MUSELETTER #16
1/30/2000
Welcome to your weekly Museletter, poets all! This week we hear from Victor Infante in southern California. Next week we'll welcome several new correspondents who will help us bring you the po-news from really everywhere, but in the meantime, here's what's on right now in Ab.c po-land.
Margy Snyder & Bob Holman
Your About.com Poetry Guides
POETRY IS EVERYWHERE AT ABOUT.COM
Our Poetry Forum has a new Teen Corner for the younger poets among us, who might also want to visit About.com's Creative Writing for Teens site. Guide Diane Dobbs has put together a great collection of resources on the Art of Poetry. Her Net links page is full of definitions & examples for poets who want to try a new form or style:
Poetry: Types/Styles/Parts/Forms
ORANGE COUNTY/SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Catching Up
Wow. I know it's only been a few weeks, but so many cool things have happened or are happening that I don't even know where to begin. Best, perhaps, to start off our capsule history with the recent visit from National Slam Champ Roger Bonair-Agard, who made friends and influenced people all over SoCal. The man's on the move, so I'm pretty certain you'll get to see him soon. He got to co-feature with a number of SoCal luminaries, including Derrick Brown and Buzzy Enniss. These boys make my head hurt. The staff at the Gypsy-Den Grand Central is still cleaning up the marshmallows. (Read a good poem by Brown at The Orange Country.
Which is, of course, the other news. Jaimes Palacio's new Monday night reading up there in Santa Ana has been hot, and having snuck a glimpse of what's forthcoming (OKC's comedic “Patrick,” locals like Ryan Straussburg & Jeanine Jarrell and mega-heavyweights like Laurel Ann Bogen & Erica Erdman), I'm seeing this comfy coffeehouse amidst the art galleries as the place to be in Y2K.Gypsy Den Grand Central
125 N. Broadway
Santa Ana, CA
(714) 835-8840
Weddings & Funerals
Of course, the place to be on January 15th was definitely the wedding of poet/singer Matthew Niblock and bassist Miiko Watanabe. The place was a veritable who's who of SoCal poetry, and the ceremony was performed by the lovely Amelie Frank, and featured poems by “Carma Bum” Scott Wannberg and “Giggling Goddess” Ellyn Maybe, as well as a lovely song by singer Jennifer Hardaway. We then danced to the Bone Daddies and I was shamelessly maneuvered by “yet another Carma Bum” Doug Knott into a political argument with his conservative girlfriend as to why I hate Congressman Chris Cox. The whole thing was much fun, and I wish them as much happiness as is humanly possible without joining a cult or something.
On the subject of Matthew Niblock, his band, “Clear,” has been forced to change their name. (Someone else had it first.) The new name? “The Clear.” Yay semantics! The band is still kicking serious arse around SoCal. Download their MP3 files from their site. You won't regret it (unless maybe you do, but that's not my fault, so there.)
On the subject of loooove: Lee Mallory is gearing up to host his annual Erotic Poetry contest on Saturday, February 12th, 2000 at Alta Coffeehouse. The concept's simple: you have five minutes to read one or more poems (they cut you off at five) that are so dripping with Erotica that the judges (FarStarFire Press publishers Bill & Carole Luther) have to give you the prize. That's it. The shindig starts at 8 p.m., but the list starts at 7 p.m., and is usually full within five minutes. (I am not joking.) Also, Alta's small, and usually gets so packed that it spills over to the street. $3 to compete, free to be a voyeur. Undisclosed cash prizes.Alta Coffeehouse
506 31st Street
Newport Beach, CA
(949) 675-0233
On a more tragic note, it's nice to see Mallory back to his old shenanigans, because it's been a rough past few months for him--his daughter, Misty, passed away last September. Mallory's kept himself busy by promoting her posthumous book of poetry, Two Sides Now, which is a moving and meditative book of naturalist poetry heavily influenced by Eastern religions. Certainly a worthwhile read on its own merits. The book can be ordered from FarStarFire Press. (I'm currently writing a more involved story about Misty for the OC Weekly, and hopefully I can include a url to that next time, when it's finished.)
Outlaws & Badasses
Last time I promised a review of the Outlaw Bible of American Poetry. Well, here it is. Further exploring the concept of “not meek and Hallmark friendly” poetry is the Southwestern Badass Poetry Festival, in Phoenix, Arizona. Organized by long-time Slam stalwart Eirean Bradley and running February 17th through 19th, this promises to be a humdinger of a show, and while I suspect your Southwest correspondent (the handsome and dashing Gary Mex Glazner) will have more to say about it, I just wanted to note that a handful of SoCal poets will be in attendance, including myself, Lea Deschenes, Derrick Brown, Paul Suntup, Deborah Edeler Brown and Mindy Nettifee. If you find yourself in Phoenix that week, come join us every night at 8:00 p.m. at the Bash on Ash. I don't even have an address or anything, but I'm sure it's listed, and other features include (last I checked) the aforementioned Gary Mex Glazner, Tarin Towers, Jason Pettus, the inimitable Shappy, and many, many more. This is gonna rock!
Okay. Time for me to go get some tequila in me and watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Drop me a line at ocvictor@earthlink.net with any comments, news, gossip, suggestions (no hate mail. I'm sensitive) or to order a copy of my new book, Learning to Speak.Love ya! Mean it!
