MUSELETTER #31

5/15/2000

The Ides of May, 2000

There is lots of good reading in this issue of Museletter, no matter where you're from: We have a correction to last week's Midwest report, local scene reports from Shann Palmer in Virginia & from Bob Redmond in Seattle (where the just-finished Seattle Poetry Festival is making its way onto your computer screen in RealVideo), & Victor Infante has recovered from his tech snafus to bring us the results of his poll of Orange County's favorite poems. You'll want to scan all the way to the bottom of this Museletter, too, where you'll find the first of our poetry briefs from Museletter readers, together with links from throughout this issue specially formatted for AOL subscribers.

Margy Snyder & Bob Holman
Your About.com Poetry Guides

POETRY IS EVERYWHERE AT ABOUT.COM

Did you know that today is Dante's birthday? In honor of the date, here are just a few of the great resources for Dante studies elsewhere at About.com:

• Dante plays an important role in Book II of Machiavelli's History of Florence, among the etexts collected at Melissa Snell's Medieval History site.
• Classic Lit Guide Floramaria Deter has gathered a large collection of Dante links.
• Italian Language Guide Michael San Filippo's Dante links focus particularly on The Divine Comedy.
• Paranormal Guide Stephen Wagner's article on Ghost Writers includes a note describing how Dante's ghost helped his son to locate manuscripts missing after his death.

MIDWEST

Detroit Poetry Contest - Correction
In last week's report on 'Bout Time Publishing's “Take It To The Next Level National Black Poetry Contest,” individual poet Phoenix [aka Shaun Moore] was mistakenly referred to as a team of poets from Phoenix, Arizona. Museletter regrets the error.

--Jason Pettus
www.geocities.com/jpettus.geo

SEATTLE/PACIFIC NORTHWEST

The Washington Shoe Building
Yeah, where they used to make shoes. Outfit those explorers before they walked up to Alaska like Chris McCandless in his bare feet. Big brick building, enough to outlast the Chicago fire and the Pioneer Square fire put together, but not the fire in the belly of the gentry, so they're kicking out the artists from their lofts to rehab and make way for (what else?) condos, and refinishing the top floor for the President of the Board so he can see how his other developments are going and prove to the stockholders that he's not afraid to live in Pioneer Square. Uh-huh.

And Poetry? Like Celine and his three dots, you say, there goes Redmond with some kind of communist rag again, oh, but there was a poem in the upper floor, they called it the Basement Nation, every Thursday, hip hop that don't stop, rhyme that won't quit, underage rave and still shaking cages, so they moved up to the U District, marching on, Poetry Forever like a ringing in the ears. . . . [If you're in town, go to 42nd and 7th in the U district Thursdays for the latest Seattle happening. . . .]

Festival and More Festival: Webcast!
May 2nd through 7th. . . And came from Chicago all kinds of poets: Gwendolyn Brooks, Marc Smith, Dennis Kim, Haki R. Madhubuti, Dennis Kim, Quraysh Ali Lansana, Caroline Aguila, J Love, to help celebrate the Third Annual Seattle Poetry Festival and our Po Fest Sister City, Chicago. Not to mention the Last Poets' first visit to Seattle, Guillermo Gómez-Peña, Aaron Yamaguchi & band, and a delicious black cod and ginger beer.

For nine days, 15 venues, 21 events, and 3000+ in attendance, it was a mouthful and this Museletter's going to dwell on that event, 'cause that's about all your trusty correspondent ate, breathed, slept, for the past many months, and it all happened last weekend! Well, scratch the sleep. . . .

Lest you think it's over, don't fret: you can go to the Seattle Poetry Festival Web site to check it out! More video of the events will be posted this week: feature performers, Seattle Grand Slam, and much more. Thanks to subliminal media laboratories for making it happen!

Grand Slam
Seattle's Grand Slam moved to Festival week, and wow, they packed the Crocodile Cafe with 350 folks, so much so that the staff got nervous about the fire marshal, who they heard was a poetry fan and disagreed with one of the judges. . . .

The new Slam Champeen is Shawn Vines, though there are caveats all over the sticky floor: Only 3 points separated the 8 finalists! Both Piece and Fran Varian had a shot at the title but got docked on points, ouch. Anyway, the final team is Shawn, Fran Varian, Piece, and Tara Hardy. Buddy Wakefield placed 5th for the second year in a row. Paula Friedrich, Greg Hischak, and Tim Sanders, all vets of Nationals teams, came close. Seattle vows to make the top three in Providence. (OK, I made that up, but you know they're hungry!)

Gwendolyn Brooks & the Last Poets
Ms. Brooks gave a stirring reading Sunday, May 7, to end the Festival. She read from her considerable body of work, reminding us all of the function of form and integrity of poetic voice. About 400 people hushed to hear it, from “The Bean Eaters” to her latest work. Ms. Brooks is publishing a new book this fall; look for it on Third World Press, and if you have an Olivetti typewriter you don't need let me know.

The Last Poets did a one-stop West Coast tour, and we were it. SeaVixenFire, Charles Potts, Marty Campbell and the eight-voiced Slip of the Tongue, with Gabrielle Bouliane, the afore-mentioned Tara Hardy, Shawn Vines, Fran Varian, and Marcel Parker, Max Cubriz, and Nancy Depper opened with a new take on the Seven Deadly Sins.

The local hip hop group Source of Labor also played. They have a new album out from Jasiri Media Group.

And the Poets, stronger in person than ever on recording. Umar Bin Hassan survived getting hit by a semi-truck just the week before, and came out anyway, leaning at times on a speaker for support and waaiillled some of the Poets' most ffaaammmous pieces. Don Babatunde Eaton laid down some amazing beats with his congas, and Abiodune spellbound everyone with his insistent word. All we can say is we were most honored, and if you ever get the chance. . . hear it.

Other highlights of the Festival were a workshop by Marc Smith, his performance later that evening, the Other Voices Slam in which Buddy Wakefield read Annie LaGanga and Paula Friedrich read Marge Piercy reading Janis Joplin, the Salon Productions poetry truck which travelled the city all day, and poetry boats by Elizabeth Shé. Dennis Kim was amazing to see live: all the hype is true.

Thanks to the 30-some volunteers who put the event on. It was a massive effort and we look forward to bringing more poetry to even more folks in the coming years.

Sister City
Here's an invitation for you. 1998: Albuquerque, 1999: Los Angeles, 2000: Chicago, 2001: ??? We're leaning towards Prague, but this would be a good time to nominate your city to be Seattle Poetry Festival Sister City. Looking for places with a strong and diverse literary community, a range of known and unknown talents, folks working in different media and idioms. Email bob@poetryfestival.org.

Skagit River Poetry Festival
Another Northwest poetry experience to check out, May 19 & 20: The Skagit River Poetry Festival promises to be a Geraldine R. Dodge Festival - West, with lots of writers and workshops and readings. Coleman Barks, Lorna Dee Cervantes, Heather McHugh, Naomi Shihab Nye, Jane Hirschfield, Kurtis Lamkin, David Lee, Thomas Lux all guest, plus many Northwest favorites.

Jack Straw Writers Program
The local audio arts organization Jack Straw Studio (home of the great Sonarchy Archives) presents their highly regarded and 4th annual Writers Program this month. Readings are still to be heard May 18 and 25 at the Studio, 4261 Roosevelt Way NE in the University District. Some featured writers are Ace Moore, Felicia Gonzalez & Carletta Wilson. The program is curated by Sonia Gomez & recorded for later broadcast on KUOW 94.9 fm.

That's it for now! Thanks for indulging a more self-indulgent Museletter than most, and please! send all kibbles and bits to bubba@speakeasy.org. I'd love to hear all Northwest haps and otherwise.

--Bob Redmond

VIRGINIA/DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

“I Broke My Tooth in Texas”
Yours truly ended up cancelling an event at Barnes and Noble Midlothian because of a tooth problem -- had to go get a root canal and a crown (I knew I was Queen of poetry!). A clerk there told me they turned away quite a few people and did twice as much business as usual in the café that night! We're working on rescheduling now, maybe in July or August; I'll let you know. It wasn't all a loss, though. The poem I wrote about the ordeal, “I Broke My Tooth in Texas,” won an Honorable Mention in the Suite 101 Funny Poem Contest. Thanks to Kay Day and judge Sandy Soli, Poetry Editor and columnist for ByLine magazine for a great contest and lots of fun.

Richmond, Virginia Events
At the bookstores: Open mike, Borders Books and Music, Broad Street, Tuesday May 30, 8 pm.

Ashland Coffee & Tea - 100 N. Railroad Avenue, Ashland, 798-1702. Jazz Poets Society, Wednesdays, 8 pm, $3-$6. This is a great group of poets and musicians who really stir up the house. Don't forget the “You Got Something to Say!” series of open mike readings, Sundays, May 14 and 28, 2:30 - 4:30 pm. And in June we will celebrate “June Jaw” with Larry Jaffe and many others!

Bottom's Up Pizza - 1700 Dock Street, 644-4400. Bohemian Open Mike Night, Mondays, 7:30 -11 pm, no cover. This is a mixed night of music and poetry, just starting up. Check it out.

The Monthly Muse Salon is next Saturday, May 20, 6 - 8 pm. Please note that the Salon will not be at Java Outpost. It will be held at 3030 Grove Avenue, #3, at the corner of Grove and Belmont, in the back of the big white house, across from St. Benedict Elementary School. Enter from Belmont Avenue, through the back alley, near Cafe Zeus, & go up the back stairs of the house to Apartment #3. Knock loudly; the doorbell does not work. There will be a party afterward, so please BYOB or bring a snack or something to share with others. This is a “salon” for people interested in sharing their original written words aloud in an intimate environment. For more information, please contact lerkem@erols.com or leave a message at 804-354-8298.

D.C. Slam Team Picked!
The Myth at CafeMyth.com chose its 2000 National Poetry Slam Team before a crowd of over 150. The eleven gladiators, honed from an original pool of 40 through semifinal elimination rounds over the past two months, were: Crystal Adair, Twain Dooley, Denise Johnson, Josh Kellar, Scott Kirkpatrick, David Lankford, Tonya Matthews, Darrell Perry, Jonathan Vaile, Cherie Ward, and Patrick Washington. DC's newest Grand Slam Champion is Scott Kirkpatrick! Scott's teammates this year will be Denise Johnson, placing second, Tonya Matthews in third, and David Lankford coming in fourth. Twain Dooley, placing fifth, is the alternate. This team is going to be some serious competition at Nationals!

Team DC Myth will face its first serious challenge from the Pittsburgh Suncrumbs Team in Pittsburgh on May 17th. There is also a proposed Cape Cod/DC bout at Myth at the end of May, and plans are in the works for a Winston-Salem/DC matchup at CafeMyth sometime in June. This team will be ready to rock in Providence in August! (Sent by Nicki Miller, 301.662.1369, co-host, the Myth at CafeMyth.com, 3241 M Street NW, Washington, DC)

Northern Virginia Events
For northern Virginia events, be sure to check out Dean Blehert's DC area readings page: phone numbers, dates, it's all listed. (I have randomly checked a few, but you should always call ahead just to make sure.)

Roanoke, Virginia Slam
Anna Bommarito writes: “We have a slam each Monday night at Chili Pepper's on Salem Avenue in Roanoke starting at 9:00 pm. We have a Web page listing the upcoming features scheduled to visit the Star City, and an email list to keep local slammers up to date on local poetry events. Please visit us at the Web page, or join our discussion at eGroups.

Baltimore, Maryland Benefit Poetry Plus!
Gimme Shelter Productions of Baltimore presents “Call To Creation,” an evening of poetry, music and alchemical theatre on Saturday, May 20 at 8 pm at the Lovely Lane Methodist Church, 2200 St.Paul Street in Baltimore City. The multi-media performance will be a benefit for the Manna House programs for homeless and poor folks including Manna House's soup kitchen, which feeds 200 people six days a week. This is Gimme Shlelter's 40th benefit performance. Founded in 1995, Gimme Shelter is a group of artists of many disciplines, ages and races, committed to alleviating the sorrows and causes of homelessness through direct fundraising, benefit events and distribution of clothing to folks on the street. Admission to the May 20 show is $5, or $3 with a donation of a family-sized can or box of food. For information, call Marcus at 410-462-5734 or email raintheatre@hotmail.com.

--Shann Palmer

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA/ORANGE COUNTY

ORANGE COUNTY'S FAVORITE POEMS
(Upon being an experiment)

An Apology
Due to serious computer problems, this thing is out about three weeks later than I told people it would be. Please forgive me; I was fighting the gnomes of technology. Many thanks to Margery Snyder for her patience and for sending me “Tech Beamz.” I believe they helped.

Methodology
Six weeks ago, I surveyed about 75 residents of Orange County and the nearby city of Long Beach, which is part of Orange County no matter what they or the County of Los Angeles say. I asked them one simple question: “What’s Your Favorite Poem?”

The people I surveyed were fairly diverse -- a fair number of poets, yes, but also artists, musicians, journalists, lawyers, political activists and at least one clairvoyant. My only criterion was that I knew the person to be fairly intelligent and literate.

Results
My findings surprised me. Very few people didn't respond, although many couldn’t bring themselves to choose just one or two. Said one respondent, “I don't have one. I become briefly infatuated then forget them as soon as another one comes along.” Many people sent me laundry lists. If they sent me four or fewer titles, I listed them all. Otherwise, I took the first four they listed. Somehow, this struck me as fair.

The tally, in order of arrival:

• Gwendolyn Brooks, “We Real Cool”
• Allen Ginsberg, “Howl” (2)
• David Lerner, “mein kampf”
• T.S. Eliot, "Ash-Wednesday"
• Ezra Pound, “The Tomb of Akr Caar”
• Stephen Dobyns, "How to Like it”
• Sylvia Plath, “Lady Lazarus”
• e.e. cummings, 'pity this busy monster, manunkind...’
• Richard, Brautigan, "The Pill versus the Springhill Mine Disaster"
• Charles Bukowski, “Style”
• W.B. Yeats, “When You Are Old”
• Kahil Gebron, “The Prophet”
• Robert Service, “The Cremation of Sam McGee”
• Dr. Seuss, “The Sneetches”
• T.S. Eliot, “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” (2)
• Randall Jarrell, “The Death of a Ball Turret Gunner”
• Jimmy Stewart, “The Top Step in the Hotel in Junin”
• Reginald Lewis, “Just Another Day”
• Langston Hughes, "The Negro Speaks of Rivers”
• Shel Silverstein, "The Smoke Off"
• William Carlos Williams, “Red Wheelbarrow”
• Robert Frost, “The Road Not Taken”
• Kenneth Patchen, "The Murder of Two Men By a Kid Wearing Lemon Colored Gloves"
• Sharon Olds, “The Last Birthday”
• Robert Hass, “Meditation at Lagunitas”
• Stephen Dobyns, “Separation”
• W.B. Yeats, “The Second Coming”
• Beth McIlvaine, “I Am Not 17”
• Ann Sexton, “Riding the Elevator into the Sky”
• Loren Straight Eagle Plume, “Wish to Walk Through Walls”
• William Shakespeare, “Hamlet”
• e.e. cummings, "Buffalo Bill's.."
• Lawrence Ferlinghetti, “I Am Waiting”
• W.H. Auden, “In Memory of W.B. Yeats”
• Jaimes Palacio, “I Love You, But My Mexican Dictionary is Broken”
• Stephin Merritt, “A Pretty Girl is Like...”

A few results struck me as odd. Only two poems were duplicated: T.S. Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” and Allen Ginsberg’s “Howl.” Likewise, very few poets were repeated: Eliot, W.B. Yeats, e.e. cummings and (curiously) Stephen Dobyns. I say curiously because he’s a relatively new poet -- well, newer than Eliot -- but then, he only had two poems make the list. Several poems (and poets) unknown to me found representation. Only two locals made the list at all -- Jaimes Palacio and Beth McIlvaine. I deliberated at length as to whether or not to include Shakespeare’s “Hamlet,” as that’s really more a collection of poems. I decided that really wasn’t my call to make.

Conclusions
In a case like this, conclusions are mostly a futile endeavor. Certainly, the Modernists scored big on this list, with Beat and other movements scraping at their feet. A reflection of OC’s plastic materialism? Insecurity about the County’s precarious material wealth, drawing readers back to the last time circumstances were like this: The Roaring Twenties, right before the Depression. Right before the War.

Or then, maybe not. Perhaps there are no conclusions to be drawn here, save for this: that the poetry that resounds against each individual’s heart is unique to them and no others, and that no amount of literary criticism or debate of technical skill can separate that person from what brings comfort to their weary heart. Nor should it.

--Victor Infante

READER-SUBMITTED POETRY NEWS BRIEFS

From Arbutus Editions:
No slam, just real book poetry! Our first book, Crane's Neck by James Simon, is a very limited print edition now available for purchase. Visit the Web site for review and ordering information.

From Dennis Goza:
The national touring theatre troupe ACT!VATED STORYTELLERS (from L'Eau Theque Productions) will present three free West Coast performances in June of "ACT!VATED POETRY," a unique presentation of poems written primarily by kids and enacted with physical comedy, music and dance, fun props made from common objects, and even a bit of contortion. During one segment, the troupe also leads the audience in composing a little poem, which is acted out on the spot. The 45-minute program, which is suitable for all ages, will be offered at Evergreen Mall, One Evergreen, in San Jose, CA on June 17 at 3:00 pm; at Springstowne Library, 1003 Oakwood in Vallejo, CA on June 22 at 10:30 am; and at the Eugene Public Library, 100 W. 13th in Eugene, OR on June 29 at 11:00 am. For more information, please visit the ACT!VATED STORYTELLERS Web site.