MUSELETTER #13
1/9/2000
Hello everyone,
Welcome to the year 2000 at About.com Poetry. This week's Museletter brings you all the poetry doings in the Big Apple from our newest correspondent, Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz, plus a special news flash from Shann Palmer in Richmond, Virginia.
With the new year, we've completely updated our po-news pages & we think you'll want to bookmark them:
- Poetry Currents
Headlines for all the newest items sent in by our Museletter correspondents -- you can read the news here before you get the weekly email Museletter. - Museletter Archives
Web versions of Museletter, in case you misplaced it in your emailbox, or if you just want the ease of online links to check out.
Margy Snyder & Bob Holman
Your About.com Poetry Guides
POETRY IS EVERYWHERE AT ABOUT.COM
Environmental Issues Guide Patricia Michaels offers a selection of classic poems written about the natural world in her Poetry Corner: Ambrose Bierce, Blake, Dickinson, Hardy, Keats, Whitman & more.
NEW YORK/NORTHEAST
Well, well, well, the first Museletter of the new millennium and they pick the new guy to write it up. Thank god that NYC has been busy or else I'd be screwed. First report, I'm sticking to Gotham, but if you have some poetry vibes from the Northeast, please send them my way! A brilliant chapbook? Mindblowingly good CD? Series whose existence must be shouted from the e-mountain top? Send them to me at coa200@is6.nyu.edu and get the word out. Now, on to the Muse news!
2000 Begins Poetically
Continuing the annual tradition, the Poetry Project at St. Marks Place-in-the-Bowery rang in the new millennium with a marathon reading, featuring more than 120 poets, performers, dancers, musicians & artists, including Cecil Taylor, Patti Smith, Richard Hell, Dael Orlandersmith, Taylor Mead, Lynne Tillman, Penny Arcade, Maggie Estep, Eddie Torres, & many more! By all accounts, the day (which started at around 2 pm and ended around midnight) was a smashing success. I wish I could attest first hand, but unfortunately my Y2K-fearing mother sequestered me in New Jersey, which meant instead of poetry, I filled my heart up with fried oreos! However, I will be sure not to miss the Poetry Project's celebration of Drag King Spoken (featuring Miss Ogny, Mme. Bra, Ms. Ter, Alix Olson & Lizerace, among others), 10:30 p.m. on January 21st. It should prove to be a night like no other.
We Don't Need No Stinking Paychecks!
And speaking of change, there has been a rash of poet liberations! Following in the footsteps of full-time poets Beau Sia and Staceyann Chin, 1998 National Poetry Slam Champion Guy LeCharles Gonzalez and 1999 Individual Slam Champion Roger Bonair-Agard have both recently left their jobs to more fully dedicate their lives to the poetic muse. Roger has been spending his time touring across the nation. Guy has been touring, too, but spends most of his time curating Little Bit Louda, his popular Monday poetry series and slam at Bar 13. All eyes are on them, and the rest of us chicken-hearted putzes wait for our day! Good luck Guy and Roger!
Viva Les Femmes!
Speaking of Little Bit Louda, the reading has been celebrating the work of women monthly since its inception in 1998, thanks to Lynne Procope, host and curator of its "House of Woman" series. Sometimes showcasing the work of individual poets (such as Pittsburgh poet Christina Springer and the upcoming February appearance of Spoken Word Legend Patricia Smith) and sometimes en masse (such as the evening with women who survived the National Poetry Slam, the electric evening spent with the women of the all-NYC female anthology, Skyscrapers, Taxis & Tampax, and the reading of female poets from across the country which helped benfit local domestic abuse organizations), the next "House of Woman" is happening on January 17th and will feature a Favorite Poem reading of women poets by those they've inspired. All are welcome, and in Lynne's absence, Sarah Lawrence-attending uber-poet Marty McConnell will be hosting. Stop by and bring your favorite female poet. Represent!
Viva Les Garçons "Cute"!!!
Can't wait until January 16th for an all-one-gender poetry extravaganza? Well, you are in luck! Urbana, the reading series run out of CBGB's downstairs lounge, is hosting its second annual Cute Boy Slam! Celebrating both the birthday of Urbana founding poet Amanda Nazario and also the unbearable cuteness of male poets, the Cute Boy Slam is one of Urbana's biggest draws. While only Cute Boys are allowed to slam, women are encouraged to express their feelings about cute boys and cuteness in general in the open mike. Starting the evening off right will be the cutest poet I have ever seen, Alix Olson. Unable to compete due to her undeniable girlness, Alix is sure to dazzle with her amazing award-winning spoken word. . . and her cuteness!!
Spoken Word. . . Heard!
We New Yorkers have been spoiled by hearing the live performance of spoken word deities Ngoma and Steve Coleman. Ngoma is a riveting performer who speaks out on the issues of today. His CD, Paradigm Shifting, combines his word pieces with live performance and musical accompaniment. Unoffical Cute Boy Poet Laureate Steve Coleman, on the other hand, is all poetry all the time. His CD, Dinosaur Bones, is a hip-hop salute to all things great and beautiful. . . and then there's Giuliani. To pick up Ngoma's CD, just stop by one of his live performances. For Dinosaur Bones, contact Steve at Libitlouda@aol.com.
Following the Dot
On a sort of sad note, New York City is forced to say goodbye to another cute and formally bald institution of our poetry slam. Dot Antoniades is leaving her post as the Nuyorican Poets Cafe's Open Slam Host. A college student and amazing spoken word artist, Dot is going to focus on her acting and schooling for while, but don't worry! She'll still be performing her intoxicating poetry. Replacing Dot is Juliet Gomez, who certainly has proven herself to be a wonderful host after hosting the Open Slam the night the Yankees won the pennant. At one point, the game was turned on, but the night was so electric everyone yelled to turn it off: now that's poetry appreciation. Felice Belle, the Nuyorican Slam Mistress, holds down the fort for the famous Friday Night Slams.
Well, that's all for now. Keep reading and keep writing!
VIRGINIA/DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
A Poetry Slam in Richmond, Virginia!
Stop the presses and sit down for this news!!! A poetry slam in Richmond, Virginia!! The Bojangles statue danced over to the A. P. Hill Monument (where good old A. P. is actually buried, doncha know) and they're making their way to the Barksdale Theater where a Poetry Slam will be held Saturday, January 13th, 8 pm. Three dollars at the door, two dollars for students. The new space is at Willow Lawn Mall but don't be put off by that -- what we lose in colonial charm we gain in toilets that really flush and great lighting and sound. Clay McCleod Chapman, local performance artist now in school in the north, is bringing New York City slam master Keystone here to take charge of the proceedings.
Thursday and Friday, they'll be visiting local high schools to drum up some interest -- they'll even visit the one where I teach creative writing! I'll take the opportuniy to interview them both, and do a follow-up on the whole garbanzo as it unfolds on Saturday night.
4th Street Cafe downtown is doing open mikes, a friend reported; sometimes it's music, sometimes it's poetry. Check it out by calling 804-648-2838. Guess I'll have to get down there and see what kind of trouble I can find.
In the meantime, we all eagerly await the opening of the new Barnes & Noble on Broad Street, coffee shop, music and all! Yours truly will be there to work with them to set up a monthly or bimonthly poetry open mike! They are moving now, expect to be opening in early February, at the conservative latest.
My family better like pizza, that's all I can say. Did you know if you order mushrooms, onions, and green peppers, it counts as a vegetable serving?? That's my story and I'm sticking to it!!
