MUSELETTER #27
4/16/2000
It's our officially designated month & the joint is jumpin'! All 14 of our Museletter correspondents contributed their ideas to our snapshot of poetry-now & their choices to our compendium of favorite Web sites/books/CDs/performances this week. And two of our newer correspondents bring you the word from Florida and the Rocky Mountains in this issue of Museletter: Ta'Shia Asanti reports from Denver & Leonardo DellaRocca from Miami.
May April shower poems on you all!
Margy Snyder & Bob Holman
Your About.com Poetry Guides
POETRY IS EVERYWHERE AT ABOUT.COM
About.com Guides of all stripes are putting on their party hats for National Poetry Month this year:
- Under the influence of spring fever, Flyfishing Guide Ian Scott tours through Christopher Marlowe's “The Passionate Shepherd To His Love” to John Donne's “The Bait” to his own “The Passionate Non-Poet To His Love” & ends up at the Flyfishing Poetry Project, inviting us all to contribute to a collaborative poem.
- Colleen Devlin, Guide to Women Writers, brings Sylvia Plath, Sharon Olds & Lisel Mueller to the National Poetry Month party this week.
- The Spring Fling Haiku Contest (for New York residents) is still open at Reginald James' Upper East Side site.
- Young Adult Books Guide Kimberly Pauley points young poets to the Gilchrist Studios Poetry Contest in honor of National Poetry Month 2000.
- Contemporary Lit Guide Scott Rettberg celebrates NatPoMo each year with a collection of poetry links.
MIAMI/FLORIDA
April, of course, is that cruel month Eliot spoke about. These days it is National Poetry Month and like many places around the country, South Florida is ripe with the citrus of heightened language.Butterfly Lightning
Here is some news from Steve Donachie, the new host of Butterfly Lightning, the poetry and fiction reading at Tobacco Road in Miami:
A special impromptu performance by “M&M,” recently arrived from San Francisco, who accompanied herself on two congas. In Hinduism the drum is a symbol of creation, because striking one brings something from nothing, a sound out of nowhere. M&M's hands spoke first, and when she added her voice it was at first to simply speak the sounds of the drum. In the beginning was the word, and the word was a nonsense syllable, rhythmically repeated. Other words eventually made their appearance, both English and Spanish. Then she was joined by Elaine Romero and her drummer, Elaine's voice became a flute, cries of “Claves!” followed by the crowd joining in with clap-clap. . . clap-clap. . . clap. . . . That's what it was like.
Miami/Dade County Stuff
Miami poet Jonathan Rose keeps South Florida in tune with what's happening in Miami with his Cultural E-Newsletter, a contributor to some of the following information:
At 8 p.m. on the third Saturday of every month gracious host Jaime Camacho invites you to come to the SOL Gallery in Coconut Grove, 3137 Commodore Plaza, for a literary tertulia, followed by an evening of sharing of writings, in Spanish and/or English. Introduce yourself and come. Sorry, no URL, just a copper wire: 305-774-7130. But hey, there's a great collection of 12 pieces of floral themes executed on large canvas by Isaac Arango, from Medellin, Colombia. Gallery hours: Monday thru Saturday from 10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Saturday, April 29 is Lip, Tongue & Ear Production's Poetry Cruise on Aladdin Casino Cruise. A measly $7 (advance only) gets you in. LTE is trying to get poets from throughout South Florida to meet at this event. It will be talked about. It should be fantastic. LTE is a 200+ member guild of poets and storytellers from South Florida. Lip, Tongue & Ear hosts a poetry reading at 7:30 p.m. usually every 4th Tuesday of the month at Borders, 3390 Mary Street, Coconut Grove. Email jenkins@gtlaw.com for the dope, the scoop, the real deal and her e-newsletter.
Also on Sunday, April 2, EyeQRadio.com featured Shamele Jenkins and Jonathan Rose, and other LTE poets.
The first reading by the FIU (Florida International University) Poetry Club was very well received. They meet at 8 p.m. every second Friday of the month at Books & Books, 296 Aragon Avenue, Coral Gables.
Sultry chanteuse poet Lourdes Simon has been sighted with guitarist Omar Pitaluga at Cafe Demetrio, 300 Alhambra, Coral Gables.
Hannah Kahn Poetry Foundation & Broward Community College
The Hannah Kahn Poetry Foundation, HKPF, presents Quartetto Poetica at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 27 featuring Howard Camner, Mark Time, Lucille Schulclapper, and Lourdes Simon. This is a joint venture with The Writer's Voice (a YMCA project). The reading takes place at ArtServe, 1350 E. Sunrise Blvd., Fort Lauderdale. It's free. Questions? Email Leonardo DellaRocca, or visit the HKPF Web site.
Carolyne Wright read at Broward Community College south campus in Pembroke Pines on March 14. Showing a range of ability in writing traditional forms like the pantoum and round (she has several books of poetry on the market), Wright's work is steeped in the political as well as the personal. A world traveler, Wright's work also includes her translations of Bengali women's poets as well as Latin-Ameican poets. (She has spent a lot of time in Chile). Some of the poems she read that night were startling in their controlled imagery and tempered use of witticism. She proved that she is master of the erotic and the classically sublime. Wright currently is poet-in-residence at Oklahoma University, but said she continues to write “Miami poems” from when she was PIR at University of Miami last year. “I love the names of local flowers and trees,” she said to the audience.
Two nights later at the same time and same station (BCC south campus) Miami-based and Cuban exile poet Ricardo Pau Llosa read from his most recent books, Vereda Tropical, Bread of the Imagined, and Cuba. Pau Llosa is one of our own backyard poets whose passion is cigars and discussion of the situation with Cuba. After the reading a Q&A went for another half hour about the politics of Fidel Castro, second- and third-generation Cuban Americans and other Pau Llosa hot buttons. Pau Llosa has long been one of South Florida's best poets and his reading on March 16 proved that. His work has appeared in more than 200 literary journals uncluding Poetry, APR, Triquarterly and Kenyon Review. When he is not teaching at Miami-Dade Community College, he is writing poetry, or travelling to South America where, as an art critic, he appraises work, curates and writes for art magazines there. The evening was a joint venture between BCC and the HKPF.
In another HKPF event, Enid Shomer was flown in from her teaching job at University of Arkansas to conduct a workshop Saturday, April 1, at ArtServe in Fort Lauderdale. She also read from her three books later that evening. About 25 people attended the reading, including Maxine Kumin and John Balaban (who is leaving Miami for a poet-in-residence post in North Carolina). The Fort Lauderdale gig was the first joint venture between HKPF and the YMCA Writers Voice. Shomer's reading was superb; it included poems from an unpublished ms. about a woman aviator who was a close friend of Amelia Earhart. In fact, the woman had tried to locate the disappeared Earhart by using ESP. Poets Richard Ryal, Barbara Nightingale, myself, and Writers Voice top dog Jose Pinera spent hours with Shomer over late night coffee talking about “fixed” poetry contests, how literary journal editors publish each other, and how many grants etc. are awarded to friends of judges.
Other Broward News
Broward poet James Goodson announced that former Broward poet Frank Pennetti is now designing Web sites. He has software that animates words and changes colors. Sound can be added. Look to Electronic Poetry Center for a good example of his work.
Palm Beach County Stuff
News from Museletter subscriber Sally Dell: Virginia Snyder, author of Poems About Fact and Fantasy, has been doing book signings, readings and discussing criminology in Delray Beach. She is 79 now, and her book of poetry is worth reading. She ended a 22-year career as a private investigator fairly recently, and is the real-life Jessica Fletcher of Murder, She Wrote. Her poems were culled from a 60-year collection of her work, and several are prize-winners. She has spoken at the Milagro Center in Delray Beach, bookstores and other locales. Her range of subject matter is limitless, as is her enthusiasm for writing and helping the downtrodden who have been wronged. You can hear her on the radio from 11 AM to noon on WXEL (90.7 FM) on Chuck Zink's Sunday program, Senior Side. She usually reads a poem on the show, as well as participating on a panel of other regular guests. The show is not solely about poetry, and includes interesting trivia questions.
The Poets of the Palm Beaches present poet Chris Bluemer at the Milagro Center in Delray Beach, sometime in April (see their Web page for info). The group is starting a poetry slam and seeks poets to participate, judge and be an audience. Go ahead, make their day, spit in the mic. The group continues with its open mic and contests at Borders in Boynton Beach, the American Polish Club in Lake Worth, the Boca Raton Library, Barnes and Noble in Palm Beach Gardens, and Borders in Boca Raton. Email the prez John Palozzi for information or visit the Web site.
Way Up in the Panhandle
Tallahassee's Rick Campbell, editor of Anhinga Press, has had his chapbook A Day's Work published and now available by State Street Press Chapbooks. Cost is $6. You can contact Campbell by visiting Anhinga.org.
Email your Florida poetry news to:
DENVER/ROCKY MOUNTAINS
Voices of the Mile-High City
When I migrated to Denver from Los Angeles, I was quite optimistic about the poetry scene. I expected to find little old ladies in a knitting circle reading poems from a tattered book with frayed edges. Instead, I found Brother Jeff's Cultural Cafe and Cafe Nuba. I discovered the courageous voices and words of bold poets such as Patrice C. Queen, Brothah Jeff, Ashara Ekundayo, Mutima, Trinidad Sanchez, Maurice, Shahada, Monique and Black Child.
Brother Jeff's Cultural Cafe
Brother Jeff's Cultural Cafe is a open mike venue where new and seasoned poets participate in rounds of poetry. Coming from a hard-core poetry venue in Cali where greats like Dknowledge, Michael Datcher, Peter J. Harris or the Last Poets might drop in, I tend to be quite critical of poets who haven't studied the craft, but love to embrace the mike. Although there are a few of those hanging around, the seasoned poets definitely bring and deliver the “word” to those that know and love poetry.
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.Brother Jeff's Cultural Cafe
Open Mic, Saturdays, 9:00 pm
2836 Welton, Denver
303-297-0823
Denver Poets Speak Out!
Patrice C. Queen braves subject matter such as domestic violence, sexual abuse of girls and diverse relationships in her poems. This Carribean born sistah jives cultural themes with American experiences to produce a unique style of spoken word that touches you at your core.
Black Child is a poetic prophet delivering spiritual and cultural messages through the medium of poetry. Much of his work borders on prose, but it captures, teaches and heals you in a sentence or a phrase.
Maurice is a generation X poet whose words come from ancient spirits and minds. Maurice is the next Langston Hughes or James Baldwin. He glides to the mike wearing a colorful geleé on his head and toting a heavy backpack on his side, then puts it down!
Shahada is a conservative Muslim sistah who uses her words like bullets and her pages like a protective shield. In one breath she talks about the sacredness of love from a feminist standpoint and in the next preaches about the beauty of male/female loveships.
Monique does the almost impossible by combining her black velvet singing voice, which is a cross between Nina Simone, Sarah Vaughn and Bessie Smith, with sassy, daring poems that make you think of Nikki Giovanni.
Trinidad lifts your soul and takes it to his lips and words. You never forget a performance by this man. He has been celebrated around the country for his work of using poetry to end violence in urban neigborhoods.
Cafe Nuba
Cafe Nuba is a new venue. It is held at a local coffeehouse called the Gemini Tea Emporium on the last Friday of each month. Founded by Ashara Ekundayo and Sistah Mutima in conjunction with the Pan African Arts Society, Cafe Nuba has seen standing-room-only crowds since its inception in January 2000. This space hosts not only spoken word artists but African dancers, master drummers such as teacher and performer Fatu, who is founder of the United Black Women Artists, and the spoken word/drumming/dance/performance art group Jambalaya, and much, much more. At Cafe Nuba, local politicians have presented their causes, screenwriters have flaunted their wares, local magazines have launched their subscription drives. Ashara wanted it that way. She wanted this venue to embrace all forms of spoken word: musical, political, literary and physical.
Medusa, a powerful and phenomenal LA-based poet, will perform at the opening of a Cafe Nuba sponsored event in late April. Call (303) 291-1077 for more information.Cafe Nuba, It's Hot & It's Black
Poetry, Music, Free Voice
Every Last Friday of the Month
Gemini Tea Emporium
29th & Welton Street, Denver
So if you're a poet living or traveling through Denver, don't worry, the words will be there to greet you!
In Word and Deed,
