Poetry Channel #41
4/11/98
IN THIS EPISODE: Lotto Fever, Firestorm, The Stranger, Matthew Stadler, ABA Sues Big Chains, Paula Friedrich, Grammar Rodeo, The Alibi, Taos Poetry Circus Schedule, Recent Book Titles, Hal Sirowitz.
(Hey everyone. I had some time before the winning numbers are announced for the $100 million California lottery so I figured I'd write. Did I buy a ticket? Sure. About the same chance of getting struck by lightning but lightning has to strike somewhere. I feel like I'm a part of the Collective Unconscious, everyone's going be vibing their numbers, I'll bet the Psychic Hotline is crammed with calls as we speak. My dollar is vested, I'm along for the ride. It's 29-cent hamburger day at Clowntown, what do I care? I heard Lotto revenue goes towards education. I hope that's the case, that California students will directly benefit from all this madness. What will this translate into? A new jungle gym? More teachers? Better school supplies? A roomful of computers? Who knows. There is no parity in the public school system -- it's all tied to property taxes. Maybe the Lotto money will be used to make a level playing field for all. Did I mention I sometimes live in a parallel universe where things like this actually happen? Yes, only in my dreams. . . Don't get me started on the cost of higher education. I still hate the regime that eradicated the Pell grant.
I don't know what's crawling up my ass. Perhaps it's one of Justin Chin's elves. Justin was recently a part of the Firestorm reading series in Seattle. Marta Sanchez and Shane Luitjens tagteamed to create two readings -- one all-male, one all-female. It benefited Home Alive, a local women's non-profit group. They are the second and third Firestorm readings in Seattle; Noel Franklin organized the first one last year.
I get a subscription to The Stranger, Seattle's free weekly. I used to work for them many moons ago when they were still in Wallingford. I used to design display ads, paste up and deliver the weekly to the downtown nightclubs. So anyway, I'm reading The Stranger, and the listing for Firestorm nearly caused me to choke on my green tea. Mostly because Marta wasn't given producer credit -- The Stranger listed Shane as the main producer. Firestorm is a Pussy Power project, organized for women, featuring women and usually benefiting a local women's non-profit. It's been going on for years, mostly in Albuquerque, but also in Santa Cruz, Portland and soon, San Francisco.
First, I asked Shane. That part was easy: he was featuring at the Paradise Lounge the same night as the fiddling poet of Alaska, Ken Waldman. I waited until after Shane's feature -- I'm not a complete asshole -- and we had a chance to clarify some misunderstandings. For example, the all male reading was set up before Firestorm came along; Shane incorporated his reading into the Firestorm series, and used the reading as a benefit for Home Alive. ("I like the idea of men raising money for a women's group," he said and I gotta admit, I do too.) And I also found out that Miss Marta was indeed listed with producer credits, the omission was made by The Stranger. So I called The Stranger. The literary editor is Matthew Stadler, and to tell the truth, I'm a big fan of his. But that didn't stop me from umm. . . giving him a call and rattling his cage. He said to say sorry, he dropped Marta's name by accident. Maybe I am a complete asshole. Oh well. It would explain a lot of things.
Matthew Stadler writes "Unbridled Rumors," which is a better literary gossip column than the one on your screen but not half as snotty. The Stranger not only features the weekly lit section but also maintains a monthly reading series at the Speakeasy Café and sponsors a showcase at the Bumbershoot Festival. Matthew says The Stranger is also getting behind the Seattle Poetry Festival, which happens at the end of the month, April 24 - 26.
Here's a piece of UR: "Acting on behalf of over 20 independent bookstores, the American Booksellers Association (ABA) is suing Barnes and Noble and Borders chain stores for orchestrating secret and preferential deals with many national publishers. Avin Mark Dominitz, director of the ABA, says the two national chains solicited special discounts and threatened publishers with massive returns if the discounts weren't deep enough, obtaining preferential deals unavailable to the independents. The ABA filed suit in U.S. Ninth District Court in San Francisco." Matthew loves gossip -- send your rumors to stadler@thestranger.com.
Thank you to Marta Sanchez and Shane Luitjens. To Justin Chin. To Allison Durazzi, Alissa Harper, Norene Koga, Susan Anderson, Marth Linehan, Kathryn Humes and Paula Friedrich. To Bryce and Svelte Miss Belt for being a part of this latest Firestorm in Seattle.
Paula Friedrich provided one of my favorite moments at the Albuquerque Poetry Festival. Paula read in the Wordfuck show, you know, the erotic reading? Well, her mom was with her. Her really sweet, really straight mom. Luminous Animal (Peter Rabbit, Anne MacNaughton, Amalio Madueno and Terry Jacobus) were singing and chanting perverted songs and poems, Noelle B from San Diego was in her dominatrix regalia, the Human Lamp was naked, who knows what Paula's mom was thinking. And here's Paula, in the middle of it all. When the evening wore on, and her mom finally retired, Paula's relief onstage was palpable from the back of the Dingo bar and brought the loudest cheers of the evening. Paula also saved my ass by concocting a Who/Whom competition 30 minutes before the Grammar Rodeo. We were still scribbling words for the spelling bee at last minute, but all in all the First Grammar Rodeo went surprisingly well. A mysterious woman in black sequins who called herself Shotgun won the spelling bee, knocking out favorites Jessica English, a copy editor, and Dana Burgy, a former spelling bee champ. Thea Hillman and Tara Jepsen won the Tag Team Haiku Championship.
Jessica English has volunteered to organize next year's Grammar Rodeo. Thank God. Jessica works for The Alibi, the soulsister to The Stranger. The founders of both weeklies were also a part of The Onion, Madison's pearl, and when they sold it, one group went west, the other group went southwest. The publishers still vacation in Rio together, lucky dogs. The Alibi sponsored the Albuquerque Poetry Festival, many of their staffers were hosts, and they were very generous in many aspects.
I'll keep getting those ABQ flashbacks. It's going to take me a while to sort it all out. This year I was without the benefit of replaying the whole thing on videotape. It's all flashes and pops. Jason Pettus was much better about keeping a journal -- his site is in the geocities domain, his road diaries are there.
Here's what I promised last Poetry Channel, the complete schedule to the Taos Poetry Circus:)
TAOS POETRY CIRCUS
SUN JUNE 7
Poetry and Music at Taos Pueblo
Official Poetry Circus Opening
Taos Pueblo poets and singers. No-host Pueblo Feast. Tiwa Kitchen at Taos Pueblo, 1 p.m.
MONDAY JUNE 8
New Mexico Invitational
the best in the State
Mary McGinness, Robert Masterson and Danny Solis.
Café Tazza, 8 p.m.
Youth Poetry Slam
under-21 only
$50 prize
Hosted by Juliette Torrez
Café Tazza, 1 p.m.
(signup at 12:30 p.m.)
TUESDAY JUNE 9
Open Poetry Slam
$100 prize
Hosted by Juliette Torrez
preliminary round Café Tazza, 1 p.m.
(signup at 12:30 p.m.)
Final rounds, Alley Cantina, 8 p.m.
WEDNESDAY JUNE 10
Tag Team Poetry
Jimmy Santago Baca & Ntozake Shange
versus Patricia Smith & Sou MacMillan
El Taoseno Restaurant, 8 p.m.
THURSDAY JUNE 11
Global Voices
Cross-cultural communication
Patricia Smith and Nila Northsun
El Taoseno Restaurant, 8 p.m.
FRIDAY JUNE 12
Contemporary Voices
Cutting-edge contemporary poetics
Jim Carroll and Victor Hernandez Cruz
Sagebrush Inn, 8 p.m.
Poetry in Motion
special program for children
Karen Alexander and Nila Northsun
Café Tazza, 1 p.m.
SATURDAY JUNE 13
World Heavyweight Bout Championship
Sherman Alexie versus Jimmy Santiago Baca
Sagebrush Inn, 8:30 p.m.
EXTRAS:
POETRY INTENSIVES
Baca, Carroll and Smith
SATURDAY, JUNE 13 at Quality Inn, noon
Alexie, Cruz and Northsun
SUNDAY, JUNE 14, at Quality Inn, noon
POETS LIVING ROOM
continuous open readings every afternoon
at Café Tazza, 3 p.m.
POETRY FILM AND VIDEO FESTIVAL
a continuous showing of some of the best poetry video from around the country at Café Tazza
SATURDAY, JUNE 13, noon
MEXICAN BOB'S
POETICS & PERFORMANCE CAMP
JUNE 5 - 14
10 day workshop and seminar led by Luminous Animal poets Amalio Madueno, Peter Rabbit, Anne MacNaughton with featured guests Lewis MacAdams, Terry Jacobus, Al Simmons, Joann Soge Track, Ntozake Shange. Includes morning workouts, participation in the slam and living room, all the readings and the intensives. Call 505-758-1800 to register.
For hotel reservations, Quality Inn is 1-800-845-0648
Comfort Suites is 1-888-751-1555
Taos Mountain Bed & Breakfast, 1-800-776-8941
(The latter is my family's place and the most likely site of the afterparties. They're getting used to it. My mother will trade for raki or massage therapy, but sorry, she won't take poems in payment, she doesn't care how good you are. Most all the hotel rooms in town are very reasonable that time of year but the three listed offer special rates to Circus goers. It's a fabulous time and going 17 years strong.
I saw Hal Sirowitz last night. He read at Solar Books, which was in a part of San Francisco where Lamborghini humvees are parked in the street. A lot of folks showed up for it, including the 9x9 poets, Nancy Depper, Alan Kaufman and Garland Thompson. Hal said there's a poem about me in his new book, My Therapist Said, but it took a while to pry out from him which one it was. He's on his way to Portland for a reading at Powell's.
Recent book titles you might want to know about:
- Ghost World, paperback version, by Eightball cartoonist Dan Clowes, Fantagraphics, $10. Rosey the Baby Killer by Bill Shields, 2.13.61, $10. Oh Snap! by Ricky Powell, photobook of Beastie Boys and friends, St. Martin's, $23. Growing Up Free in America by Bruce Jackson, $12.
You can get these titles at your local bookstore or ask for them by name. Next Channel, I'm including the ballot for the Firecracker Awards.
That's it for me. You can subscribe or cancel your subscription to The Poetry Channel & Information Network on the Web at poetry.about.com. You can also read the Web version of Poetry Channel there. Responses, rants, announcements & emails are being routed through Margery Snyder. Thanks, Margery!
I'm offline as yet, so please don't expect email correspondence any time soon. To answer a few questions: 1) yes, please send me news from all over, not just West Coast; 2) yes, I will be in your direction within the next several months for my own Sofasurfing book tour and I'm starting to look for friendly faces to help me with local readings and; 3) no, I haven't sent the bio yet though I wrote it the moment I got off the phone.
xox
juliette torrez
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