MUSELETTER #51
10/2/2000
Summer must really be over: the Olympics have ended & yesterday was the last day of baseball's regular season. Some sad autumnal news: Juliette Torrez told us that Pat Storm has died. Pat was a storm poet, a spirited spirit, & we will miss him.
This Museletter brings you reports on local poetry scenes from Bob Redmond in Seattle, Ta'Shia Asanti in Denver, & several of our readers in New York & online. Blessings on all your poetry harvests.
Margy Snyder & Bob Holman
Poetry Guides
POETRY IS EVERYWHERE AT ABOUT
“Wholly Holographic”
Art & Technology Guide Sharon Silvia's exploration of holography leads from the still images of early holographic art into the 3-dimensional techno-poetic space of holopoetry (envisioned by Eduardo Kac) & motion holovideo.
SEATTLE/PACIFIC NORTHWEST
Speeding Up Time
The Dalai Lama has been speeding up time. It is part of the Dalai Lama's job, explains a friend of mine, to calibrate the speed of time with the speed of life. He does this through a special ritual usually performed once in his tenure. But the current Dalai Lama has done it about six or seven times! According to my friend, the Dalai Lama says that stuff is so bad around the world, it's best we just get through it once and quick, like tearing a band-aid off. So if you've noticed how fast things are going, blame it on the Dalai Lama, or thank the Dalai Lama. Above all realize you are not imagining things.
Which brings us to this edition of the NW Poetry Currents. How fast, how much white water can rush along, even at the end of summer! Breathtaking. Stuff is going on. Listen up:
Life and Death
Paul Nelson is alive, but for a couple horrid days folks all over the NW feared for his well-being. Days after performing poetry at Bumbershoot, Paul, who also runs the NW Spoken Word Lab and does a jazz program on NPR radio, took off for a few days in the Olympic mountain wilderness. When he didn't come home when he was supposed to, folks started looking -- with helicopters, search and rescue teams, an SOS he spelled in the snow with twigs, the whole nine yards.... Paul got lost when he went off the trail, lost his map, and couldn't find the well-trodden way. Metaphor? You decide. We're just glad he's safe and sound. Read all about it at: That's not all: The SPLAB hosts Wanda Coleman November 3, and the Teen Slam starts on October 6!
Censorship
I'm not even being melodramatic today. Last weekend five people were shot in a melee outside the Bohemian nightclub in Pioneer Square, Seattle. The club has recently been hosting hip hop groups and the Mayor, Paul Schell, who incidentally was the driving idiot behind the police behavior during the WTO riots, declared that the reason for the violence downtown was hip hop music. That's right, that music, as Ishmael Reed so eloquently puts it in Mumbo Jumbo, jes grew right out of the streets and up and shot people in the head. “Hip Hop needs to be stopped!” said the Mayor, front page of the paper. He retracted the statements a couple days later, but everyone knows what he meant: black people stay away from the lily white.
It didn't help that the owner of the club hosting the Seattle Slam backed up the Mayor with her own narrow-minded views about hip hop, when right in her own club people come to see the most talented writer in the city, Piece, who also happens to front a hip hop group. Slam priestess Allison Durazzi is organizing a response to the mayhem this week.
Hip Hop Festival Bellingham
Lest you think that things are really wretched in the Great North and West, listen to this report from Heather Johnston up Bellingham way, who helped organize the Saul Williams/One Million Other Poets [including Basement Nation, 500 Years, DJ Julie Herrera] show at the Showbox on September 19, and is putting together a hip hop festival in November at Western Washington U. Heather writes:
It was good to see everybody out at Saul Williams -- there were a lot of beautiful hearts, minds and souls shared on that stage and some off-the-handle vibes too, but i guess that's just the yang with the yin (no disrespect, just balance). Anyhow, this is Heather J. from Western and since we're all ready down witcha at the E.S.C. it would be my pleasure to introduce you to the rest of our big bad campus (or rather, the other way around). I'm in the A.S. Productions office helping to put on shows this year and I wanna make sure Seattle/local artists are properly represented.
This quarter, we're putting on a hip hop festival Monday, November 27th - Saturday, December 2nd involving film, a graf gallery show/contest, speaker/discussion, KUGS 89.3FM and basically every method and medium of hands-on learning we can think of, edu-ma-cating on the four elements.
On Friday, I'd like to put on a Bumbershoot-style turntablist battle complete with emcee comp, and end on Saturday with a breaking crew and rap show (prospects currently under work are lookin very good for a bangin' finale). Everything all-ages and affordable. This is a call for any and all hip hop artists and underground scholars: b-girls/boys, writers, deejays, poets, emcees, intellect/activists, etc. I wanna show off/celebrate our region's best and brightest (high schoolers most def included). I'll have gallery submission/contest forms available by the end of the week, the rest of the info and publicity in the first few weeks of October, and if anybody knows of anybody i should be talkin' to or sending stuff to, please let me know.Heather Johnston
Western Washington University ASP-Special Events
Books!
Let's dip into the bookish side of the word right now. First off, best wishes to John Marshall from Open Books, who is recovering nicely from hip replacement surgery. John and wife Christie Deavel run the only Poetry-only bookstore west of New York, and are well loved and amazing people. The store was a little slow this summer but they're gearing back up with more readings this fall, all at 7:30 pm, 2414 N. 45th Street in Wallingford:Free email newsletter complete with poetry book reviews at store@openpoetrybooks.com.
- October 5th - Alan Lau, poet, painter, and publisher of NW Asian Weekly
- October 12th - Robin Seyfried, a driving force of Poetry Northwest
- October 26th - Antioch & U.W. MFA students
Books!
Booklovers unite! Or did, at the 2nd annual Seattle's Favorite Poems reading. Started last year when Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky came to town, and encouraged by his amazing insight that reading poems out loud is a Good Thing, and that lots of people -- even cleaning ladies and bus drivers, can you imagine? -- have dabbled in poetry and have their own preferred poems, no matter how humble and tentative they must be -- the Favorite Poems reading brings out the locally famous to mingle with the locally anonymous, and gives them space to voice their most treasured and shameful sentiments: poetry.
This year's crew included Seattle Symphony Director Gerard Schwarz; Hoh/Makah elder Mary McQuillen; 92-year-old Buddhist teacher Grace McLeod; UW English Department Chair Shawn Wong; landscape architect Grant Jones; and ACT Director Gordon Edelstein, along with “other artists, civic leaders, and poetry lovers of all ages,” moderated by featured poet Tess Gallagher. I didn’t attend, since as you may have guessed I'm still getting over Mr. Pinsky's condescension a year ago.
On the more encouraging side, Jack Evans' Poets West group has been filling up the Frye museum every month for a couple years now. There is simply not enough space to list all their events, but you can contact Jack and request to be added to the mailing list for a list of their open mikes and reading series at the Frye. Alert! Next deadline for submitting for the Frye series is Monday, October 2, for the October 3 reading at the museum. You have to pay $6 for a reading fee but this also allows them to pay for the series and make a chapbook for the included writers. Email poetswest@postalzone.com for more info.
And More Books!
The fifth annual Northwest Bookfest happens October 21 and 22, at the new Stadium Exhibition Center in town. Half trade show, half retail bazaar and half live readings galore, Bookfest takes its hits for being supported by the Seattle Times and not paying writers, but delivers on stage time for locals and sheer breadth of programming. The panels are the best, with writers from all areas convening on particular topics. This year features Sherman Alexie (a perennial), Alan Kaufman, Sini Anderson, Bucky Sinister, Rebecca Brown, Charles Johnson, Ariel Gore, the afore-mentioned Alan Lau, Stephen Mitchell, Ken Waldman, and many many more.
Shorts
- Tara Hardy is back in town after an almost-move to San Fran! Tara is talking about starting an all-queer poetry collective in town. So much going on. The Bamboo Clan, a queer and Asian ensemble tore it up at a recent Drag King show. Tara will read with Michelle Tea and Shar Rednour, Jackie Strano and Sash Sunday, and even more radical queer women in a show on November 25; email eleven@poetryfestival.org for more info, including place TBA. Reach Tara at wordyfemme@hotmail.com.
- There's a new, funky email/Web zine called Headaches & Spinal Taps, organized around themes. If there was ever an e-zine in the tradition of zines, this is it. Submissions are welcome.
- Heard the above news from Mandy Laughtland, who also has a cool Web page of her own, not for the graphics but for the links.
- The new issue #40 of Pif online mag from Lacey (near Olympia) is out! Best ever, with poems by Billy Collins and an article on Burning Man.
- The new issue of Switched-on Gutenberg, Vol. 5, No. 1, is “Cartography: Where have we come from? Where are we going?” Included are works by Alicia Ostriker, James Bertolino, Richard Kostelanetz, and the art of Joan Stuart Ross.
- Another online poetry site (from California, but that's NW if you're in Brazil, right?) is Poetry Magazine.com. “Quality is the only criteria,” says Andrena Zawinski, Feature Editor.
- ISBN -- a new Salon Productions reading series -- is starting on Monday nights at the Habitat for Espresso on Broadway at John on Capitol Hill. 7:30 sign up, 8 pm start. “This Monday and every Monday until they tear the building down or kick us out or whatever!!” For info, contact James Newman at axelrex@hotmail.com.
New Portland Open Mike
Mark Leair writes of a new open mike: Poetry at Coffee Time offers area poets the opportunity to share their work in a relaxing atmosphere. Hosted by Portland poet David Miller (poetryordie@uswest.net). Located at the Coffee Time coffeehouse, 712 NW 21st. Avenue, Portland. All ages, no cover, every Tuesday at 9 pm. For info: mleair@home.com.
And a Word of Welcome
Eleventh Hour Productions and the Seattle Poetry Festival have a new Executive Director! Danika Dinsmore has returned from Prague on her white horse to lead the organization into its next incarnation (how's that for mixed metaphors?). Danika will head up the opening of the Poetry Factory and the opening of our new public office space, as well as direct the Poetry Festival. Yours Truly is moving to the Board of Directors. Lots of good stuff is going on; we are looking at a more discursive and participatory Festival, for which applications will be available in November, at www.poetryfestival.org. Welcome Danika at danika@poetryfestival.org!
That's it for now! Please send all cookies and cream to bubba@speakeasy.org.
DENVER/ROCKY MOUNTAINS
Poetry on the Move in the Mile High City!“Ego Trippin'”
Brother Jeff's Cultural Center & Cafe spoke to a sold-out audience at their second bi-annual “Ego Trippin'” event this summer held at Cleo Parker's Auditorium. The audience was rocked with the likes of Amiri Baraka, Jessica Care Moore and many others. Jessica Care Moore is a powerful voice on the literary scene. She comes with a brassy realness and subtle fire that ignites the hairs on the back of your neck. Her poems address pertinent issues of race, class and genderism in the United States and offer healing words for a community searching for collective empowerment. Baraka simply is Baraka! The man with the vision and words to manifest it. One of his many collections of essays, poetry and fiction, The LeRoi Jones-Amiri Baraka Reader, is a testament to the depth this revolutionary writer and poet takes his audience to in the blink of an eye. After slam-dunking you with his in-your-face style of reading, Baraka eases you into his personal space with poems about the late, great, Betty Shabazz, the deceased wife of Malcom X, civil rights activist. “Ego Trippin'” was history in the making and plans are in the making to do a national tour. Brother Jeff should be celebrated for organizing this powerful and unique event in the Five Points community of Denver, Colorado.
Denver Annual Poets' Day
The Mile High City also celebrated the spoken word this summer with an Annual Poets' Day. Poets from around the city such as Trinidad Sanchez, a powerful Latino poet who brings a slam style performance together with an ethnic tongue to unite cultures, heal communities and stop community violence, shared his work with a diverse audience of poets, writers and literary supporters during the celebration. Poets/organizers from the Mercury Cafe, local coffeehouses and college campuses drew statewide attention to the craft and art of poetry.
Upcoming in Denver: Cafe Nuba
Cafe Nuba, “It's Hot & It's Black,” celebrates spoken word with a live D.J., film screenings, musical and poetic performances every last Friday of the month at the Gemini Tea Emporium on Welton and 29th Streets at 9:00 pm. September's featured poet was yours truly, Ta'Shia Asanti, in honor of my birthday. Organizers Ashara & Matema provide a safe space for a culturally diverse poetry family to express not only spoken word, but political prose, screenplay excerpts, hip-hop music and much more. The open mic is just as powerful as the featured sessions. Bring your words and your voice and enjoy the unique expressions at Cafe Nuba. Call 303.291.1077 to be a featured poet or for more information about the event.
The Hue-Man Voices Poetry & Writing Intensives
The Hue-Man Experience Bookstore, in collaboration with Brother Jeff's Cultural Center & Cafe, will be hosting a series of poetry and fiction workshops called “The Hue-Man Voices Poetry & Writing Intensives.” The first series will start on October 28, 9-11 am and go through the next two Saturdays, November 4 & 11 with a public reading TBA. A possible anthology of poetry and short fiction will come from the class participants. The cost is $25. The sessions will focus on style, developing the craft and getting published. Hue-Man Experience hosts a variety of literary events including ongoing workshops, author presentations and book clubs for men, women and children. Hue-man, recently purchased by three enterprising young scholars, is the hub of literary excellence in the Denver area. The workshop will be taught by an award-winning poet & writer. Call 303.293.5665 to reserve your space for the writer's workshop. Only 15 spaces available.
Profile: Sistah Jessica
Sistah Jessica (Not Jessica Care Moore) has produced a wonderful collection of poetry featuring local Denver poets and writers. The zine is called Soul Lovely. A great deal of spiritual evolution went into producing this collection; Jessica took into account the full moon and other solar positions when printing and distributing the final product. Soul Lovely is really a collaboration of a women's writing group of which Jessica is a member, other Denver poets, and the art of Joshua Mays. The book features work by Musa Sulaiman, Andrea Gibson, Patrice C. Queen, Seth, Dulcinea del Toboso, Maurice, Jessica and many more. The topics range from rape to friendship, erotica and the search for love. Khemetic Art is weaved throughout the poems. For information on how to get a copy of this phenomenal collection or to submit poems and artwork for the upcoming collection, call 303.879.1427.
Peace,
READER-SUBMITTED POETRY NEWS BRIEFS
From Georgia A. Popoff:
This summer I taught a poetry workshop at Hillbrook Detention Facility for teenagers. It was tremendously successful, with many miracles resulting, including the kindness of Stazja MacFayden for featuring some of these young poets on the Supplement to the Map of Austin Poetry a few weeks ago. Another of them is the response to my request on various listserves and by email “word of mouth” for donations from poets to create a permanent poetry library at the facility so that incarcerated youth would have the best contemporary poetry available to them. So far, we have received nearly 150 books, chapbooks, CDs, video and audiotapes from friends and poets I don't know from all over the country, including our Nuyopoman himself, Bob Holman, as well as several Museletter correspondents. Thanks to all who have donated and we will be getting personal thank you notes out shortly.
If you are interested in donating your work to the enrichment of young people who are eager to read and create poetry, please send your gift to my attention:Georgia A. PopoffBe sure to sign your book so that these bright young people can see that it came from someone who cared about their futures enough to share the privilege of poetry. Thank you again to all who have already displayed their caring and to those who will join the crusade.
112 Judson Street
Syracuse, NY 13210
From Daniel Nester:
Painted Bride Quarterly and Web Del Sol present a reading of authors at The National Arts Club (15 Gramercy Park South, near 20th Street and Park Avenue, New York, 212.477.2389), Thursday, October 12, 7 pm.Reading on behalf of Web Del Sol:Please note: business attire (jacket and tie for men) required. For more information contact Daniel Nester (danielmnester@hotmail.com), Gary Shapiro (shapiro@forward.com).
Michael Brodsky (We Can Report Them)
Joan Houlihan
Maria Terrone
Reading on behalf of Painted Bride Quarterly:
Regie Cabico (Poetry Nation)
Richard Tayson (The Apprentice of Fever)
Michele Wolf (Conversations During Sleep)
From Lynne Remick:
Lovestories.com is proud to announce that Lynne Remick has joined their staff as the Poetry Moderator of the Poetry Forums (Musings & Critiques/Business of Poetry/Poetry 101 Workshops/Poetry In Focus and Poem of the Day)as well as the Chat host). Email Poetry_Muse@ilovepoems.com for more information. In addition, please feel free to check out Lovestories.com's free email for poets, free poetry pages and monthly contests.
