshop leader and consultant, mostly with the Louisiana Affiliates of the National Writing Project. In November of 2007 he was appointed as Louisiana Poet Laureate, 2008‐2009, by Governor Kathleen Blanco, and his personal initiative for the laureateship is to develop poetry audiences by teaching and reading in the pre‐college classroom as well as in the state's libraries.

Bill Zavatsky grew up in Connecticut and has lived in Manhattan since 1965. He has published two books of poems, most recently Where X Marks the Spot. His co-translation (with Zack Rogow) of Earthlight: Poems by André Breton, won the PEN/Book-of-the-Month Club Translation Prize. His co-translation of The Poems of A. O. Barnabooth by Valery Larbaud (with Ron Padgett) was republished in 2008 by Black Widow Press. His most recent anthology appearance is in Seriously Funny, an anthology of humorous poetry edited by Barbara Hamby and David Kirby. Bill’s “Elegy” for Bill Evans appeared on the sleeve of the You Must Believe in Spring album, and is included in the reissue CD. For the pianist Marc Copland, Bill has written thirteen poems that serve as liner notes for twelve CDs, the most recent being a solo recording, Alone and a soon-to-be-released quartet date with Greg Osby and Lewis Nash. Bill himself is a pianist and retains an abiding love for the great pianists of the New Orleans tradition. He has been awarded grants in poetry from the New York State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts. Twice he has been a fellow at the MacDowell Colony, and in 2008 was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in poetry. He teaches English in the high school at the Trinity School in Manhattan.
March 31

Running without Kids: Jonathan Cott Books

2010-12-20T07:02:00.000-08:00

Ok, the kids are gone until Wednesday and Dave and I are awash in adult activities... and by that I mean sleeping in, having coffee, taking books off the shelf and talking about them without being interrupted or having a crisis or a diaper to deal with. It's strange the amount of space in the room...suddenly, as my friend Tracey likes to say.

Dave and I are both reading Jonathan Cott but for completely different reasons. And this happens, as Jonathan Cott is a writer of any and many various things. I first read Cott's The Search for Omm Sety after I returned from Egypt in 2000. It's a very strange tale of a woman and her relationship to an ancient pharaoh, their love rekindled through her use of astral projection. It sounds ridiculous but Cott uses his skill as an investigative journalist to present a plausible and unbiased account of this woman's belief. I followed that with Isis and Osiris, an examination of the ancient myth and how it has trickled down into our contemporary culture.

Then I read Wandering Ghost, one of the best biographies of Lafcadio Hearn ever written. I'll quote Dave Brinks in his essay from Art Voices: Vivant Dans La Ville Fatale (Summer 09) "It's a wildly engrossing tome about a half-blind, Greek-Irish, eccentric vagabond journeying across 19th century Earth from bohemian New Orleans to New York to the Caribbean, and then later to Japan." Brinks goes on in the essay to excerpt selections from Cott's book to illustrate Hearn's time in New Orleans and how this influenced his Hearn's writing and thinking.

Beyond the Looking Glass is one of my favorites as I adore fairy tales. It's a compendium of novels, stories and poems from the Victorian Era with delightful images and pictures to accompany the stories.

Dave is currently reading Thirteen, looking into his upcoming poetry book on complex mathematical theories that I hear about on a daily basis but really don't understand.

I've been reading the complete Dylan interviews edited by Cott for my own work on a long poem about Wuthering Heights in conversation with Dylan lyrics; a topic which confounds Dave as much as his hexagrams confuse me. Coincidentally, Dylan refers to his music as mathematical.

Jonathan Cott is probably best know for his Rolling Stone interviews with Dylan and John Lennon. But he is also a poet; his book of poems City of Earthly Love (Stonehill Publishing, 1975) is filled with beautiful lyrics such as "He Dreams What is Going on Inside His Head." This poem opens with the line: "Angel Hair sleeps with a boy in my head," which Anne Waldman and Lewis Warsh named their magazine and press after; The Angel Hair Anthology (Granary Books, 2001) has Cott's poem in the opening.

Here's a poem from the collection:

Studying Water

I write you in small print

Waking up in little moments

Round like d's or sleeping fingers

Slipping through the intervals

As deck chairs turn in themselves

A wind blowing through

As a sun fan lifts

Birds float to dawn shadows

Rolling in dark grass to your hand

There's an interesting article at Slate about Cott's experience with ECT and his memory loss. It's a subject he explores in his book On the Sea of Memory: A Journey from Forgetting to Remembering.

Dave and I are checking into a hotel later for some more childless adventures, and this means that we have to pack our books.

Here's my list:

Exilee/ Temps Morts by Theresa Hak Kyung Cha

Justifying the Margins by Pierre Joris

Cast A Cold Eye by Mary McCarthy

Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell (reread)

Here's Dave's List:

Chita by Lafcadio Hearn

Osiris with a trombone across the seam of substance by Julian Similian

Transgender and Grinder by J. Semilian

Thirteen by Cott

Dear Sandy, Hello by Berrigan

Harry Partch, a biography by Bob Gilmore

Keep in mind we are going to be there a whole 24 hours, so we have to be prepared.

New Orleans Craft Mafia Goodies

2010-12-18T16:40:00.001-08:00

I've spent most of my life not winning things, so I'm absolutely stunned to have won this fantastic handmade gift basket from New Orleans Craft Mafia. I thought I would take a minute to pay homage to its greatness while I draw attention to how completely uncrafty I am. Macaroni Kid New Orleans held this contest; they have one of the most complete newsletters of family events in the New Orleans area. And they hold great giveaways each week.

So, I was sitting in my front yard this afternoon with the kids opening my mail only to find our ridiculously high (thanks, Katrina residual) home insurance bill when this lovely lady, (thanks, Mallory) came to my fence with a bag of crafts. I'm glad I didn't scare her off with my sad, angry, post bill viewing face. Here are a few goodies:

Three Bars of Soap from Sweet Olive Soap Works (http://www.sweetolivesoapworks.etsy.com/) They have fun New Orleans names and the Carnival Time one has hints of gold, green, and purple. I opened C'est Levee (Lemon Grass and Aloe Vera) and it has a fleur de lis imprint on it. The soap smells wonderful without being overbearing. They are made with a combnation of oils such as olive, soybean, almond, coconut, which is perfect for me as I use coconut oil as a lotion practically.

Here's a fun New Orleans inspired keychain from Green Kangaroo, an Abita Beer Top with a Mardi Gras baby. Two items that would usually end up in the garbage put to good use at http://www.greenkangaroo.com/.

This Saints colored fleur de lis pin is from Kristina Renee Jewelry (NOLAjewelry.net). I'll be wearing that on Sunday!

Here's a fun craft idea: a rocket ship clock made from an old 45 record, Disney album from Snow White. This is really fun. I think it'll decorate the playroom. Made by Art by Mags (artbymags.com)

My kids are already using the nightlight below in their room as they broke their old one about a month ago. It's really well made and my four year old approves.

This is a beautiful and well made hand bag from Bayou Salvage, comes in its own stamped case to protect it and zips down the side with a wrist strap. Bayou Salvage (bayousalvage.com) says they make rustic and romantic designs from down south, Handmade with care in the city that care forgot.

Two necklaces, one with a classic antique feel and one with a contemporary abstract look.

Some fun rainbow earring and oversized ring from Shop Miss Malaprop (shopmissmalaprop.com) Unique handmade and eco friendly gifts. The earrings remind me of my Rainbow Brite obsession circa 1987.
I absolutely adore this ceramic wall hanging. The picture doesn't really capture the detail. This is from Lucky NOLA by artist Reagan Robinson (http://www.lukcynola.com/)

Here's a link to the New Orleans Craft Mafia Blog where you can see some of the artists above highlighted and get an even better selection of their work. You can access all the artists' etsy stores from this site.

http://www.neworleanscraftmafia.com/blog/

Miss Malaprop has a terrific blog here if your interested in crafting and reusing: http://www.missmalaprop.com/

Julian and Laura Semilian at 17 Poets! Thursday, Dec. 16

2010-12-15T12:11:00.000-08:00

Thursday, December 16 at 7:30

17 Poets! Literary & Performance Series presents an outstanding double-bill featuring JULIAN SEMILIAN and LAURA SEMILIAN.

Our features will be followed by Open Mic hosted by Jimmy Ross.

JULIAN and LAURA SEMILIAN
Julian Semilian is a Romanian Poet, Film maker, novelist, and accomplished translator. His writings have appeared in journals and anthologies around the world. Recent translations include: Nostalgia by Mircea Cartarescu, Paul Celan's Romanian Poems, and many translations within the comprehensive: Born in Utopia, Anthology of Romanian Literature. With his wife Laura Semilian they have translated Max Bleecher's Scarred Hearts, Gherasim Luca's Inventor of Love (Black Widow Press 2009), Micea Cartarescu's Levant, and works by Gellu Naum. In addition, Laura Semilian has performed opera and oratorio roles with numerous orchestras. They both reside in North Carolina.

http://www.blackwidowpress.com/

Trembling Pillow Press Broadside Poetry and Art Display

2010-12-03T16:47:00.000-08:00

Trembling Pillow Press will be displaying Broadsides from local New Orleans poets at an upcoming Artfully Aware Art Show. These broadsides represent over 10 years of publishing poets in New Orleans and include poets such as John Sinclair, Lee Grue, Bill Lavender, Arturo Pfister, Kalamu Ya Salaam, Dennis Formento, Biljana Obradovic, Camille Martin, Megan Burns, Herbert Kearney, and B.J. Raineri, Jr.

The show is Dec 11, 6-10 PM at 2822 St. Claude Ave. in the St. Claude Arts District and part of the second Saturday Art Gallery Tours.

For more info. visit:
http://artfullyaware.wordpress.com/

For more info about Trembling Pillow Press: tremblingpillowpress.com

New review up at Tarpualin Sky

2010-11-29T10:05:00.000-08:00

I've been really bad about updating this blog, but Issa is now mobile and partially walking so she is no longer content to sit quietly while I type. In fact, this experiment has led to some disasters that involve cords, small objects, speakers crashing to the floor and her sucking on a ink cartridge that fell behind the desk.

I did recently get a new review up at Tarpaulin Sky: http://tsky-reviews.blogspot.com/2010/11/julie-carrs-sarahof-fragments-and-lines.html#more

I'm reading another Julie Carr right now: 100 Notes on Violence, which is equally impressive. I have the wonderful opportunity to read the work of poet Tracey McTague as she has sent me her latest manuscript in progress.

I can't believe this year is almost over.

This Thursday at 17 Poets!: David Rowe and Upcoming Artspill Show this weekend

2010-11-10T18:50:00.001-08:00

Thursday: Nov. 11, 7:30 PM

David Rowe reading from his new book, Unsolicited Poems (Verna Press, 2010).

http://www.17poets.com/ for more info.

Unfinished Business by Nicole Peyrafitte

Also, this weekend Saturday, Nov. 13th, 6:00 PM

Art Spill: Disaster, Art, Activism, and Recovery

Opening November 13-November 20

17 Poets! Hosts a Poetry Reading for the opening reception

November 13, 6:00 PM

featuring poets Dave Brinks, Gina Ferrara, Bill Lavender, David Rowe, and Megan Burns

St. Claude Arts District in The Marigny

2822 St. Claude Avenue

6:00 PM

Wine and Water provided by the Gold Mine Saloon

Tea by Bayou Brew

visit: http://ethnographicterminalia.org/2010-new-orleans/art-spill

Ann Akhmatova tribute: Bilingual Reading at the Gold Mine tonight

2010-11-04T08:37:00.000-07:00

Nov. 4th, 7:30 PM at the Gold Mine Saloon

17 Poets! Literary & Performance Series presents a Bi-lingual poetry reading celebrating legendary Russian avant-gardist poet ANNA AKHMATOVA featuring readers Daria Souchkova (Russian) and Megan Burns (English).

---Art by Jim Fingal---

1718 Reading Series features poet Megan Burns

2010-11-02T14:27:00.000-07:00

I will be reading tonight at 7PM at the Columns Hotel on St. Charles Ave. as part of the 1718 Reading Series that is sponsored by Loyola University.

In this reading, I will attempt to link together the mysteries of Wuthering Heights, the lyrics of Bob Dylan and fathers. Also, there will be much made of disasters, earthworms, and two dozen species of birds. I will speak about the corpse and the Exquisite Corpse and diseases.

So, if any of these topics mildly interest you, then you should be there. I believe the Columns is haunted and of course, it is election day. So, there are also these things to consider and sway you.

In other news, there should be a fabulous bilingual reading of the poetry of Anna Akhmatova at the Gold Mine this Thursday. http://www.17poets.com/

17 Poets! Literary & Performance Series: featuring poets CHRISTINE TRIMBO and PAGE 1NE.

2010-10-26T09:27:00.000-07:00

This Thursday, October 28th at the Gold Mine Saloon, 17 Poets! features:

******* CHRISTINE TRIMBO *******

About the Poet, Christine Trimbo

Originally from Shakopee, Minnesota, Christine Trimbo also lived in New Orleans next to Edgar Degas' house on Esplanade for many years, and was a major poetic voice and regular participant at the infamous Dragon's Den's Thursday Night Madpoets Express. During her time in New Orleans, Trimbo was also a mainstay of the weekly New Orleans Poetry Forum poetry workshops along with other notable poets Paul Chasse, Gina Ferrara, David Rowe, Robert Menuet, and Kevin Johnson. Trimbo's poetic signtaure lay in the depth and detail of her extraordinary use of image underscored by intricate rhythms. Trimbo is also a huge fan of Sonic Youth and the Rebirth Brass Band.

************************ PAGE 1NE ************************

About the Poet, PAGE 1NE

PAGE 1NE is a New Orleans native, stand-up comedian, musician, poet, and gymnastic instructor. He has amazed audiences with his amazing acrobatic performances in the French Quarter, as well as for circuses, NBA half-times, festivals, and private venues around the world since 1983. Page 1ne was a 1997 winner at the Apollo and starred on the 2008 hit NBS series America's Got Talent. He is currently at work writing & recording his eight album and performing across the Gulf South.

As always, features are followed by an open mic hosted by Jimmy Ross. Sign-up 7:30PM, limited spots.

Thursday, October 21, 7:30 p.m.: BUD FAUST book release party

2010-10-19T13:41:00.000-07:00

Thursday, October 21, 7:30 p.m.
BUD FAUST book release party, signing & reading of Great Moments in New Orleans History, Volume 2, Introduction by Douglas Brinkley (Levee Media 2010).

Our featured program will be followed by Open Mic hosted by Jimmy Ross.

Admission is free.

Bud Faust is a humorist and playwright from New Orleans, Louisiana. He is the author of Great Moments in New Orleans History (Volume 1) and has had several plays produced in and around the city, including one (Gettin’ Dirty with Guy Camaro) performed as part of the New Orleans Improv Festival and another (To Hell and Back, Somewhat) being a winner in Le Chat Noir’s 7th Annual New Play Festival.Beautiful Bastards, his critically acclaimed play about the founding of New Orleans, was likened by The Times-Picayune to “what it must have been like watching the Marx Brothers segue from vaudeville to Broadway comedies.”

The Loup Garou Book Release at 17 Poets!

2010-10-14T06:16:00.001-07:00

Thursday, October 14, 2010, 7:30 PM

17 Poets! Literary & Performance Series presents an evening with poet MOOSE JACKSON, book release party, signing & performance of The Loup Garou: A Lunar Cycle, a performance poem by Moose Jackson, Introduction by Kathy Randels (Lavender Ink, 2010).

Our featured program will be followed by Open Mic hosted by Jimmy Ross.

Admission is free.

What is a Loup Garou?

He is a wild and dangerous entity (some say a werewolf ) well anchored in the folk traditions of southern Louisiana. His story comes from France through Acadia down the Mississippi and numerous inland routes to Louisiana.
Here, in print for the first time, is the text of the critically acclaimed environmental performance that investigates the deep interconnections between land and culture in Louisiana. This compelling poem is part performance, part ritual, part howl to the world about the plight of southeast Louisiana and all the other places in the nation and the world facing environmental destruction from corporate development.

there’s an edge zone between
water and land
monster and man
love and lust; blood and rust
righteous anger and
blind carnal rage
that’s the territoire of the Loup Garou

on the savage bayou
the leeward side of the moon…

Michael Gizzi

2010-09-29T14:28:00.001-07:00

Michael Gizzi (1949-2010)

"Description ends at death.
A Robotic realm of light bears this out:
tears don't fall in outer space."

-from New Depths of Deadpan, (Burning Deck, 2009)

Michael Gizzi reading at the Gold Mine Saloon, 2004.

Here Michael read at Penn Sound: http://writing.upenn.edu/pennsound/x/Gizzi-M.php

Michael gave me the nicest compliment at Crossiant D'or in the French Quarter. In the middle of a conversation, he just leaned over and said, "You are an accomplished young woman." And for some reason, on that day, in that moment, his saying that filled a little empty spot in my heart that I had barely known was there. Sometimes the people who should say these things to us don't for whatever reason, and when we least expect it, someone else steps in and fills those shoes.

Thank you, Michael

Andrei Codrescu Reading and Book Signing at the Gold Mine Saturday

2010-09-23T16:36:00.000-07:00

17 Poets! Literary & Performance Series presents an evening with poet ANDREI CODRESCU signing & reading from his new book The Poetry Lesson (Princeton) at the Gold Mine Saloon this coming Saturday at 7:00 p.m., September 25, 2010, admission is free.

The Poetry Lesson is pure Andrei Codrescu: irreverent, unconventional, brilliant, and always funny. Codrescu takes readers into the strange classroom and even stranger mind of a poet ... as he introduces his students to THE TOOLS OF POETRY (a list that includes a goatskin dream notebook, hypnosis, and cable TV) and THE TEN MUSES OF POETRY (mishearing, misunderstanding, mistranslating...), and assigns each student a tutelary "Ghost-Companion" poet... From arguing that Allen Ginsberg wasn't actually gay to telling about the time William Burroughs's funeral procession stopped at McDonald's, The Poetry Lesson is a thoroughly entertaining portrait of an inimitable poet, teacher, and storyteller.

Andrei Codrescu is an award-winning poet, novelist, essayist, and NPR commentator. He edits the online journal Exquisite Corpse and taught literature and creative writing at Louisiana State University for twenty-five years before retiring in 2009 as the MacCurdy Distinguished Professor of English. His recent work includes The Poetry Lesson (Princeton), The Posthuman Dada Guide (Princeton), and a collaborative book of poesy with Ruxandra Cesereanu Forgiven Submarine (Black Widow Press).