Poets You Ought To Know About, Part II
We're always expanding our library of Net links (now indexed in two separate files: 20th Century Poets & Contemporary Poets = living, reading, writing, practicing poets now = 21st century) to help you find out about the poets whose work you ought to know. Last week we introduced Bob's list of 15 must-read, must-hear wordworkers newly ensconced in the About Poetry library.
Now, we're offering the poets our Museletter correspondents say you really ought to know. We've asked our correspondents for news of the poets deserving to be known in their far-flung parts of the world, accolades for poets who are Web-izing their work, names of the unsung heroes who should be sung, & here they are!
--Bob Holman & Margery Snyder
from GARY MEX GLAZNER (New Mexico):
from SHANN PALMER (Virginia):
from IAN FERRIER (Montreal):
from TA'SHIA ASANTI (Denver):
Julia Ann Delbridge
Santa Cruz Slam poet, storyteller, peacemaker & bibliographer Julia Ann Delbridge is known as the “hillbilly hippy herself” around her “Down Home” page.
Big Poppa E
Big Poppa E, aka Eirik Ott, was a member of the San Francisco Slam Team which tied for the championship at the 1999 National Poetry Slam, & is most famous for his “Wussy Boy Manifesto.”
Julia Alvarez
Best known as a novelist, Julia Alvarez writes poetry of great beauty, capturing both a feminist and multi-cultural balance in stories and revelations of her life as a woman writer. Her poems “New Clothes” & “Orchids” are both part of an online anthology collected for a course entitled “Growing Up Ethnic.”
C.E. Chaffin
Kay Day at Suite 101 says C.E. Chaffin's in “the top tier of poets published on the Web.” His book is called Elementary, he edits one of the best Web zines, The Melic Review, & you can read his poems all over the Net, in places like Afternoon, Recursive Angel & inter\face.
Jim Clark
Jim Clark writes about Appalachia in poetry & song & has two books: Dancing on Canaan's Ruins (Eternal Delight Productions, 1997) & Handiwork (Saint Andrews Press, 1998). Hey, the guy had a poem printed in Rolling Stone!
Rachel Dacus
She is a transplanted New Yorker who likes California, her work lives in lots of places on the Web (see Gravity & Project Equinox), & she has a book entitled Earth Lessons.
Ruth Daigon
She sang at Dylan Thomas's funeral and the rest is poetry. Her new book, The Moon Inside, was called
“a milestone work” by Robert Sward.
H.D. (Hilda Doolittle)
H.D. was 15 at the beginning of the 20th century, but her writing carries into the 21st with ease. She is often associated with the famous men with whom she dallied, but her work speaks for itself. Her AAP page has five of her poems; you can find a collection of essays & criticism at the Modern American Poetry site.
Louise Erdrich
Native American writer of poetry, novels and children's literature, she was the wife of Michael Dorris, who comitted suicide in 1997. Her poetry collections are Jacklight and Baptism of Desire (). Her poems “Dear John Wayne” & “Indian Boarding School: The Runaways” are in the “Growing Up Ethnic” course anthology at Capitol Community College.
Larry Fontenot
“Poet Man” Larry Fontenot lives in Sugar Land, Texas & was featured poet at the 1996 Houston Poetry Fest. “Protocol” was featured in The Alsop Review's “Noted on the Gazebo” section & can be heard in RealAudio on his home site.
David Gitin
Gitin is an outrageous minimalist who takes risks with words like nobody else. His poem “Trinidad” was in the MSNBC feature, “To Be a Poet in the Year 2000.”
Claudia Grinnell
Claudia Grinnell was born & raised in Germany, teaches at the University of Louisiana, Monroe & her poems are published both in print & on the Web. She is as beautiful as she is talented: you can see photographs & read poems like “A Case of Mistaken Identity” on her site.
Jerry H. Jenkins
“Ornithomancer” Jerry H. Jenkins is an amazing formalist, whose work has been published in The Formalist & has placed numerous times in its Howard Nemerov Sonnet Competition. He is one of the three Weird Sonneteers & his chapbook, Avian, won 2nd prize in the 1996 Anamnesis Chapbook Competition.
Sharon Kourous
Sharon Kourous teaches high school English, is a member of Zeugma Poetry Workshop, & has work appearing in such classy places as Piedmont Literary Review & The Lyric. You can read her poems online at Savoy Poetry, Poetry Magazine & The Melic Review.
Naomi Shihab Nye
Poet, song writer and essayist, she gained national attention after appearing with Bill Moyers in the PBS series, The Language of Life. Three of her poems are online at AAP.
Shann Palmer
Shann is a poet, musician & teacher who is published in print & on the Web. She is the Virginia/District of Columbia correspondent for the About Poetry Museletter, has been editor of La Petite Zine at webdelsol & served as board monitor at The Melic Review RoundTable.
Georgia Popoff
Georgia Popoff has competed in poetry slams since their beginnings in upstate New York & was a member of the 1994, 1995 & 1996 Syracuse Poetry Slam Teams. She has travelled the U.S. & internationally, giving readings & workshops, & her first book is Coaxing Nectar From Longing (Hale Mary Press, 1997).
Mike Topp
We love this guy. He rewrites Robert Frost, corresonds hilariously with Sparrow, makes us laugh in Big Bridge, Vol 2 & Vol. 3, & is part of the Realpoetik pantheon.
Corey Frost
His Bits World site reveals the many facets of Corey Frost: ga press chapbook publisher, solo & collaborative spoken word performer, spoken word theorist & “Exciting Version” multimedia artist.
Brother Jeff
Brothah Jeff joins and heals communities (that's plural, meaning more than one) with his spirit-filled words. He is founder and executive director of Brother Jeff's, a spot which has long since become the hub of cultural expression in Denver.
