Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Nagisa Ni Te

This song is about 10 minutes long but this is all I can find.

nagisa ni te musica japonica

Monday, December 29, 2008

Live in the Human Future

I've been in Jersey for the last 3 & half days. The bus ride back took forever, but it's nice to back & see so many people walking or biking-- as opposed to, the car culture of once-rural-now-suburban-South Jersey. I came home to the new ish of Crazyhorse (featuring a Michele Glazer poem!) and picked up Wong Kar-wai by Peter Brunette from the library, as well as, take-out from Lahore.

I left my radiator open while I was away and now the apartment is a sweat box. Ugh.

Here's some interesting info on BAP (Best American Poetry). What's really surprising is the ratio of women to men featured in the entire series. David Lehman seems to be rather "forward-thinking" so the number, or lack thereof, is plain unsettling.

2008 is almost gone. Will you miss it? I feel conflicted about the whole year. I've been lucky to have some editors publish (or accept) my poems, & belong to the Coldfront Crew, as well as, the No Tells collective, & as Ferlinghetti once wrote, "I've lain with beauty," plus I started teaching (which was the main goal of getting my MFA) & I moved to Chinatown which I love. I also witnessed the historical moment of Obama being elected as President. Yet, I remain skeptical of politics & life in general & in specific. More than anything, I'm exhausted & feel like I prolly regressed emotionally- which is disappointing. Been thinking a lot this year of individual responsibility to self & social responsibility to "others," especially the others we consider to be "close" and "dear" & well I have a lot of work to do in both regards; 'tis a heavy tiring load this thing of living. sigh &/or y-a-w-n

Anyway, yadda yadda ya... how was your year? Shits & giggles? Verse & boo-yas? Slinky songs & long arms? Smooth jumpers & fresh kicks? Do tell, do tell!

While I was away I mostly read jubilat, issue 15. There's an interview with the philospher Richard Rorty. Not everything completely jived with me, although I'll admit I know almost nothing of his work so don't have the proper background to orientate some of his comments & as a good friend is apt to remind-- my education is "spotty at best," but if you want to talk a little Whitman then I'm all ears. Below is the question/answer, which I think is a good note to end this post on... oh that & buy the issue 'cause it's pretty good.

I wanted to ask you about Whitman. You link Whitman and Lincoln a lot. What role do you think Whitman played in the American consciousness?

One thing Whitman did was simply to write poems about Lincoln. "O Captain! My Captain!" "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd"-- these poems were very widely known. When I was a kid in elementary school, we had to recite, "O Captain! My Captain!" and that was eighty years after Lincoln's death. Just helping to fix Lincoln in the popular imagination through poetry was one thing that Whitman did, but the other thing was to write things like "Democratic Vistas," which said that the spirit of Lincoln is the true spirit of the country, that the hopefulness that Lincoln showed is the hope that can change the world. That we are naturally the place where the world will come to learn what it is to live in the human future. Just this inspirational, entirely secular rhetoric was very important, because it was at a level of exultation that had been met only by religious rhetoric. Whitman put it into secular poetry.


Thursday, December 25, 2008

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Monday, December 22, 2008

Such An Icy Octave


The weather is rather cold today. While waiting to cross the street an image of a girl occurred to me. It was a Saturday night (late) and while she was attempting to a hail a cab uptown I held her shivering in my arms. Then two days later I saw her and she was sassin' me because the weather was in the 60s and I was uncomfortably over-dressed. Now silence and absence. I like to think of these two incidents as happening in separate seasons. Feels better that way, despite it being fictitious-- I'm tired of being disappointed in people. Which doesn't mean you won't be disappointed in me-- that's a rewrite only worthy of Proust's talents.

Speaking of novels, I finished B: A Novel by Jonathan Baumbach today. It's a fragmented story of a writer/academic who, suprise, is inept at relationships. Yeah we've all read this novel before... and yet I still enjoyed it.

Speaking of reading here's three new issues of poetry for you to feast on:

Anti-

Harp & Altar
The Cortland Review

Saturday, December 20, 2008

Mojave 3 - Love Songs On The Radio

Slowdive - Souvlaki Space Station live Toronto 1994

I remember seeing Slowdive on this tour. It was the first time I'd been to Maxwells in Hoboken.

Friday, December 19, 2008

Last Day at last at last at last

I turned in my LaGuardia grades on Wednesday and handed in all my paperwork yesterday plus picked up my desk copy for Eng 102 so I'm completely done with Long Island City. Today is my last day at College of Staten Island. A few office visits and a half an hour to collect final papers. I'll submit grades on Monday then take a nice long break from ferry rides!

The timing couldn't be better as I have a ridiculous amount of reading piling up:

Barrow Street 10th Anniversary
Jubilat issue 15
Crayon Number 5 (which is massive & I've only read the Sawako piece)
Poets & Writers Jan/Feb 09 (but I don't read this cover to cover)
The Voyeur, a short story by Nicolette Wong
from Unincorporated Territory, by Craig Santos Perez

& then this is what I picked up from the library

B, a novel, by Jonathan Baumbach
Wake- Up Calls, 66 Morning poems by Wanda Phipps
The House that Jack Built, The Collected Lectures of Jack Spicer (I've been waiting over 6mths for this to come in)
The Bubble of American Supremacy, correcting the misuse of American power, by George Soros
Collected Books of Jack Spicer
Selected poems 1958-1984, by John Weiners

I've read a bunch of Spicer so I won't read the collected books from cover to cover & I've read very little of Weiners' work so I'll randomly flip through this book to see if anything grabs me. If there is a better single volume book by Weiners that I should read, please let me know. I'll read the morning poems in the morning & the novel will be my train, ferry, & before bed book.

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Reviews, Reviews, Reviews

The new issue of Galatea Resurrection is up. I have two reviews in it & there are a ton of reviews that I'm looking forward to reading. Check it out.

http://galatearesurrection11.blogspot.com

ISSUE NO. 11 TABLE OF CONTENTS
December 17, 2008


EDITOR’S INTRODUCTION
By Eileen Tabios


NEW REVIEWS
Michael Caylo-Baradi Reviews SHORT MOVIES by Jukka-Pekka Kervinen and Márton Koppány

Rachel Daley Reviews ZONE : ZERO by Stephanie Strickland

John Olson Reviews SCAFFOLD by Joel Chace

Eric Gelsinger Reviews SO THAT EVEN by Tawrin Baker

Kristina Marie Darling Reviews TORQUES: DRAFTS 58-76 by Rachel Blau DuPlessis

Denise Dooley Reviews THE SENSORY CABINET by Mark DuCharme

John Cunningham Reviews CAUGHT BY THE TAIL: FRANCIS PICABIA AND DADA IN PARIS by George Baker and I AM A BEAUTIFUL MONSTER: POETRY, PROSE AND PROVOCATIONS by Francis Picabia, translated by Marc Lowenthal

Eileen Tabios Engages DEMENTIA BLOG by Susan M. Schultz

Pamela Hart Reviews THIS IS WHY I HURT YOU by Kate Greenstreet

Jon Curley Reviews A WOMAN'S GUIDE TO MOUNTAIN CLIMBING by Jane Augustine

Karen An-Hwei Lee Reviews MENTAL COMMITMENT ROBOTS by Sueyeun Juliette Lee

Tom Beckett Reviews SUBSISTENCE EQUIPMENT by Brenda Iijima

Lisa Bower Reviews TRADING IN MERMAIDS by Alfred A. Yuson

Thomas Fink Reviews PARSINGS by Sheila E. Murphy

Michael Caylo-Baradi Reviews PERSUASIONS OF FALL by Ann Lauinger

Tom Beckett Reviews STRING PARADE by Jordan Stempleman

Karen Rigby Reviews THEORIES OF FALLING by Sandra Beasley

Wendy Lynn Cohen Reviews THE GREAT WHIRL OF EXILE by Leroy V. Quintana

James Stotts Reviews ITERATURE by Eugene Ostashevsky

Tom Beckett Reviews YOUR TEN FAVORITE WORDS by Reb Livingston

John Cunningham Reviews BLANK VERSE: A GUIDE TO ITS HISTORY AND USE by Robert B. Shaw

Elizabeth Kate Switaj Reviews IN NO ONE'S LAND by Paige Ackerson-Kiely

Wendy Lynn Cohen Reviews POLYVERSE by Lee Ann Brown

Eric Gelsinger Reviews OPEN NIGHT by Aaron Lowinger

John Bloomberg-Rissman Reviews ANIMATE, INANIMATE AIMS by Brenda Iijima
Another view

Eileen Tabios Engages HALLUCINATING CALIFORNIA by Richard Lopez and Jonathan Hayes

Emily Schorr Lesnick Reviews ARDOR by Karen An-Hwei Lee

Linda Rodriguez Reviews ROUNDING THE HUMAN by Linda Hogan

Helen Losse Reviews AFTER THE POISON by Collin Kelley (1)

Sam Rasnake Reviews AFTER THE POISON by Collin Kelley (2)

Robert E. Wood Reviews AFTER THE POISON by Collin Kelley (3)

James Stotts Reviews IN COMPANY: AN ANTHOLOGY OF NEW MEXICO POETS AFTER 1960, Edited by Lee Bartlett, V.B. Price and Dianne Edenfield Edwards

Denise Dooley Reviews UNBECOMING BEHAVIOR by Kate Colby

Tom Beckett Reviews WORLD0 and NO SOUNDS OF MY OWN MAKING, both by John Bloomberg-Rissman

Michael Caylo-Baradi Reviews THE SINGERS by Logan Ryan Smith

Wendy Lynn Cohen Reviews HOW TO DO THINGS WITH WORDS by Joan Retallack

Lars Palm Reviews PLAYING THE AMPLITUDES by Christopher Rizzo

Karen An-Hwei Lee Reviews BOX OF LIGHT / CAJA DE LUZ by Susan Gardner

Jeff Harrison Reviews WALDEN BOOK by Allen Bramhall

Fiona Sze-Lorrain Reviews BONE PAGODA by Susan Tichy

John Bloomberg-Rissman Reviews ISSUE 1, Edited by Stephen McLaughlin and Jim Carpenter

Fiona Sze-Lorrain Reviews WOMEN POETS ON MENTORSHIP: EFFORTS & AFFECTIONS, Edited by Arielle Greenberg & Rachel Zucker

Eileen Tabios Engages TORCHWOOD by Jill Magi

Karen An-Hwei Lee Reviews SHADOW MOUNTAIN by Claire Kageyama-Ramakrishnan

Patrick James Dunagan Reviews GLAD STONE CHILDREN by Edmund Berrigan and DRUNK BY NOON by Jennifer L. Knox

Fiona Sze-Lorrain Reviews SAVAGE MACHINERY by Karen Rigby

Patrick James Dunagan Reviews ALL THAT'S LEFT by Jack Hirschman and ONE OF A KIND by Jack Micheline

Adam Halbur Reviews EYE-SENSING by David Jaffin

Steven Karl Reviews STATE OF THE UNION--50 POLITICAL POEMS, Edited by Joshua Beckman & Matthew Zapruder

Eileen Tabios Engages RED by Marilyn R. Rosenberg

Brett Duchon Reviews PRAU by Jean Vengua

Wendy Lynn Cohen Reviews LOUISE IN LOVE by Mary Jo Bang

Steven Karl Reviews SHY GREEN FIELDS by Hugh Behm-Steinberg

Nathan Logan Reviews THE ROMANCE OF HAPPY WORKERS by Anne Boyer

Patria Rivera Reviews FIELD OF MIRRORS: AN ANTHOLOGY OF PHILIPPINE AMERICAN WRITERS, Edited by Edwin Lozada

Brett Duchon Reviews COMPLICATIONS by Garrett Caples

Linda Nguyen Reviews BRIDGEABLE SHORES: SELECTED POEMS (1969-2001) by Luis Cabalquinto

Linda Rodriguez Reviews THE PORTABLE FAMINE by Rane Arroyo

Reed Boskey Reviews WHAT THE FORTUNE TELLER DIDN'T SAY by Shirley Geok-lin Lim

Rebecca Holohan Reviews THE SPLINTERED FACE: TSUNAMI POEMS by Indran Amirthanayagam

Katherine Levy Reviews KALI'S BLADE by Michelle Bautista

Monna Wong Reviews MUSEUM OF ABSENCES by Luis H. Francia

Aileen Ibardaloza Engages PINOY POETICS: A COLLECTION OF AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL ESSAYS ON FILIPINO AND FILIPINO-AMERICAN POETICS, Edited by Nick Carbo and POEMCRAZY: FREEING YOUR LIFE WITH WORDS by Susan Goldsmith Wooldridge

Aileen Ibardaloza Reviews PASSAGE: POEMS 1933-2006 by Edgar B. Maranan

Eric Gelsinger Reviews WHEN I COME HERE by Ryan Eckes

Nathan Logan Reviews ON THE FLY by Amy King

Aileen Ibardaloza Engages BARING MORE THAN SOUL by Reme A. Grefalda


THE CRITIC WRITES POEMS
Michael Caylo-Baradi


IN THE PHILIPPINES: “POETRY ALLERGIC TO THE PURELY VERBAL”
A PREFACE: Angelo Suarez engages with the works of Philippines-based poet-artists Bea Camacho, Costantino Zicarelli, Buen Calubayan and Cesare A.X. Syjuco

Angelo Suarez on THE POETICS OF INTERMEDIA: Bea Camacho’s Eulogy to Art

Angelo Suarez on A PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS MORON: Constantino Zicarelli and Buen Calubayan

Angelo Suarez on CESARE A.X. SYJUCO AND THE NEW FORMALISM


FROM OFFLINE TO ONLINE: REPRINTED REVIEWS
Allen Gaborro Reviews DOVEGLION: COLLECTED POEMS by JOSE GARCIA VILLA, Ed. John Edwin Cowen

Patrick James Dunagan Reviews EVANGELINE DOWNS by Micah Ballard


ADVERTISEMENT
Tiny Poetry Books Feeding the World…Literally!


BACK COVER
A German Shepherd Most Assuredly Shall Grace the White House Lawn

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Spiritualized - Stop your Crying

if i could take it on myself

Spacemen 3 -

and I'm tired soooo tired

Taken By Trees - Tell Me

Tell me when the snow has gone its way... this song came on and then I looked out the bus window and there it was- fat flakes falling all over Staten Island.

Luckily while enjoying the nice weather yesterday, M.V. told me it was going to rain and snow today. For once I was prepared.

Saturday, December 13, 2008

Gots Love on Barrow Street


Taking a look at the contributors (including myself) in the latest ish of Barrow Street (10th Anniversary Issue) I couldn't help but think of the few degrees of separation such as Jackson Taylor who was my immediate boss while working at The New School and Teachers & Writers' Collaborative. Myself, Jared, and Adam, wrote a grant loosely based on the pedagogy of Marie Ponsot, then there's David Lehman who was my thesis adviser, Peter Moore, a former NS classmate of mine, Evan Glasson who came to my apartment a couple years back to look at a room for rent (he's rumored to have a nice jump shot too), the lovely Sharon Mesmer who I've known for a little while now, Mark Bibbins (who's classes and parties are the stuff of legends) and lastly, LIT co-hort, Nicole Steinberg. I think this is the third journal that Nicole and I have appeared in together... who's stalking who? Or maybe we both just have exquisite taste... nah words stalking words sounds much more sexy. Did I just use the word "sexy?" Yeah Saturday irony rules!

Thursday, December 11, 2008

How will the man from Dream City keep it real?


Being multi-ethnic you know I'm drawn to discourse about ethnically or "racially" constructed identity and multiplicities there of. The other day a girl attempted to make me feel silly for admitting that I liked a writer as "pop" by which I take to mean, successful and known both in popular culture as well as literary circles, as Zadie Smith. Naturally, I remained unfettered, but as I post this lecture from a recent NYPL evening I am all grins.
Thanks to James Vincente for making me aware of this link.

http://blogs.wnyc.org/culture/2008/12/06/speaking-in-tongues-live-at-the-nypl/

The Viewing of the Reviews

Announcing: The Home Video Review of Books: Vol 1, Issue 2

http://thehomevideoreviewofbooks.blogspot.com/

The Home Video Review of Books is a monthly online review journal of
poetry & lyric prose.

In this issue you will find reviews of:

Gina Myers' Behind the R
Kim Hyesoon's Mommy Must Be a Fountain of Feathers
Lisa Jarnot's Night Scenes
Dan Machlin's Dear Body
Brett Price's Trouble with Mapping
John Taggart's There are Birds
Ara Shirinyan's Your Country Is Great
Brandon Shimoda's The Alps
Joel Chace's Matter No Matter
Jon Godfrey's City of Corners
Jen Tynes's Heron / Girlfriend
Anne Heide's Wiving
Anne Boyer's Art is War
Darcie Dennigan's Corinna A-Maying the Apocalypse
Allison Carter's Shadows are Weather
Mark Cunningham's Body Language

To submit a book for review send review copies to:
HVRB
c/o Julia Cohen & Mathias Svalina
505 62nd St, #C2
Brooklyn, NY 11220
Editors:
Julia Cohen & Mathias Svalina

Staff Reviewers:
Zachary Schomburg, Daniela Gesundheit, Dan Goldman, Stephanie Sherman,
Ken Rumble, Jon Pack, Jayna Maleri

The Home Video Review of Books
505 62nd St, C2
Brooklyn, NY 11220

Contact:
julesycohen@gmail.com & mathias.svalina@gmail.com
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I also found two reviews that I had written quite sometime ago for a couple of Dusie e-chaps, so I figured I'd just post them here, after all what are blogs for?

A Book of Days, Pt 1: Sorcery. February 1-May 31, 2007 by Hugh Behm-Steinberg

Dusie Press, 2007

To Put it One Way or Another

Hugh Behm-Steinberg’s Book of Days is a life project-- every ten years ten-line prose poems are written each day with two-inch margins for a complete year. Sorcery is the second installment of this ambitious and ultimately rewarding project. Behm-Steinberg navigates a territory somewhere between John Ashbery and David Lehman while carving out a space that is uniquely his own.

In Ashbery’s 3 Poems he writes, “ I thought that if I could put it all down, that would be one way. And next the thought came to me that to leave all out would be another, and truer way…” Sorcery operates on the impetus of trying to “put it all down” and also trying to “leave it all out.” In fact, the magic implicit in this work does both— pulls rabbits out of hats and disappears completely. Behm-Steinberg’s key is his ability to play on the tension of inclusion/exclusion like Miles Davis and John Coltrane trading solos. On April 20th we find the poet meditating about the sky, “There’s nothing wrong with/ writing about the sky, the/ sky could care less, its/ feelings are weather/ patterns, that zephyr when/ you’re happy, the patterns/ bend macroscopically. The/ accumulation is undec-/ tably vast, so much impli-/cation, so little time be-/tween now and the next / election cycle, so much/ work and so much sky,/ clouds and vapor trails…/"

or on April 1,

“Worry is a thing and an act./ As a thing it’s a creature,/ and you become encrea-/tured, when it sniffs you,/ when it flirts. That’s quick, / are you quick, and not/ good, are you good?/" His poems cover an amazing amount of ground for such meager space. He begins thinking about the sky but then wonders about the election— slyly moving the poem from the ethereal to the human or as in April 1, he begins with an emotional state but uses his wit to both amuse and banter.

Since there is a poem for each day and the book so format-driven it’s hard not to compare it to David Lehman’s The Evening Sun and Daily Mirror. On February 23, Behm-Steinberg writers, “ I come home and find out/ my brother has left his/ wife, so I can’t sleep. I/ read about Peruvian restau-/rants in Queens… /" or on February 25, “There was a good son and / there was a bad son and I/ want to be the bad son:/ when the phone rings I/ want to be the bad son:/"

The book is broken into three sections, Our Virginities, Heaven, and Raiment. The underpinning of this book is a spiritual crisis, a rumination of evil versus good, the otherworldly colliding with the daily everydayness of life. Behm-Steinberg’s form is the true genius of the book because it allows the poems only so far to meander before they are roped in or just end, which is again a way of leaving it out. One hopes that Hugh Behm-Steinberg lives a long and productive life so that every decade we can eagerly look forward to a new installment of his Book of Days.
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a gunless tea by Marco Giovenale

Dusie 2007

Loud there loud there Lou

This is a curious book that arrived enshrouded in mystery. I received a notice from the post office saying I had a package that required a signature. I had assumed it was my MFA degree so when I finally made it to there and was handed a little manila envelope from Italy I was completely bemused. As I footed it home, the sky losing last light and the tree leaves forming soft shadows I opened the envelope to find a letter and a Dusie Chapbook. Something got in the way, maybe it was dinner, maybe it was drinks, maybe it was a succession of days followed by the routine of work but somehow the chapbook got lost and forgotten and then found again months later in between a stack of New York Quarterlies, Barrow Streets, and some rejection notices. Ah, what a lovely surprise it was to find this chapbook again.

Sawako Nakayasu's chapbooks are focused on insects— mostly ants, Hugh Behm-Steinberg’s poems are written daily, and Almeder Logan’s an exploration of names so Marco Giovenale’s book fits this Dusie mold since it is a collection of cut-ups and google experiments from 2003 to 2007. As any reader/writer knows cut-ups and experiments always run the risk of feeling contrived or nonsense for nonsense sake so the real skill is in the organization. And how does Maestro Marco do?

Marco Giovenale’s poems succeed because they feel real and not pieced together. “ : not so sure: night came and went: twentieth day: / : the oil with the spider apple toasted the crescent dragonwagon :take a walk/ outside and see: they’ll verify: mango shave so intricately woven : with bloody/ nazi hybrids: small cookie:” This is from his poem Naïve Oven and “spider apple toasted the crescent dragonwagon” could almost pass for Joseph Cervelo. Although this collage is nonsensical its arranged in a way where it feels emotive, Giovenale clever enough to put in a directive “take a walk” orienting us to focus on an exterior, on a form of action.

This chapbook is packed with humor sometimes overt and other times perverse and political. The underlying politics: “nazi hybrids,” “countries joined in marriage,” “the bodies beneath the barbecue,” give the book an ominous weight, but they are tempered with laugh lines like, “love is the answer. while you’re waiting for the answer. sex.” It’s difficult to tell whether some of the poems go on for pages or if this collection contains a lot of untitled poems and that’s the risk a book like this runs. Since it’s cut-ups or experiments one has to work at orientating the speaker or even the poem, but I suspect that is exactly the ambition of Marco Giovenale. He wants to force us to read the words and not be completely preoccupied with beginnings and endings and to be fair, this book contains enough of what Donald Hall would call "mouth music" that after a few pages you’re simply enjoying the act of reading and imagining some of the more surreal word pairings. I found things like, “ drunk at lunch. cream scene. crowds of crows. pilot light, / lizard’s christmas jazz carols,” and “loud there loud there lou” to be irresistible and don’t we all want our words to be irresistible?

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Right, this is why I don't post reviews on my blog, I can't figure out the spacing format so they look silly.

Oh well, maybe it will at least give you a taste. You can go to Dusie's site to check out both chapbooks.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Bum Rush The Show

Join us for a special WoM event!

Word of Mouth
December 11th at 7pm
@ Bluestockings Radical Books
172 Allen St. (Between Stanton and Rivington)

Readers will be:
Jackie Clark (poetry)
Alana Joblin (poetry)
Brooke Shaffner (non-fiction)
Tara Betts (poetry)

Visit www.megpunschke.com/wordofmouth.html for a complete list of events.

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EARSHOT!

Friday, December 12th @ 8 PM
Rose Live Music, 345 Grand Street
Hosted by Nicole Steinberg


Featuring:
The ONE O'CLOCK POETS (This Full Green Hour)
Guillermo Castro, Amy Lemmon, Katrinka Moore, Joan Lauri Poole, Elizabeth Poreba, and Sarah Stern
Tennessee Jones (Hunter College)
Michelle Brule (Brooklyn College)
Marina Kaganova (Columbia University)

Rose Live Music is located at 345 Grand Street in Brooklyn, between Havemeyer and Marcy. Visit their website for directions: http://liveatrose.com/.

EARSHOT is a bi-monthly reading series, dedicated to featuring new and emerging literary talent in the NYC area. Visit http://www.earshotnyc.com for more information or e-mail Nicoleearshotnyc@gmail.com.

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more nicole:

Upstairs at Erika's Literary Salon
Saturday, December 13th at 7:30 PM
Featuring Joanna Cooper, Tim Stark, and Nicole Steinberg
Hosted by Erika Lutzner and Kate Hall
85-101 North 3rd Street, Apt. 508
b/w Wythe and Berry
Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Closest trains: L to Bedford, G to Nassau
$4 donation includes food + drink
This will be a special event as it will also be a holiday party: food, libations, music, and some good, old-fashioned poetry, prose, and non-fiction.

Joanna Cooper holds a PhD from Temple University and teaches literature and writing at Fordham University. Her work has appeared in the Cortland Review and Pleiades, and she has a poetry chapbook entitled The Crocodile Lady and Other Poems. Joanna is currently working on a book-length poetry manuscript, tentatively titled "How We Were Strangers."
Tim Stark is the proprietor of Eckerton Hill Farm in Lenhartsville, PA. His writing has appeared on National Public Radio as well as Gourmet, Condé Nast Traveler, Washington Post, Missouri Review, Alimentum, and Organic Gardening. Tim and his farm have been profiled on National Public Radio. He read at the first salon here at Erika's loft. He is an amazing farmer, writer, and friend. His book Heirloom: Notes from an Accidental Tomato Farmer is awesome and available everywhere. If you have ever been to Erika's house in the early fall, you've had his tomatoes, and Erika will make something for the party with some of his chili's.

Nicole Steinberg is co-editor of LIT and a contributing editor to BOMB. Her poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in Barrow Street, RealPoetik, Coconut, No Tell Motel, Eleven Eleven, Barrelhouse,
Spooky Boyfriend, and elsewhere. She hosts and curates EARSHOT, a reading series dedicated to emerging writers of all genres (http://earshotnyc.com) and lives in Queens, NY.

There will also be an amazing musician and an open mike. Please bring something to read for the open mike - three minutes maximum!

No spikey shoes please, Erika's floors are too old...

Potluck welcome in lieu of the four dollar donation.
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Darling,


It occurs to me as I rediscover all these tiny, burning altars of our love that never were they paper-made. Never were they ash-born, nor have they blown into every hungry wild eye to seed. I rediscover them, relics of these months we've spent together in my home, and although I remain devoted to you love, I hope that you will pen this letter, or one of your own, light a match and set it free. I want us all to experience a new love, this Saturday, to walk in off of the cold streets, bleary-eyed and starving, unsure of how we got here, ready hold to so many strange and unfamiliar faces, with our words, like a hand.


Soon to pen and set on fire,

Madame


The Poetry Brothel

Saturday, December 13th

9pm-2am

The Zipper Factory

336 W. 37th St. (btwn 8th and 9th Ave.)

$15 admission (includes a free drink and one private reading with your very own poetry whore!)

Featured Reader: Patricia Smith

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How about a some sommer (browning) for your winter? Musically speaking, that is:


Hello Friends!

I am playing music this Sunday with Sportsman's Paradise!

A seven-man-and-woman-strong army of guitarists will generate a
forty-minute-long blast of psychedelic blissout mash-up with Tibetan
bell interludes.

There will also be four screens of hypnotic and luminescent video
accompaniment.

How does that sound?


It's free (except it's not. You have to buy $10 in food/drink. They
have good burgers.)

It will be loud.

Monkeytown
58 N 3rd St
(btw. Kent & Wythe)
Williamsburg, Brooklyn

Sunday, December 14, 8pm

http://monkeytownhq.com/monkeytownhome.html


I like Monkeytown and will make a huge effort to check this out.




Tuesday, December 9, 2008

We put our peaches where they had to go

One of the best feelings is finding out you don't have to teach on a day you thought you had to teach- in other words, no Staten Island Ferry for me on Friday.
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Yesterday I had to do cross-exam-grading. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but definitely happy to be through with it.

Right before I left yesterday I stopped at a bench in the hallway to make a call. As I was on the phone a student passed by me and smiled. Then she said I was "cute." This was unexpected so I said nothing. She laughed and walked away (slowly). I thought maybe it was a joke, but I didn't see anyone else around, as yesterday the school was pretty empty except for evening students who had finals during the day.
Weird. I was seriously rocking some corny, boring, black, teacher pants and need a haircut....
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I recently watched the French film, Elevator to the Gallows (1957) and I'm thinking about seeing Tell No One. Has anyone seen it?
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This week is the final Word of Mouth of 2008. I'll post details tomorrow. I also have a friend's bday party. Then holiday parties on Friday and Saturday night. Hopefully I'll get my haircut on Sunday.
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Today, I received an unexpected text declaring love for a particular poem I wrote. That was sweet and made my day!
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I'm eating Tempting Trail Mix from Trader Joes, ever have it? I recommend it. Tonight I think I'm making gnocchi with mushrooms, carmelised onions (sauteed if I get impatient), fresh salted tomatoes, black olives, and arugula in a cream sauce. I'll have to make it soon, before I lose motivation.

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Loneliness, such a sad affair


GlitterPony Issue #6 is up. Julia Cohen, Elizabeth Lenson, Shane Jones, Mathias Svalina, Ari Feld, Donald Dunbar, Lisa Ciccarello, and Seth Parker.
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sawbuck 2.4 is here to warm you up with the fiery poetry of all these good people:

{Paige Taggart} {John Woodward}

hope to see you there.

& as always, we are reading for future issues, so send us your poems!

~samuel wharton, editor

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[Realpoetik] Thanh Tam Tuyen, translated by Linh Dinh

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failbetter
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Shampoo Issue 34
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Trickhouse vol. 3 – Winter 2008

visual artist: Eric Baden
writers: Brenda Iijima, Rebecca Brown, Michelle Naka Pierce
guest curator: Miriam Kathrein
sound: Andrew Klobucar
video: Abigail Child
correspondent: Erik Anderson
interview: Mathias Svalina with Shelton Walsmith
experiment: Denise Uyegara with Natalie Nguyen
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missed Eric Baus' reading on Friday? Head over here to check it out.

Pink Floyd With Syd Barrett - Interstellar Overdrive-Part 2

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Baus in the house


Eric Baus is the author of The To Sound (Wave Books) and Tuned Droves (Octopus Books). He edits Minus House chapbooks and writes about poetry audio recordings on the site To The Sound. He lives in Denver.

Adam Chiles' first book Evening Land was published this year by Cinnamon Press in the UK. His work has appeared in Best New Poets 2006, Indiana Review, Painted Bride Quarterly, Gulf Coast, Free Verse and others. He currently teaches English and Creative Writing at Northern Virginia Community College.

Mark Horosky was born in the 1970's and raised in New Haven, CT. He was educated at Southern CT State University (BA), University of Arizona (MFA), and Pace University (Masters of Science in Teaching). He is a Special Education Instructor in Brooklyn. His writing has appeared recently in Cue and Tight magazines. His new chapbook is out: Let It Be Nearby (with artwork by Amie Robinson; Cue Editions). He lives in Brooklyn with Miriam and Lucas.
Miriam Benatti lives and works as a licensed massage therapist in New York City. In between changing diapers, rubbing bodies, and cooking cutlets, she's currently working on a chapbook of poems called Open Your Mouth.

Only at Pete's Candy Store
709 Lorimer Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn
(718) 302-3770

"L" to Lorimer, "G" to Metropolitan.

FREE!
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21st annual indie/small press book fair featuring Marsh Hawk Press, Black Ocean, and Ugly Duckling:

SATURDAY, December 6, 2008 10 am to 6 pm
SUNDAY, December 7, 2008 11 am to 5 pm Free Admission

The New York Center for Independent Publishing
20 West 44th Street (5/6) New York City

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Polestar Numero Cinco

Sunday, December 7, 2008
5 pm

Eve Grubin.
Cate Marvin.
Kathleen Ossip.

Downstairs at CAKESHOP
152 Ludlow (between Stanton & Rivington)

Trains to:
Delancey-Essex Sts (F, J, M, Z)
2nd Ave-Houston St (F, V)
Grand St (B, D)

About the Poets!

Eve Grubin's book of poems, Morning Prayer, was published by the Sheep Meadow Press. Her essay "After Eden: The Veil as a Conduit to the Internal" appeared in The Veil: Women Writers on Its History, Lore, and Politics (U of CA Press, 2008). Her poems have been published in the American Poetry Review, The New Republic, The New York Sun, Barrow Street, and many other journals and magazines. A chapbook size group of poems appeared in Conjunctions with an introduction to her work by Fanny Howe. She teaches at The New School and the City College of New York, and she runs the Arts Fellowships Program at the Drisha Institute for Jewish Education. She is a doctoral candiate in English Literature at CUNY, a senior editor at Lyric Poetry Review, and she publishes her essays in The Forward, nextbook.org, modestlyyours.net, and elsewhere.

Cate Marvin's first book, World's Tallest Disaster, was chosen by Robert Pinksy for the 2000 Kathryn A. Morton Prize and published by Sarabande Books in 2001. In 2002, she received the Kate Tufts Discovery Prize. Her poems have appeared in The New England Review, Poetry, The Kenyon Review, Fence, The Paris Review, The Cincinnati Review, Slate, Verse, Boston Review, and Ninth Letter. She is co-editor with poet Michael Dumanis of the anthology Legitimate Dangers: Poets of the New Century (Sarabande Books, 2006). Her second book of poems, Fragment of the Head of a Queen was published by Sarabande in August 2007. A recent Whiting Award recipient and 2007 NYFA Gregory Millard Fellow, she teaches poetry writing in Lesley University's Low-Residency MFA Program and is an associate professor in creative writing at the College of Staten Island.

Kathleen Ossip is the author of The Search Engine and of Cinephrastics, a chapbook of movie poems. Her poems have appeared in The Best American Poetry, Paris Review, Kenyon Review, American Poetry Review, the Washington Post, Fence, and Poetry Review (London). She teaches at The New School, where she serves as an Editor at Large for LIT, and she is the Poetry Editor of Women's Studies Quarterly. She has received = a fellowship in poetry from the New York Foundation for the Arts.

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Gift Hunting?

My friend, Mina, has updated her jewelry website, Neology by Mina, just in time for the holidays so if you're looking for a present for that cute girl (friend) or yourself check out her line here.

Monday, December 1, 2008

Children Amassed

A new week already! Last week started out rather busy with a potluck on Tuesday then Thanksgiving on Thursday, but I hardly managed to leave the house on Friday, Saturday, and most of Sunday. I had and still have a ton of grading to do as my three classes are winding down.

Sunday, I finally left the apartment to see my friend, J.Mae, play violin at Carnegie Hall. This was the program:

New England Symphonic Ensemble

Stern Auditorium, Sunday, November 30, 2008 at 8:30 PM





Program Details

New England Symphonic Ensemble
John Rutter, Conductor
Alexandra Costin, Piano
With participating choruses



GRIEG
Piano Concerto in A Minor, Op. 16
JOHN RUTTER
Mass of the Children

It was pretty good and I surprised myself by really getting into Mass of the Children. There's something about so many voices joined in chorus.
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This week will be busy with work and then towards the end of the week there's the usual engagements of birthdays, dinners, etc. I think the Small Press Fair is in town this weekend? I'll look into it and post a blog later this week with details. I'm sure there are readings happening this week, but for the life of me I can't think where or when they are.

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club

I thought about the first time I heard this song.

I thought about being in Seattle and finding two dbl 7-inches
at Singles Going Steady.

I watched 9 Songs and didn't like it.

I thought what's not to like about sex and rock and roll?

I thought about seeing B.R.M.C. in Portland and being underwhelmed.

I though about singular notes. About scales. About apreggios. About chords.

About fuzz. About feedback. About twin instruments. About counter-melodies.

I thought about her muddling mint in the kitchen.

About sitting on a porch with this song playing as morning shifted to afternoon.

I thought about the string buzz just before it goes silent. About an amp hum.

About exhaustion. About a bed. The space which surrounds/ which engulfs.

I thought about gray-blue mornings and emptiness spreading.

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Nut News & Two Interviews


You may have read her chapbook, Perfect Villagers, from Octopus Books (which is the last section of this book), but this is Sueyeun Juliette Lee's first full-length book & it's pretty damn good. I might have a review of this book forthcoming so for now all I'll say is that I picked as one of the best books for 2008 over on the No Tells blog & you can buy it here. Also the poet (my friend) Meghan Punschke designed the cover.

Speaking of Coconut, issue 14 is up & it contains some poets I can't wait to read such as Eileen Tabios, Graeme Bezanson (who I went to NS with, as well as, worked on LIT with ((he's still the poetry editor there)) and he's part of the Coldfront Crew, yet I haven't really read his poems), Susana Gardner (who edits Dusie press), and Rauan Klassnik.
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Two more interviews with the esteemed artist, Joseph Lappie:

http://chicagoist.com/2008/11/22/an_interview_with_joseph_lappie.php

http://theloop.colum.edu/s/644/index.aspx?sid=644&gid=24&pgid=252&cid=4885&ecid=4885&ciid=16917&crid=0

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Work Makes A Head Tired



Aiya... this week has been nothing but writing and administering tests. Then. Days off. But. Plenty. Of. Papers. To. Grade.

Also, been working on new poems which are thus far, uncooperative. Little fuckers have a mind of their own I suppose. Aiya.

Friday, November 21, 2008

Books, Music, & Readings

No Tell Books' Blog has been & will continue to list best books 2008, as well as, poetry books as gift suggestions. Check it here
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I saw the Depreciation Guild play a show during CMJ and they are definitely a good live band. Not sure that I'll make it to the show, but you definitely should.

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Honestly, I don't know Lynne Potts' poetry. She's an editor at AGNI who recently politely declined yours truly, but sometimes them the breaks. What I do know is that Jared Hohl is a superb writer & the guys that run The Enclave are more than affable so come, come, come.


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Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Stuff and then some


Date: November 20, 2008 06:30PM
Description: Hey Fishes, it's been too long, so we're gonna raise a very special poetry ruckus in the back room of the Four-Faced Liar.

Chris Tonelli is coming all the way up from Carolina, Sampson Starkweather is making a rare departure from his makeshift laboratory deep in the North woods, and Justin Marks is getting out of bed to come celebrate their synchronous publications by Rope-a-Dope press.

Rope-a-Dope Press is a collective of former pugilists in South Boston who create fantastic handmade chapbooks, broadsides, and other collaborations between visual artists and poets.

So come meet us at 6:30 PM in the dank dungeon of the Famous Face, 165 W. 4th St. and 6th Ave., on Thursday November 20th. This isn't one to miss.

Love,
Shafer

*

Justin Marks' first full length collection, A Million in Prizes, is forthcoming from New Issues Press in spring 2009. His chapbooks include Voir Dire (Rope-a-Dope Press, forthcoming) and [Summer insular:] (Horse Less Press, 2007). He is the founder and Editor of Kitchen Press Chapbooks and lives in New York City.

Sampson Starkweather is the author of City of Moths, forthcoming from Rope-A-Dope Press, and The Photograph from horse less press. He lives in the woods.

Chris Tonelli is the author of three chapbooks: For People Who Like Gravity and Other People (Rope-A-Dope Press, forthcoming), A Mule-Shaped Cloud (w/ Sarah Bartlett, horse less press, 2008), and WIDE TREE: Short Poems (Kitchen Press, 2006). He teaches at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, NC.

Founded in the spring of 2007 by painter Robert daVies and poet Mary Walker Graham, Rope-a-Dope Press fosters collaborations between artists, writers, and their communities through the publication of handmade, letterpress printed chapbooks, broadsides, and artists' books.

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I going to try and check out the reading then meet up with TMS to see her friend's band, Miracles.

MIRACLES

11-20-2008 20:30 at Death by Audio - Creative Capitalism record party w/ Lo Moda, Thrust Lab, Antimagic, Weekends
49 S 2nd St, Brooklyn,

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Check out the new ish of Pax Americana
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Then watch some shorts on Black Masculinity

Dear all:

My friend David Moore has made two short films on the subject of black
masculinity. Please check them out. The short titled REALNESS is about a
woman transitioning to becoming a man; it's fascinating watching her acquire
masculine traits, both good and bad.

This is part of the Masculinity Project (www.masculinityproject.org)

"Realness":
http://blackpublicmedia.org/project/masculinity/media/97

"Dr. Al's Rebels" (Part One):
http://blackpublicmedia.org/project/masculinity/media/98

http://www.davidbarclaymoore.com

Enjoy,

Bruce

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Chicago: All That Jazz And Then Some




If you find yourself in Chicago definitely check out Joseph Lappie's solo art exhibition.

Believe Inn is proud to present "Before There Was Us And Them There Was We," the solo exhibition of Joseph Lappie.

"Before There Was Us And Them There Was We" is a collection of new drawing prints and paintings continuing the theme of relationships between the self and others, communicative constipation in word and deed, and the necessity of factual fictions in order to move forward day to day. The anthropomorphic qualities of certain figures suggest the true character of each individual. One that often remains hidden under the skin. It is not meant to be a mythological character, merely an aspect of us.

Before There Was Us And Them There Was We
Solo Exhibition by Joseph Lappie

Believe Inn
2043 N Winchester
Chicago, IL 60614
http://BelieveInn.org/





Saturday, November 15, 2008

Greenpoint- Not as White as you Think

My friend, Nobuko, is performing tonight/tomorrow:

Hi everyone!
Here is the info about this weekend's performances-I'm performing in a Japanese Art Festival in Greenpoint.
Theres lots of acts, but my part is at
Sat Nov 15 at 8.30pm and
Sun Nov 16 at 5.30pm
at
Polish & Slavic Center / 177 Kent Street Brooklyn NY 11222
(between Manhattan Avenue & McGuinness Blvd in Greenpoint)
Read on for details! Hope some of you can make it!
xx Nobu

Taiko Masala & Spinning Ronin at the Sixth Annual Japan Arts Matsuri
JAM 2008 The festival of Japanese Artists in New York
Co-presented by New York Dance & Arts Innovations, American Dream. Supported by the Consulate General of Japan in New York, Asian Society of Arts, Polish & Slavic Center.

Taiko and Martial Arts DanceTheatre " MUGEN"
produced by Hiro Kurashima
Choreographed & written by Tsuyoshi kaseda
Music: Taiko masala
Special Guests: Aya Higuma (Vocal) and Shu Nakamura (Guiter)

November 15th (Sat) 6PM ( Artist Booth & door open at 5PM )
November 16th (Sun) 3PM ( Artist Booth & door open at 2PM)

Other exciting artists are: Kenichi Ebina-Dance Performance & Video, Faune Dance Troupe - classic ballet "Swan Lake", Masato & Keitaro - Tap, and Samurai Sword Soul - Tate Theatre

And.... a new JAM experience
Talent Night - talent show presented by various Japanese performers:
10tecomai-Yosakoi, Air-Row-Singer & Dance, Ichifujikai Dance Association-Japanese Classical Dance, Mariko Iwasa-Physical Comedy, Kamome-Hip Hop, Mai Kawamura-Singer, Kazumi Kitamura-Belly Dance, Love ETC-Vocal & Piano duo, Luminisis-International Dance, Thro-bredz-Hip Hop, Mitsuko"Van" Yoshitomi & Saki Tokumura-Dance

MC: Hidekazu Nagai

Ticket: general admission/ $25 Advanced admission or reservation/ $20 info (917) 689-1899

Polish & Slavic Center / 177 Kent Street Brooklyn NY 11222
(between Manhattan Avenue & McGuinness Blvd in Greenpoint)

E or V train to 23rd Street-Ely Avenue station in Queens. Transfer to G train Brooklyn bound and get off Greenpoint Avenue. Or,

L train to Lorimer St station in Brooklyn. Transfer to G train Queens bound and get off Greenpoint Avenue. The theatre is one block from the station.

We hope to see you there!
Arigatogozaimasu!


12.

An axe is flung down in the cabin of my habits and disappears. Laughing, then
writing, I told someone nearby that the tongue is made of grains of blood. O you
who awaken with one eye in the slits of the wooden door, good morning. And good
night now. And anyway this is the street where the nearby branches grab us by the
collar. Crying in the distance is a longing, addressed casually by everyone. The
asphalt sheets are already gathering the wrinkles of the evening.

17.

The radiant subway again. Today, too, in this still-radiant subway, small white
explosions occur here and there. They are the sounds of our joints popping, the
sound of an all-too-convenient despair fading away. The walls collapse, and the
birds of the earth, now without hesitation, begin transporting their nests so as to set
them into these daily-renewed explosions.

22.

It is now time to describe, toward a mossy nothingness, the shape of a fragment. The
moment a shipwreck seeks- against its will- the pretense of wings, and when the
eraser under the eaves just about to disappear first faces itself, and when this too is
nothing more than a short-lived illusion. The dim brilliance of the fragment criticizes
the sharpness of the form. I follow the contours of the blade. Not for the purpose of
sketching, but in order to draw up a contract with the sweat of things at the moment
the line tears, and to cross over to the next shape.

(for some reason the form is completely messed up on these. but they are all block prose poems)

Thursday, November 13, 2008

"looks like a sick bird"

The first ish of SIR! is up and it includes poems by Julia Cohen, Ruan Klassnik, Brooklyn Copeland, and lots of other fine writers. Check it out here

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

BOOM



I know, not the usual indie &/or hip-hop artist I tend to blog about, but I met Anjulie a longs ways back & she's always been a pleasant mixture of "way cool" and "sweetheart." She has an "exclusive" video here & a three song ep on itunes. Some of those that know me have heard the title track, Boom 'cause it's a dope dope song.

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At the Poetry Project

Isabelle Garron & Rosmarie Waldrop
Wednesday, 8:00 pm

Isabelle Garron (b. 1968) is a younger generation French poet who teaches in Paris. She is the author of Qu’il faille (Editions Flammarion 2007), Face devant contre (Editions Flammarion 2002), Déferlage II (Editions Les Cahiers de la Seine 2002), and Le corps échéant (Editions Les Cahiers de la Seine 2000). Garron has also participated as poet and/or editor in various French journals, including Petite, Action Poétique, Action restreinte, Rehauts, and La Polygraphe. English translations of her poetry have appeared in Double Change, 1913: a journal of forms, and Verse. The chapbook Face Before Against, in Sarah Riggs’s translation, was released by Seeing Eye Books in 2005. Garron’s interest in Pierre Reverdy gave rise to a publication of La Lucarne Ovale in its original form (Théâtre Typographique 2001). She is a regular participant with Jean Daive in the France Culture radio broadcast, "Peinture Fraiche" ("Wet Paint") on contemporary art. Garron will be joined by her translator Sarah Riggs.

Rosmarie Waldrop’s recent poetry books are Curves to the Apple, Blindsight (New Directions), Splitting Image (Zasterle), and Love, Like Pronouns (Omnidawn). Her collected essays, Dissonance (if you are interested), is out from University of Alabama Press. Her translation of Ulf Stolterfoht’s Lingos I-IX (Burning Deck) was awarded the PEN Award for Poetry in Translation, 2008. She has also translated books by Friederike Mayröcker, Elke Erb, Oskar Pastior, Gerhard Rühm and, from the French, Edmond Jabès, Emmanuel Hocquard and Jacques Roubaud.
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The Asian American Writers' Workshop presents Kazim Ali, Myung Mi Kim, Cathy Park Hong, Tan Lin, Warren Liu, and Dorothy Wang

Friday, November 14, 7pm
A special night featuring Kazim Ali and honoring Myung Mi Kim's Dura

Join us for a special night honoring the work of legendary experimental poet Myung Mi Kim and the re-release of her book Dura.

The night begins with Kazim Ali, whose The Far Mosque, possesses, in the words of Meena Alexander, "a metaphysical feel ... that renders it fit for our globalized age, a geography underwritten by the loss of fixed abode." Myung Mi Kim reads from Dura, a classic of avant-garde poetics at once formally challenging and politically engaged. Influenced by Theresa Hak Kyung Cha's Dictee, Dura is an investigation of national and personal identity that asks, in the words of Sueyeun Juliette Lee, both what it means to be Korean American and what it means to define space in national terms. After the reading, four prominent Asian American experimental poets--Cathy Park Hong, Tan Lin, Warren Liu, and Dorothy Wang--respond to Dura and Myung's body of work.

@ The Workshop
16 West 32nd Street, 10th Floor
(btwn Broadway & 5th Avenue)

$5 suggested donation; open to the public
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I've never met Vincent, but he accepted one of my poems for Vanitas, so I'm going to try and rush back from a 5'oclock appointment at Laguardia to catch his reading:

Wednesday, November 19th

Poetry Forum: Vincent Katz

David Lehman, Moderator

6:30pm, 66 W 12th St, Rm 510, $5 (Free to NS Students and Alumni)

Vincent Katz, author of Black Mountain College: An Experiment, is a poet, writer, art critic, and translator. Katz will read and comment on the Black Mountain poets, such as Charles Olson, Robert Creeley, and Robert Duncan.

Praise for Vincent Katz’s Black Mountain College: An Experiment:

In the space of two covers, Katz manages to evoke a world of cross-media artistic possibility that seems as vast as it was often joyous.—Publishers Weekly

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My friend is looking for submissions for a new online lit journal:


Dear Friends,

I have joined forces with a few people to start an on-line literary journal. Our ideal launch date is January, 2009.

The journal is called Scapegoat and the URL is www.scapegoatreview.com. Please keep in mind that the journal is not up and running yet - if you go to the URL, you will see only an outline of what it will look like.

We are currently seeking submissions for all genres - poetry, fiction and non fiction (word limit for fiction and non fiction is 500 words).

If you are interested in submitting, please do so on the submission form found on our website. Feel free to email the site or me directly with any questions you might have.

Thanks, and I look forward to reading your work!

Best,
Kate Hall


Monday, November 10, 2008

My the weather's gotten cold

I had a wind-breaker on when I left for work this morning, but now I need a coat. I'm sure the brisk walk from Chinatown to KGB (Lehman/Cummins) will warm/wake me up. Seriously, I went to bed early last night & I'm still tired. I watched some the Lakers vs. Rockets game- not a Lakers' fan & the Rockets didn't bring it.
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Asobi Seksu were fun on Saturday.

I picked up Sueyeun Juliette Lee's book, that gorgeous feeling, on Friday and today Geoffrey Olsen's End Notebook, and Catherine Meng's Dokument arrived in the mail. I also picked up Sonic Youth: Goodbye Twentieth Century today from the library.
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here's a new blog worth bookmarking:

http://notellpoetry.blogspot.com/

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Since I Moved In vs. Gorgeous Feelings In The Divided Country

Thursday, November 6th

Poets on Craft: Major Jackson and Suji Kwock Kim

6:30pm, 55 W 13th, Theresa Lang Center, Arnhold Hall (Free)

In association with the New School's Creative Writing Program, Cave Canem Foundation, North America's premier "home for Black poetry," will sponsor an evening of conversation and poetry with Major Jackson and Suji Kwock Kim. The program inaugrates Poets of Craft, a series focuing on the perspectives of poets whose work responds, however indirectly, to the experience of living and working as a minority artist in a Eurocentric culture. Poets on Craft is supported, in part, by The Greenwall Foundation; the New York Community Trust, Lila Wallace Theater Fund; and public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and the New York State Council on the Arts. Additional funding is provided by The Ford Foundation and Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Pivotal Place: New York City. For more information, go to www.cavecanempoets.org

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Friday, November 7th

Academy of American Poets Awards Ceremony

Readings by Eamon Grennan, Carl Phillips, Claudine Rankine, Jonathan Thirkield, Ellen Bryant Voight

7:00pm, 66 W 12th St, Tishman Auditorium, Kaplan Hall (Free)

Celebrate contemporary poetry and the recipients of the premier collection of awards for poetry in the United States.

The night will include readings and presentations by Eamon Grennan, Carl Phillips, Claudine Rankine, Jonathan Thirkield, Ellen Bryant Voight, and many others. A reception will follow.

Sponsored by the Academy of American Poets and The New School Writing Program.

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Help us say goodbye to our home of the past 3 years as we welcome featured readers MÓNICA DE LA TORRE (author of the new book Public Domain and Talk Shows) and SUEYEUN JULIETTE LEE (author of the new collection That Gorgeous Feeling)! Joining them will be three marvelous MFA readers for a goodbye party that's sure to blow the roof off.

Admission is a mere $5, which gets you a free drink! Still the best deal in town!

Your pal,
Nicole


EARSHOT!

For one last time, find us at The Lucky Cat, located in Williamsburg, Brooklyn!

Friday, November 7 @ 8 PM
$5 + 1 free drink
Hosted by Nicole Steinberg


Featuring:
MÓNICA DE LA TORRE (Public Domain, Talk Shows)
SUEYEUN JULIETTE LEE (That Gorgeous Feeling)
Farah Ghniem (New York University)
Paige Taggart (The New School)
Tom Treanor (Columbia University)

The Lucky Cat is located at 245 Grand Street in Brooklyn, between Driggs and Roebling. Visit their website for directions: http://www.theluckycat.com.

EARSHOT is a bi-monthly reading series, dedicated to featuring new and emerging literary talent in the NYC area. Visit http://www.earshotnyc.com for more information or e-mail NicoleSteinberg at earshotnyc@gmail.com.

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Single Poetry Reading Series, 8, Seeking Stable Attractive Poetry,
18-99, for Linguistic Recreation

Must be well-crafted, delight in obscure forms and enjoy windsurfing.


This Friday, November 7th, You Have A Date!

Take a Long Walk on the Beach With

Tim Peterson, Adam Tobin, David Carillo & Kate Broad!

Tim Peterson lives in Brooklyn and writes poetry, all the while
seeking out other complexly gendered individuals for companionship and
connection, hungry for articulations of reading and being read as
voiced experiences hunting you like a bluejay. SINCE I MOVED IN (Gil
Ott Award, Chax Press) was published in 2007. Tim edits EOAGH: A
Journal of the Arts.

Adam Tobin owns and operates Unnameable Books, a new and used
bookstore in central Brooklyn. He is author of Ode to Pumpsie Green &
Stretch Phillips (horse less press, 2005) and editor of The Weekly
Weakling (forthcoming), a series of occasional letterpress pamphlets.
You may have seen his older work in EOAGH or Fence or other
publications, but he hasn't really written much since he opened the
bookstore. He promises, however, to read at this reading at least one
poem you've never seen before.

David Carillo lives in West Hartford with his wife and dog. He is
working on his MFA in Creative Nonfiction at the University of
Pittsburgh and teaches English at the University of Connecticut at
Waterbury. He has poems forthcoming in nanomajority.com.

Kate Broad has lived in India and Brazil and currently resides in
Brooklyn, where she is a doctoral student in English at the City
University of New York Graduate Center. She has poems in Freshwater,
The Wellesley Review, and forthcoming in Karamu, and has won several
writing awards, including one from the Academy of American Poets. Kate
is working on her first full-length manuscript, Hard to Swallow.


Only at Pete's Candy Store
709 Lorimer Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn
(718) 302-3770

"L" to Lorimer, "G" to Metropolitan.

FREE!

Visit http://www.multifariousarray.blogspot.com/ for links to their
work and email me for more information.


YES WE DID!

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

History In The Making

Today. Obama. Vote!



free Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream if you do/ free Starbucks coffee if you/ you exercising your freedom if you do/

Monday, November 3, 2008

Awe & then some

Monday, monday... for some of us, yet another work week. How about a little company? I know just the thing! I'm the featured poet this week at No Tell Motel so you'll have a poem a day just waiting for the warmth of your eyes. Click here.

Still hungry? Really? That's okay, how about feasting on the new issue of Fou! Insatiable? Cool, no problem. How about a little Turntable + Blue Light.

Right, now you want dessert too, you got it. Spoon away at Spooky Boyfriend.

Now you want visuals? You want to sit back & be entertained? Goodreads & Coldfront Magazine aren't enough? How about Cutbank reviews? Still you want more? How about the Home Review of Books? Or watch two of the editors Julia & Mathias read here!