MUSELETTER #43
8/8/2000
Height of summer, Bob's in Spain, Margy wrapped in San Francisco mist, but About Poetry is always here for you, no matter where you're spending your summer. This week we hear from Museletter correspondents in two hot spots:
- Phil West sends his Deep in the Heart report from Texas.
- Larry Jaffe has an announcement of a special event in Sacramento.
We've got menus now at About Poetry, so you can go straight to the poet, city or publication you're looking for:
Margy Snyder & Bob Holman
Poetry Guides
POETRY IS EVERYWHERE AT ABOUT
Special Poetry Reading in Kid Exchange Chat
FRIDAY, AUGUST 11, 7 pm EST
Guide Wendy Hogan & the kids at About's Kid Exchange site have decided to make their chat a poetry reading this week -- all kids (& kids-at-heart) are invited!
TEXAS
Deep in the Heart Report: Texas Poetry, August 2000
“Hot” does not even begin to describe a Texas summer. If it's anywhere between, say, 11 am and 7 pm, and you walk outside, the heat comes at you solidly, in waves, like those little wavy lines you might see in a comic strip, and your first impulse is to just walk back inside and stay under an air conditioner vent until October. Many people do this, so much so that poetry news is sort of thin during this part of the summer, as the state's slam teams have basically completed fundraising efforts, as it's still a few weeks until school starts up again and, most importantly, as it is something like 98 degrees out for something like 40 straight days. Come to think of it, 98 Degrees is a really appropriate name for that boy band: it's uncomfortable, disagreeable and inevitable. You just have to endure it and wait a few months for it to go away. But let me put away my Grumpy Old Man hat, and let me put on my poet reporter hat. It's hot here, but it's no poetry desert.
New Reading Rollin' On Red River
Most people who know Austin tangentially will tell you that Sixth Street is the backbone of the city's entertainment district. For fans of jello shots and frozen daiquiris, this is still true. But a number of music clubs housed on Sixth are being bought, stripped of their stages, and replaced with big fruity drinkmaking machines that whir in the background as an army of frat boys say, “Hi, I'm a business major.” Red River Street currently boasts some of the most frequented clubs actually worth going to in town. The 710 Lounge recently opened at 710 Red River, and now, on Monday nights from 6 to 8 pm, Aaron Sanders and Mark Maslow host an open mike night there. Austin poetry fans know Aaron and Mark from their longtime and sometimes thankless stint as hosts of Tuesday night's open mike reading series at Ruta Maya (4th and Lavaca, 6:30 to 8 pm). The Ruta Maya series has been crucial in developing new poetic voices in Austin, and the duo do an outstanding job in hosting and sustaining the series. The sound system at Ruta Maya can be sketchy, and in the summer, the heat is to die of, but the energy is warm (the good kind of warm) and welcoming.
This new attempt at a regular Monday night series is encouraging, even though last year's attempt at a Monday series (at the old Mercury Lounge, about two blocks away) phased itself out after a couple of months. The 710, with a decidedly punk rock format, is across the street from the Red Eyed Fly, which briefly housed the Austin Poetry Slam in 1999 before the owners unceremoniously booted the wordsmiths in favor of entertainment fare engineered for less thinking. This sets up to be an interesting rivalry between the two clubs, and with lesser hosts at the helm of this reading, I'd be worried for the reading's future, especially if the two clubs try to out-punk rock each other. But the Mark and Aaron factor is huge in its favor. They promise top local and national talent.
Courtney O'Banion, The Fourth Powerpuff Girl
If Austin poetry fans don't know Courtney O'Banion yet, they will soon. New to Austin, Courtney has taken over hosting duties at the First Friday readings at Mojo's (2714 Guadalupe), is hosting a Sunday Poetry Jam at 5004 Blue Spruce Circle (two blocks east of the 51st and Manor intersection), and has turned up at readings all over town. Mojo's, as I think I've mentioned to just about everyone I have an Austin-centered conversation with, is the home away from home for a number of talented writers and thinkers. Great coffee, great staff, and a great place to write. The Sunday Poetry Jam, alarmingly enough, is “brought to you in conjunction with Billy Bad Ass Productions,” but nonetheless is a free form affair which seems more poetry picnic than anything else. They invite musicians and performers to share the mike, and invite all comers to bring food and drinks. Courtney has the Japanese character for poetry tattooed on her body. This is one dedicated person, providing Austin some always-welcome spark. Contact her at beamishgirl@hotmail.com.
OK, We're Going To Try Something a Little Different Here
Rich Perin, who usually does try something a little different in his work, begins many of his poems with this tag line. Rich, in case you don't know it, is solid. He's a member of this year's San Antonio Slam Team, a familiar face to Austin poetry crowds, and the host of Wednesday night's Blast Your Own Breath series at Movements Gallery (9 p.m., 211 E. 6th Street). He's an Australian. And as of several days ago, he's the proud parent of a new spoken word CD, The Consistency of Jazz. Featuring piano and cello from fellow team member Michael Brouillard (who performs as T-Bone), Rich's CD features, um, his poetry. Haven't heard it yet. He flashed it at me briefly at the recent silent auction for the Austin Slam Team. Looks like a self-designed, good quality, color copy cover to me. He's been sequestering himself while working on it. I can recommend it on faith. Email him at evangelatinist@yahoo.com to get more info.
Ai, Ai, Ai
That's not an exclamation. That's me getting excited that Ai is coming to the 2000 Texas Book Festival. Ai, as you may know, is a well-respected, award-winning poet who came about respect and accolades from a very avant-garde place. Much of her work deals with alternate personae, even scripting multiple voices into some poems. The Texas Book Festival, now in its fifth year, takes place November 10-12 at the Capitol building in Austin. Notables like Naomi Shihab Nye, Mark Doty, and Edward Hirsch have appeared in previous years. Festival Director Cyndi Hughes is working on some big-name, exciting-name poets to add to the lineup. Big names so far include Liz Smith, Ted Koppel and Linda Ellerbee. Already confirmed on the poet roster, in addition to Ai, is Mary Karr, whose follow-up to The Liars' Club comes out this fall, and Marlys West (no relation to me, by the way), who is one of the most amazing, incisive poets in Austin, reading out far too infrequently. Updates are available at the official TBF Web site. Here's another fun fact about the Festival: Texas First Lady Laura Bush is honorary chair, and the Festival is the weekend after the election. Regardless of the results, she's very into this Festival. She will not be fitting the White House for new drapes November 10-12.
And While We're On the Topic of Politics
Bill Crawford is a funny guy. Not a poet, per se, but a journalist and satirist with a quick wit and a penchant for digging up the stupidest things public figures have ever said and done. Crawford celebrates the release of his two new books, Republicans Do the Dumbest Things and Democrats Do the Dumbest Things, on Tuesday, August 8, 7 pm, at Austin's new Bad Dog Comedy Theater at Congress and Riverside. It's not your typical booksigning event: Crawford will conduct a mock political debate with members of the Monk's Night Out improv comedy troupe, to determine whether Republicans or Democrats are dumber. For more information, go to www.dumbest.com.
That is all for now. Must start packing for the National Poetry Slam. As ever, email pony@austinslam.com for happenings throughout Texas. Stay cool. Drink lots of water.
SACRAMENTO
Special Sacramento Listing: Crossing Barriers
2 Days of Spoken Word, Video, Fashion, Photographs, Paintings, Mayhem & Splendor
WHO: Virgin Megastore and Buffalo Exchange in conjunction with SereniTea present Crossing Barriers hosted by Michael Grosse.
WHAT: Crossing Barriers: 2 Days of Spoken Word, Video, Photographs, Paintings, Mayhem & Splendor to coincide with Second Saturday. Poets, fashion, DJ’s, painters, video presentations, films & musicians from Sacramento, Stockton, Las Vegas & Los Angeles join forces to create new and unique pieces of art, noise & joy. Featuring Anna Naydanova, Joel Grier, Andy Hall, Larry Jaffe, Frank Andrick, Moekoc of 17th & e, Infokill of Wardrums, DJ K7 of Venture Sound, Chachi Jones, Loretta Perez, Karen Lumos, Bill Carr, Todd Mann, Shannon Hammermeister, Joe Montoya… and many, many more surprises TBA.
WHEN: August 11th & 12th, 2000
WHERE: Friday August 11 at SereniTea, 2406 J Street, 7:30 pm, August 12 at Virgin Megastore, 1715 Arden Way, 12:00 noon - 3:00 pm and at Buffalo Exchange, 2996 Freeport Blvd., 6:00 pm - ?.
Supplemental Information: These events are a forum for artists of all types to come together and present their works in a new & creative fashion. The events are all free and all are encouraged to join the above individuals in a celebration of art and creation. For more information please contact Michael Grosse, home 916.447.7852, work 916.564.0414 ext.255, email Junglemaniac@netscape.net or mgrosse@virginusa.com.
READER-SUBMITTED POETRY NEWS BRIEFS
From Cal A. Vera:
Manteca Suites: Xicano Scribes and Music Vibes
The Taco Shop Poets are currently accepting poetry for inclusion in an upcoming anthology to be published jointly by the TSP's own Chorizo Tonguefire Press and Calaca Press. Manteca Suites is intended to be a collection of Xicana/o poetry centered around the organizing theme of music. Music in all its forms and genres crosses cultural boundaries, bridges generational gaps, and inspires us (however indirectly) to create. We wish to explore this relationship to the vibe and how it has been incorporated into the Xicana/o poetic vision, infected our language, and become part of our being. Whether its banda, hip-hop, jazz, rock en español, punk, techno, or classical that moves you, Mingus, Manu Chao, Vicente Fernandez, Tito Puente, or KRS 1 that speaks to you, we are interested in reading its presence in your work. We will review all poems that are written about, influenced by, or reacting to music or musicians. Please, read the submission steps that follow, then submit your work at our Web site.
- Submitted work will be accepted until October 31, 2000.
- All work should be previously unpublished.
- Multiple submissions are okay.
- Spanish or bilingual poems are accepted.
- All work will be reviewed, and authors of selected poems will be notified via email.
- Hard copies of selected poems will be requested prior to publication.
- Payment for accepted poems will be two copies of the published anthology.
From Dale Harris:
The 3rd Annual Poets & Writers Picnic will be held at Tohu Bohu Gallery & Studios on Rt. 55 in Mountainair, New Mexico on Sunday, August 27 from noon to 4 pm. Mountainair is a ranching town and emerging art colony situated in rural Central New Mexico, about an hour and a quarter's drive from Albuquerque and Santa Fe, fun to visit. The event is sponsored by the Torrance County Arts Council and is part of the town's annual Sunflower Festival. Featured poets include Gary Mex Glazner, Danny Solis, and the Albuquerque Slam Team, just back from the SlamAmerica cross country bus tour and the Slam Nationals in Providence, Rhode Island; Santa Fe poet Mary McGinnis; host poet Dale Harris, and many more. Open mic. Admission is free. Music by George Page and the Bozon Band and a walk-in writing workshop facilitated by Vanessa Vaille. For more info, email Dale at daleharrisnetmail@netscape.net or Dorothy Baker, Tohu Bohu Studio at drathy@earthlink.net. Directions to Mountainair can be found at Dorothy's Web site. More about Mountainair's art and history is available at The Art Alley Project site.
